Tone deaf

by | Aug 11, 2013 | Editor's Blog, Education, NC Politics, NCGOP | 13 comments

North Carolina Republicans are turning out to be quite tone deaf. Whether through arrogance or ignorance, they seem quite sure they’ve got the support of the people. They dismiss criticism from traditional news outlets like the News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer, the Asheville Citizen-Times and Greenville’s Daily Reflector as rantings from the liberal media. They heap scorn on Moral Monday protesters and the national media for ridiculing our state and seem sure the only people who agree with them are “liberals.”

Here’s some reality for you, GOP. The only people who feel threatened by Sharia Law are folks who are already solidly in your camp. The rest us of looked on with emotions that ranged from mild amusement to outrage.

To say you looked silly pushing that Sharia Law/motorcycle abortion bill through legislature is an understatement. You lost the issue altogether and instead let the country take a look at some ugly sausage-making. For most people, it fell into the “you can’t make this shit up” category.

The fact that people in your caucus introduced a state law that would authorize a state religion brought up every negative stereo-type imaginable. Even though it never made it out of committee, you looked like the party of ignorant back-woods religious nuts, especially since so many of you are calling for the country to live by the constitution. It’s right up there with those signs calling on the government to “Keep your hands off our Medicare.”

I could continue to site examples but I need to hit on your most recent debacle. But first, you need to understand a few things. Teachers are widely respected in this state and always have been. In your narrow, black-and-white world of politics, you may associate them with NCAE. Most of the people in the state associate them with their kids. In poorer, rural counties, everyone knows teachers. Schools systems are often the largest employers and teachers are quite often civic and community leaders.

Your feeble attempt to justify your education budget is a not-so-thinly-veiled attack on teachers. Your argument basically goes like this:

“Teachers are part-time workers masquerading as full-time employees who are paid plenty. Besides, they’ve had more raises than other state employees. If they really want more money, they should go get it from those broke-ass counties they work in.”

It’s a pathetic document that does nothing to reassure the people of North Carolina that you are committed to public education. But it does epitomize why so many people have lost faith in you. You sound mean and petty and have obviously confused your base with the rest of us. You would do well to get out of your bubble, take off your ideological glasses and get a sense of what the people who don’t follow the minutia of politics think about you.

13 Comments

  1. traye

    Nothing what you have said changes the fact that in a time of 1% economic growth, a decrease in full time employment and further hits to tax payers coming in the form of millions of new welfare immigrants and Obamacare, despite these further drags on those who actually finance this, education funding jumped significantly.

    • Thomas Mills

      Where did all the money go?

    • willard cottrell

      all the money went to the job creators who have yet to create a single job. Your fanatical embrace of the “piss on you” economy (aka trickle down) is completely misguided. Neither in national or the state has produced a jobs bill – your stated #1 priority in the last few elections.

      You enthusiastically embrace the do nothings at the state level and the national. They are the ones who’ve produced the 1% economic growth you bitterly complain about. I’m having trouble deciding if you’re being disingenuous for arguments sake or a fool. I am leaning heavily towards fool.

  2. ajlee

    That $400,000,000 increase actually includes the 1.2% raise from last year and $50 million for vouchers (public money going to private schools).Let’s not forget an increase of about 17,000 students to the state, so per pupil spending is actually down. Oh, did you see the cuts to TAs (21% this year and 19% next year), the cuts to textbooks, the cuts to classroom supplies, the cuts to ESL? Before you praise the increase in spending, take a good look at how the budget really affects CHILDREN.

  3. traye

    Almost $400,000,000 in increased funding is an attack on teachers? I would bet every single other industry in NC would love to be “attacked” like that.

    • Thomas Mills

      So where did all that money go? There will be fewer assistant teachers in the classrooms and larger class size. Teachers in NC will the among the lowest, if not, THE lowest paid in the nation. There is less money for school books and less for school supplies. We will also be at the bottom of per pupil spending. Where did all this go? Maybe they should have taken into account increased enrollment and inflation. Besides, it’s still less than pre-recession levels.

      • Unaffiliated Voter

        ask ‘your’ people…’where DID ALL THAT MONEY GO?’ …(get YOUR children OUT of government screwls as FAST as you CAN !!!)

    • willard cottrell

      However, the budget baseline is nearly 10% lower than that before Bush’s recession. Why, if the budget is so good are they laying off teacher assistants. We haven’t keep up with salaries and in my district we’ve seen positions closed and larger classrooms. We’re now at the bottom – again.

      Clearly, people such as yourself are too good to be in the classroom. Your understanding of behavior and your complete understanding of the subject matter at hand makes it imperative that you observe and criticize in order to keep the profession honest.

    • willard cottrell

      Another separate point is that when ever someone comments on education being an “industry” one immediately understands he’s only got a smattering of ignorance on the problem.

  4. John Galt

    The GOP will only start to respond when outlets that are not traditionally leftist begin to raise an issue that they are not doing the will of the people. As it stands in this day and age the old newspapers are not widely read any longer as people have grown tired of their bias and the availability of better news sources.

    • Norman Hill

      What outlets do you suggest that are widely read and “not traditionally leftist”? (I think it is somewhat questionable that newspapers are traditionally leftist – that refrain is only evoked when a paper questions something proposed or done by the right, not when they endorse conservative candidates or question something which the right wing also questions.)

  5. john deVille

    Thank you Thomas…together we will pierce their bubble and force them to confront reality. They either adopt more pragmatic, sensible, humane polices reflective of North Carolina’s historic commmittment to quality public education at all levels or they get sent packing.

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