Archive for the ‘Old Media’ Category

Chairman Priebus delivers remarks immediately following his re-election as Chairman of the RNC

1:00 p.m. The Republican National Committee has reconvened and only one candidate has qualified to run, Reince Piebus.  He is being nominated and seconded.

You may follow the proceedings live on C-SPAN.

Since no other nominations qualify, rule 5-B says that they close nominations and stand for voting.  Only three people voted against him, assuring him of re-election.  Congratulations to Chairman Priebus.

In his acceptance speech, he called this overwhelming support, “a great honor.”

Renew, Grow, Win is the theme of the meeting and is his agenda for the next two years.

National Media captured the events live.

1:16  We must train activists and volunteers with modern tools.  (We will have more details of the speech soon.

1:33  Sharon Day is being nominated for a second term as Co-Chairman of the RNC.

1:40  After four seconding speech, Sharon Day was elected, un-opposed, as Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee.  She wants to lead a principled path to reach every single voter.  Lead a path that every single American knows is right.

The convention next elected Treasurer, Tony Parker, and Secretary Demetra DeMonte, unanimously, as was Sharon Day.

NC National Committeewoman Ada Fisher thanked everyone for coming down to North Carolina.

2:00  After a few final announcements, the meeting was adjourned.

With the beginning of the new year, more of the provisions of Democrats’ massive, unpopular health care law are going into effect and news reports are, again, popping up illustrating all the negative impacts on health care this ill-conceived law will have.

The New York Times reported last week, “Health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. Particularly vulnerable to the high rates are small businesses and people who do not have employer-provided insurance and must buy it on their own. In California, Aetna is proposing rate increases of as much as 22 percent, Anthem Blue Cross 26 percent and Blue Shield of California 20 percent for some of those policy holders, according to the insurers’ filings with the state for 2013.”

Politico adds today, “If you work for a small business, your next health insurance premium may give you sticker shock. Many of the small-business and individual insurance policies are working the health reform law’s 2014 fees into their 2013 bills, contributing to double-digit premium increases for some people. All those new consumer benefits packed into the health reform law — birth control without a co-pay, free preventive care and limits on when insurers can turn down a customer — had to be paid for somehow.”

“Insurers say they have no choice but to increase premiums to cover those costs,” Politico writes. “But it’s hitting pocketbooks sooner than some people expected, and that’s causing controversy. Everyone, even many of the law’s supporters, admit premiums are going to go up under the health law — although many people will get subsidies to help pay for coverage. Many of the costs — and the priciest benefits — were pushed beyond the 2012 election to 2014. But if the public revolts when they see 10 percent,15 percent or 20 percent rate hikes, already shaky support for the health law could suffer. . . . Now, insurers are being proactive, arguing the health law is driving the increase in prices. ‘There’s a massive new health insurance tax that starts in 2014,’ said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans. ‘For policies that are sold in 2013 and extend into next year, there’s going to be taxes imposed. … As a result, like all taxes, they will be reflected in premiums charged.’”

Meanwhile, the health care law is already resulting in cutbacks at health providers and is likely to hurt job creation in the years to come. In a story titled, “Delaware Hospice lays off 52 workers amid federal changes,” the Delaware News Journalwrites, “Delaware Hospice’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Lloyd said Wednesday the nonprofit healthcare provider has laid off 52 workers in a restructuring necessitated by shrinking federal reimbursements. The job cuts, which carve significantly into the organizations 400-member staff, impact jobs in all departments in Delaware, and in Delaware and Chester counties in Pennsylvania, Lloyd said. . . . . Lloyd said the cuts were unavoidable and represent a national trend of providers adapting to changes in health care reimbursement. . . . ‘The decision was not made lightly and it is a direct result of a consequential decline in census and the need to position the organization to meet additional changes and challenges that the hospice industry anticipates with health care reform.’”

And USA Today reported recently, “Many businesses plan to bring on more part-time workers next year, trim the hours of full-time employees or curtail hiring because of the new health care law, human resource firms say. Their actions could further dampen job growth, which already is threatened by possible federal budget cutbacks resulting from the tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff. ‘It will have a negative impact on job creation’ in 2013, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. Under the Affordable Care Act, businesses that employ at least 50 full-time workers — or the equivalent, including part-time workers — must offer health insurance to staffers who work at least 30 hours a week. Employers that don’t provide coverage must pay a $2,000-per-worker penalty, excluding the first 30 employees.”

Republicans warned about all these consequences as Obamacare was being debated, but Democrats and President Obama ignored them and the disapproval of the American people. In December 2009, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “It’s abundantly clear that the more Americans learn about this bill, the more they oppose it. And now we know the same goes for businesses. Businesses that can’t insure workers face stiff fines, resulting in lost wages and jobs, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office. What’s more, studies suggest that this so-called employer mandate would have a disproportionate impact on low-income, entry-level workers. At a time of [high] unemployment, we should be doing everything we can to create jobs. This bill would only lead to more lost jobs.”

And the night Democrats jammed the bill through the Senate, Leader McConnell said “[H]ere’s the reality: the Democrat bill we’re voting on tonight raises health care costs.  That’s not me talking — that’s the administration’s own budget scorekeeper. It raises premiums — that’s the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office talking.  It raises taxes on tens of millions of middle class Americans. . . . It forces people off the plans they have — including millions of seniors.”

This terrible legislation still needs to be repealed and replaced, but until then it will unfortunately continue to raise premiums, raise health care costs, hurt care, and hurt jobs.

Your faithful blogger is heading to Tropicana Field (home of the Tampa Bay Rays*) shortly with the North Carolina delegation to attend a “Welcome Event” for all Republican attendees of the Convention.  We plan to bring you photos of your NC delegation as they interact with members of those of other states.  KCC will be covering all the action.

Kim Gernado, the senior political reporter with NBC-17 in the Triangle, is here at the NC convention hotel and your blogger looks forward to working with her.  You could just might see an interview with your blogger, as happened earlier at the baggage claim area in the Tampa airport.  If not, watch them anyway, as they have the most fair coverage anywhere in the Triangle.

KCC will let you know about TV stations from other parts of the state later.

The major network are all but ignoring this convention.  Only hosting it in Charlotte would be a better way to get attention, it seems.  WRAL-TV in Raleigh couldn’t get enough of the now disgraced Johnny Edwards (his birth name) and now they are over-reporting Democratic activities in Charlotte.  This is despite the fact that the Charlotte DNC convention may be the most poorly attended in years.

Local Citizens

The local citizenry has been extremely nice to this blogger.  KCC just went to Publix, a large Florida grocery chain, and the staff and other shoppers were extremely helpful.  I told them I was one of their convention visitors and they bent over backwards to make sure we had a great shopping experience.  Kudos to the locals here in St Pete. and to the staff of Publix at Bay Pointe Plaza (Store #00259).

Further, the police are everywhere.  Most are dressed in brown and heavily armed (take that you protestors). KCC has thanked every one of them that she has seen.  Even the Publix had a private, armed security guard.  Kudos to St. Pete and the Tampa Bay area!

Finally, it is with sad news that we at KCC report that the revolution will not be televised.  That means that very little of the convention will be on network TV.  You can catch it gavel-to-gavel on C-SPAN or with commentary on Fox News Network.  We hope you do tune in.  America deserves better than the huge Federal Government that Barack Obama has given us.  It’s time to give the government back to the people and downsize, like we do with our own finances.

If a new team defunds Planned Parenthood, and it’s your favorite charity, then donate to them!

More to come, so keep checking back!

 Editor’s Note:   The Tampa Bay Rays are the Major League club of the Durham Bulls baseball club.  The Durham Bulls are the Rays’ Triple A affiliate.

We are now live blogging the closing session of the American for Prosperity Foundation’s Defending the Dream Conference.  It’s their largest event of the year, attended by conservatives nationwide.  Please excuse spelling errors.

Vice President of AFPF, Alan Cobb is first up to speak.    Keep checking for updates.  Your blogger sat with his teenage children last night at the Ronald Reagan dinner and  they mentioned how much time and financial resources he donates to this cause.  He is introducing Brent Bozell, KCC’s hero, founder of the Media Reasearch Center.

Brent Bozell

His father was also a hero of this blogger, helping to start the original conservative movement right before Barry Goldwater ran for the presidency.  The number ! story in this election cycle is unemployment and the economy.  Yet ABC, CBS, and NBC didn’t report this terrible news, until they absolutely had to.  ABC still has not reported it.

Gas prices went up and only 27 stories came out.  Yet during the Bush years, four times as many gas prices stories came out.

The media also has plenty of time plenty of time for Mitt Romney and his “gaffs”.  Four years ago when Obama went overseas, the Big Three networks treated him like a GOD.  Don’t worry because new media will take them over, and we have!!!

Tim Phillips, president of AFP, is introducing the state directors.  In this blogger’s opinion, he should give Dallas Woodhouse and the North Carolina team special recognition.  We were the very first state, originally organized as Citizens for a Sound Economy.

Mark Levin is now speaking and says its Barack Obama’s birthday, to much laughter.

He says we are standing on great shoulders.  He reminded us of the one generation freedom is from extinction as Ronald Reagan said.  Abraham Lincoln said that our worst enemy comes from within.

He says things like social justice, economic equality, and such things have come into our culture.  It’s hard to believe that the President of the United States is one of the malcontents that are being created.  It’s seeping into our culture by indoctrination.  We now live in a post constitutional world, thanks to these malcontents.

He mentioned Woodrow Wilson.  He condemned Federalism and the notion of state sovereignty.  He said liberty was a privildge.  The will determine the scope of the office.  He called this “constitutional adaptation.”  I call it bull crap, said Levin.

Is there anything the Federal Government cannot regulate if it chooses to?  Levin mentioned the recent the Supreme Court ruling that said the government can regulate our physical and mental health.  It’s a post-constitutional goverment in an increasingly authoritarian society.

He mentioned that it’s Obama’s birthday today, but so what, it’s also Saturday.

No President has had more contempt for the country he leads and for the people he represents.  Mr. President, if you don’t understand the way American works, how can you fundamentally transform it?

Levin asks “since when does the money you earn belong to the government?”

Obama said if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.

Obama says it’s time for a revolution, but Levin says its time to reinstate the American Revolution!

The Obama administration has driven up our debt in four years more than $41 trillion, more than all other presidents combined.   The poor have gotten poorer.  The welfare state is growing and collapsing at the same time.

“What the hell are our kids gonna do”, asks Levin.

The challenge today is much more complicated than previous wars because the challenge is from within.

No society is guaranteed perpetual existence.   That’s why we must work for this election, next election, and in the elections beyond.   We have no choice.  This is our country and we want it back!

Standing roudy ovation.

This ends our live blogging session.  We’ll have more on this wonderful Defending the Dream Conference soon.

Join the North Carolina Americans for Prosperity as they hit the road headed for Greenville, New Bern, and Wilmington for their “Not Doing Fine” events. (See video, below.)  You may have seen President Obama declare that the private sector is “doing fine” while thousands are out of work and companies are struggling with executive branch demands, such as Obamacare.

 It’s costing companies so much that they cannot afford to hire more workers that the cycle of recession continues.  Yet, our clueless President continues to thumb his (very large) nose at the problem.

What can you do?  If you live in Eastern North Carolina, come on out to the following events and let your voice be heard.  Local TV and news papers, plus KCC and other bloggers will be on hand to record what YOU think.  Don’t miss out!

Wednesday, June 27 ”It’s Not Doing Fine” Events

AFP staffers will collect “It’s Not Doing Fine” petitions and talk with citizens about how they can fight Obama’s disastrous policies. Stop by for free food, beverages and conversation!

Greenville: 7:00-9:00 am   Rep Express Catering, 805 Red Banks Road, 27858
Talk of the Town with Henry Hinton will broadcast live on location from Rep Express.

New Bern: 5:00-6:00 pm  Captain Rattys’s Seafood and Steakhouse, 202 Middle Street, 28560
Eastern Carolina News and Views will broadcast live on location from Capt Ratty’s.

Thursday, June 28 “It’s Not Doing Fine” Events

AFP Staffers will be on hand to collect “It’s Not Doing Fine Petitions” and discuss with citizens what we can do to fight Obama’s disastrous policies. Stop by for a great food and conversation!

Wilmington: 5:30-10:30 am  Capt’n Bill’s Backyard Grill (banquet room), 4240 Market Street, 28403
Big Talker Radio with Chad Adams will broadcast live on location from Capt’n Bill’s.

New Bern: 5:00-7:00 pm  Bridgepoint Hotel, 101 Howell Street, 28562
Viewpoints with Lockwood Phillips will broadcast live on location from the hotel.

Can’t make it to the events? Sign the petition and spread the word!

Saturday, June 30 Hands Off My Health Care Rally

Raleigh: 10:00 am-3:00 pm Crabtree Valley Marriott

Sign up today for this free event today!

 Hands Off My Health Care Rally
Saturday, June 30
Crabtree Valley Marriott, 4500 Marriott Drive 27612
Free lunch and carnival food!

10:00 am  Fun activities for children and Freedom Phone banking

12:00 noon Hands Off My Health Care Rally

1:00-3:00 pm More Freedom Phone banking

Libraries Should Do a Better Job of Policing Pornography.

According to MSNBC, The American Civil Liberties Union is at it again.  This time they are trying to force libraries that receive public funding to offer online access to pornography.  Read about a particular case here.

Your blogger, who is not shy of creating controversy, had an experience with just such an issue, some years ago.  Here is KCC’s story:

About 15 or 20 years or so ago, I had to cut off my home phone line as a sacrifice to the “dot com bomb” and me losing my job.  Instead of me being able to using my computer at home, I went to the public library two or three times a week to check my email.

Rep. Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth) is well liked by both Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina and would be a difficult candidate to defeat in any election.

The big news from the Capitol press corps in Raleigh, Thursday, is that Winston-Salem state Rep. Dale Folwell, won’t run for re-election in 2012.

Laura Leslie of WRAL reported in a Twitter post that the 4-term Republican is double-bunked  in the new legislative maps with fellow GOP member, Larry Brown.  This means they are now in the same district.

Folwell added in a press conference that it “didn’t sway his decision”. Brown is running again, and if Folwell ran, they’d face each other in a primary. Folwell is popular, and your blogger believes that he could  defeat Brown, but was considering higher office anyway.

In fact, Folwell has been considering this action for months now.

He told this blogger he was running for a specific higher office (we won’t share which).

In the presser Thursday, Mark Binker reported that Rep. Folwell is considering running for State Auditor, State Treasurer, or Lt. Governor.

Your blogger suggests he will get in a state race, if and only if:

1.  He believes he can win.

2.  He has or can raise the money to win without putting him in tremendous personal debt.

Whatever race he chooses, this blogger would instantly support him over any other candidate she may have already been considering.  Dale Folwell has been an effective legislator, and has been able to work with both the front and rear of the house.  (In North Carolina, the minority party sits at the rear of the chamber).

We’ll have more on Rep. Folwell coming up soon.

Obama is making another visit to North Carolina next Wednesday

President Barack Obama is making yet another visit to North Carolina.  Next Wednesday he is coming to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville.

Sadly, this is the same man who must truly believe that ignorance is bliss.  The Foundry reported

He recently described France as America’s closest ally, and famously declared that he has traveled to no less than 57 states.

But it would be nice if the leader of the free world bothered to look at a map once in a while, or even paid a visit to the British Embassy in Washington, currently housing the Churchill bust that Mr. Obama unceremoniously threw out of the Oval Office soon after his inauguration.

WTVD reported on its noon news Thursday, that the President will speak with the Fort Bragg troops about “their sacrifices and achievements of those who served in the Iraq War.”

Obama was last in North Carolina in October, and we can expect to see many more times before the November elections.  Naturally, the local televisions will cover every second of his trip, from landing to departure and all of his speech.

Will his best friend in North Carolina, the embattled Governor Beverly Perdue, be by his side?

Lisa Jackson, Obama Administration EPA Chief

A reader wrote to KCC today, distressed that President Barack Obama‘s EPA chief is up to her old shenanigans:

Lisa Jackson doesn’t want to admit that her EPA policies are actually job killers and that it would raise costs on NC families and businesses. 

The Raleigh News and Observer reported

In a speech at Duke University, Jackson argued that EPA policies conservatives and Republicans in Washington are spreading disinformation in a bid to roll back this country’s environmental protections and to hobble the agency.

However, the paper concluded that Jackson’s speech at Duke is part of a broader counter-attack by regulators who are facing intense criticism from conservative critics during the nation’s worst economic downturn since World War II.

Jackson has been in trouble with the Obama administration before, for going too far in attacks on conservatives. In fact, she nearly had to step down from her high post.

Listen to her entire speech, in the  video below.

Red Hat is sucking money out of Wake County taxpayers, with approval of Republican leaders on the Wake County Commission

Once again, the Republican members of the Wake County Commission have failed the taxpayers of North Carolina’s capital county.   Red Hat, one of the Triangle region’s most successful companies, came hat-in-hand, to the public trough, asking for $650,000 and the GOP lead group, came through.  This is a group that the Wake County Republican party worked tirelessly to elect and we feel certain that they won’t be happy.

Republican Commissioners Paul Coble (running for Congress), Tony Gurley (running as “the conservative candidate” for Lt. Governor), Phil Matthews, and Joe Bryan all voted FOR this measure.  Liberals Betty Lou Ward and James West also joined in.

According to Board Clerk, Susan Banks, only Erv Portman  cast a vote against.  All conservatives should drop Commissioner Portman a note of thanks for standing alone to protect the taxpayers of Wake County.

Red Hat wants to leave its longtime home on North Carolina State University’s Centennial campus, and move to downtown Raleigh into the recently vacated Progress Energy building.  Progress Energy was recently acquired/merged with Duke Power and those employees have either lost their jobs or have been relocated.

In the name of “jobs”, Red Hat deemed that the “needed” this money to bring more jobs, not only to Wake County, but to lawmakers’ precious downtown, that has already received more than its fair share of public financing.

KCC understands that Red Hat, a successful manufacturer of the Linux computer operating system, would have been fine without the money.  We like to call this effort, the Red Hat Poverty Fund.

Former NC Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, quoted by the News and Observer in a North Carolina Lawyers Weekly article, said

politicians have become afraid to oppose the practice of luring companies with the promise of tax breaks.

It’s time to get companies off the public dole in the ole’ North State. However, it won’t be happening anytime soon. Both the State of North Carolina and the City of Raleigh are expected to vote to chip in to the Red Hat poverty fund. After all, no self-respecting politician wants to appear to oppose jobs, even in the face of principle!

Editor’s Note:  According to the News and Observer, Commissioner Paul Coble said it’s written into the policy of the county commission.  With a Republican Leadership, this policy MUST be changed!