NC Chief Justice Swears in Governor Pat McCrory, pool photo by Gerry Broome

More than 100 people gathered in the old House chambers for the swearing-in. They listened to mostly patriotic music from the Liberty Brass Quintet that’s part of the 440th Army Band from the North Carolina

Gov and Mrs McCrory Greet well-wishers as they leave the chamber in the NC Capitol. Kieran Shanahan is at the front left.

National Guard. Transition team leader John Lassiter emceed the event.

Perdue told McCrory that with the seal she transferred to him “the powers and duties as chief executive officer of the great state _ the greatest state in America _ and may God bless you in the months and years ahead as you and Ann serve North Carolina’s people as their governor and leader of this great state.”

Chief Justice Sarah Parker administered the oath to Patrick Lloyd McCrory at 12:10 p.m. on two Bibles held by Ann McCrory _ the McCrory family Bible and the George Durant 1599 Bible, which is known as North Carolina’s oldest book. After saying “I do,” the crowd applauded and the new governor hugged his wife.

Remember all that work you did last Spring, Summer, and Fall?  Today is pay off time as North Carolina’s new Governor, Pat McCrory, is inaugurated.   The activities will take place in the old Senate Chambers at Capitol Square in downtown Raleigh.  The details follow, below.

Find out how you can watch the entire event on your computer, via Livestream and scroll down to see the activities of the noon hour.  Katy’s Conservative Corner  will also be there to bring you photos and interviews.

We listed a viewing guide beneath the video box, to assist you.

ACTIVITIES OF NOON HOUR 

DETAILS:

12:00pm – Gov. Elect McCrory enters chamber
12:02pm – Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem
12:05pm – Invocation by Minister David Chadwick
12:07pm – Transfer of the seal w/ Gov. Elect McCrory & Gov. Perdue
12:11pm – Gov. Elect McCrory takes the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice Parker
12:17pm – Gov. McCrory exits chamber

OPEN TO FAMILY and media only

Swearing in of Cabinet Secretaries  

You may also watch the proceedings on North Carolina Public Television.

Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC-2nd)

Thursday afternoon, I was sworn in for my second term in the 113th Congress. I am excited to be serving as a new member on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee and Subcommittees on Health, Oversight and Investigations, and Communications and Technology.

The Fiscal Cliff Deal Did Nothing to Address Spending

This week, the House of Representatives passed a bill to avert the Fiscal Cliff- putting off major decisions to reign-in Washington’s uncontrolled spending.

I voted against the Senate’s compromise bill due to its dramatic increase in taxes and failure to address the bloated spending, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will increase the deficit by nearly $4 Trillion over the next 10 years.

This was supposed to be a deficit reduction bill, not a deficit increase that adds trillions to our deficit while increasing taxes. I could not support a measure that adds trillions to our deficits while increasing taxes by $41 for every $1 in spending cuts. Additionally, this deal continues to give tax advantages to big businesses while small businesses – the real lifeblood of our economy – are left to shoulder the burden and pay the bills.

We must get serious about addressing the true driver of the fiscal mess that our nation is in.

Our out-of-control spending does nothing to help American families and only exacerbates the problems facing our country.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to address the real sources of this crisis and continuing the fight against government waste in the 113th Congress.

Support Veterans Leadership Council of North Carolina

Saturday evening, in his first official event as Governor, Pat McCrory will host a  Salute to North Carolina Veterans. A few tickets remain to the event, at the North Raleigh Hilton/Midtown.  KCC will be there, covering the event.

The Veteran’s Leadership Council of North Carolina-Cares (VLC) is pleased to announce that on Saturday January 5th, Governor Pat McCrory will be a special guest and address “A Salute to North Carolina Veterans“. The fundraising dinner benefiting North Carolina’s homeless veterans will be Governor McCrory’s first public event as governor following his official swearing-in earlier that day.

Click here for event specifics and for the official flyer.  The flyer explains how to get your tickets and the location of the hotel.  If you are in Raleigh for the Swearing-in and parade, stay for the evening and honor our Vets.

Editor’s Notes: The VLC is a veteran operated 501(c)3 non-profit corporation established to provide assistance, including temporary housing, for hundreds of North Carolina’s homeless veterans. Funds raised at the event will go toward the refurbishment of the Veterans Life Center in Butner, NC, where homeless Veteran servicemen and women will receive therapeutic care to become self-reliant, productive and contributing members of society.

Support AFP, especially in North Carolina!

Thursday, KCC received a note from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation regarding the off-the-wall Fiscal Deficit “fix” just passed by Congress.  Perhaps many of you received it, too.  We all need to jump in together and save America from the bad economic policy.  Read on:

There they go again.

Recently Congress passed a bill to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.  But instead of focusing on the real driver of our fiscal imbalance, runaway government spending, Congress passed a bill that’s all taxes and no serious spending reductions.  The bill was filled with terrible economic policy from top to bottom.  The one bright spot is that we’re finally starting to establish some permanency in the tax code, an important element of economic stability.

Take action today and remind Congress the American people still want them to cut spending!
 
Here’s a quick rundown of the bill:

• Taxes: the bill fails to protect the economy from all the tax hikes.  Everything from capital investment, to labor, to consumption, and even death will be more heavily taxed in 2013.  None of that will spur economic growth.
• Spending: remember when both President Obama and Speaker Boehner talked about a “balanced approach?”  This bill is a classic Washington tax-and-spend bill with no spending cuts to be found.  What’s worse, it actually includes billions in new spending.
• Even while raising taxes on hardworking Americans, Congress recognized that high taxes hurt economic growth and so they handed out myriad special carve outs so their friends wouldn’t feel the bite.  Wind energy, motorsports entertainment complexes and even the hard-up Hollywood tycoons got a special tax break in the bill.

In addition to the damage these policies will do to the economy, raising taxes in a deficit fight just puts a Band-Aid on the problem.  Runaway government spending is still the main problem with the federal budget and with the nation’s economy.

Take action today and remind Congress the American people still want them to cut spending!

Thank you for all you do for economic freedom and we look forward to fighting side-by-side with you in 2013.
Best,

Americans for Prosperity

Gov. Pat McCrory

Thursday,  North Carolina Governor-Elect Pat McCrory appointed Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata (U.S. Army, Retired) as Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Sharon Decker as Secretary of the Department of Commerce and Bill Daughtridge as Secretary of the Department of Administration. Additionally, the Governor-Elect announced Neal Alexander will serve as Director of the State Office of Personnel.

With these appointments, Governor-Elect McCrory has filled all eight of his cabinet secretary positions with a diverse, bi-partisan group of people representing all portions of the state. Half of Governor-Elect McCrory’s cabinet secretaries are Republican and half are either Democrat or Independent.

“I am incredibly proud of the strong team we’ve assembled,” said Governor-Elect McCrory. “These individuals are pragmatic problem solvers and leaders that will help me run the government in the most effective way possible while seeking long-term solutions for our state.”

DOT Secretary Tony Tata

Brigadier General Anthony J. Tata (U.S. Army, Retired) joins Governor-Elect McCrory’s cabinet after most recently serving as Superintendent of the Wake County Public School System, leading the state’s largest school district of 18,000 employees, 150,000 students and a $1.25 billion budget.

Prior to serving as Superintendent, General Tata was in Afghanistan where he served as the Deputy Commanding General of U.S. forces from 2006-2007. Throughout his career, General Tata has planned and implemented multiple operations involving complex transportation and infrastructure challenges ranging from multi-mode operations involving ports, airfields, rail, and highways to designing and implementing extensive infrastructure plans in developing countries. Among his many military assignments, General Tata served two tours of duty in the 82^nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
He also served as a brigade commander in the 101st Airborne Division and as the Deputy Commanding General of the 10th Mountain Division. General Tata graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1981.

Sharon Decker enters the McCrory Administration with extensive private sector experience. She was the CEO of the Tanner Company, a large textile company based in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. In 2004, Decker created the Tapestry Group, a non-profit that helps individuals lead healthy lives in body, mind and spirit. Decker has served on the boards of three Fortune 500 companies. She also has more than 17 years of experience with Duke Power Company, now Duke Energy. She began working with the company in consumer services and moved rapidly through the ranks to become the youngest and first female vice president in Duke Power’s history. Her work at Duke Power led to the creation of its 24-hour customer service center, an organization that still serves as a model for the industry.

Tata, McCrory, and Bill Daughtridge at Thursday’s announcement

Bill Daughtridge is the President of Daughtridge Gas & Oil Company based in Rocky Mount and currently is on the UNC Board of Governors, where he serves on the Budget Committee. From 2002-2008, Daughtridge served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, where he chaired the Commerce Committee and focused his efforts on promoting economic growth and development in North Carolina.

Daughtridge is also a former President Area Seven (VA and NC) on the Southern Region Board of Directors for the Boy Scouts of America and is a former member of the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Board, the Nash County Board of Travel & Tourism, Carolinas Gateway Partnership and the Rocky Mount Community Foundation. Daughtridge also held other statewide and local leadership positions including President of the North Carolina Petroleum Marketers Association, Rocky Mount Area United Way and Rocky Mount Area Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to three Cabinet appointments, McCrory also announced that Neal Alexander will serve as the Director of the State Office of Personnel.

Alexander joins Governor-Elect McCrory’s leadership team with 40 years of experience in various Human Resources roles at Duke Energy. Most recently, he served as Vice President for Human Resources for Duke Energy’s US Franchised Electric and Gas Service, and has won awards for excellence in Human Resources such as the Duke Power William S. Lee Leadership Award and The Employers Association Babcock Award. He also currently serves as chair of the Gardner-Webb University Board of Trustees and The Employers Association, which provides human resources and training services to organizations.

The National Republican Party (RNC) has been a popular whipping post lately, after losing the Presidential election.  Indeed heads will probably roll at their annual meeting in Charlotte, which KCC will cover for you.    KCC enjoyed covering the RNC convention in Tampa hopes to bring you more such action.

Meanwhile, here in North Carolina, the state Republican Party certainly did its job and more during the last election cycle.

The Party helped elect, another Republican General Assembly and this time added on a Republican Governor.  Good times have returned to Raleigh for the GOP.

There will be the old battles between the moderate and conservative wings of the Party as the libertarian wing, the tea party, moves along.   No one knows if they will join their own, more fitting Libertarian Party, or continue to try to win (and fail) as a branch of NC Republicans.

Robin Hayes, Chairman of   the NCGOP, is up for re-election at this Spring’s State Party Convention

Robin Hayes, chairman of the NCGOP, is up for re-election at this Spring’s state party convention.  That three-day-event, will be held in Charlotte and KCC will have the dates for you soon.

Meanwhile, consider these accomplishments of the Republicans and other groups, as presented by the NCGOP:

• Historic dominance of all three branches of state government
• Landslide Republican gubernatorial win: McCrory 55%; Dalton 43%; Howe 2%
• Enabled Pat McCrory to be only the second statewide Republican to win Early Voting in NCSuper majorities in NC Senate (33/17) and NC House (77/43)
• Republican Lt. Governor to preside over GOP Senate (Dan Forest)
• Gained 3 US House seats to make a Republican majority congressional delegation (9/4)
• Landslide passage of Marriage Amendment in May
• Maintained Conservative Republican majority on NC Supreme Court
• Progress in County Commissioners: 54 GOP County Boards; 44 Democratic; 2 Non-Partisan
• Only “Swing” state not carried by President Obama in 2012 Presidential race.   Yes, North Carolina did its party as the state voted for Mitt Romney in November.  There was nothing else it could have done.

Editor’s Note:   Conservatives, please make plans to attend the State Republican Convention in Charlotte and vote to keep Robin Hayes  your state Chairman.

ACU Chairman Al Cardenas welcomed in the 2013 New Year with a bold statement on the latest”Fiscal Cliff” proposal:

“The American Conservative Union simply cannot accept or support the Senate Bill as passed this morning, which does nothing to reign in out of control spending. Given the dire financial situation our country faces,

ACU would have supported, albeit reluctantly, the Bush era tax cut extensions for those with incomes under $400,000 to $450,000 and supported the Death Tax provisions that maintain the current exemptions and are indexed for inflation.

This is vital for our family farms and family-owned businesses.

Our nation has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Rather than do the essential work of cutting spending, the current bill actually adds even more deficit spending. Congress needs to make the hard decisions now for the future of our children and grandchildren. Therefore, ACU recommends that the House take the non-tax provisions out of the Senate Bill and pass it. They should then go back to the drawing board and put together a comprehensive plan to responsibly deal with unemployment insurance, the Farm Bill, special interest tax subsidies and replacing the sequester with targeted spending cuts in a way that would be in line with our conservative values.”

The American Conservative Union holds CPAC, the largest national gathering of conservatives.  In the past few years, the organization has expanded into the midwest and Florida.

KCC has been to many CPAC events and enjoys being an official blogger.

With the man ABC news calls the “Godfather of the (Conservative) Movement” moving on to take the head post at the Heritage Foundation, who will take his U. S. Senate seat?  As KCC reported earlier, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint will leave that body in January to lead what many call the top conservative think tank in the nation.

Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) is the top candidate to replace Sen. Jim DeMint

It appears that popular Congressman Tim Scott, a Republican from Myrtle Beach would be the first choice of conservatives.  If you attended the North Carolina Republican Party state convention in 2011, you heard Scott speak.

South Carolina blogger Earl Capps called the situation a “feeding frenzy”. Capps also notes that Scott and fellow Congressman Mick Mulvaney have been considered in the running for the job in 2014.

According to the Washington Wire, disgraced former Governor Mark Sanford, is rumored to be interested in a comeback.  It may be hard to believe that the man who lied to his staff and family about his whereabouts, would consider a comeback.  He eventually came clean that he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina.

UPDATE :  According to Katie Pavlich, writing for Townhall’s Tipsheet,  Sen. DeMint has announced that HE wants to be replaced by Tim Scott.  She references The Hill:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has made it known in South Carolina that he wants Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to replace him in the Senate, two state Republican sources tell The Hill.

The sources, requesting anonymity to speak candidly, say Scott is DeMint’s preference for the seat, though the final decision will be Gov. Nikki Haley’s (R). She will appoint someone to serve in DeMint’s place after he officially resigns from the Senate to take over the conservative Heritage Foundation in January. An election for the seat will then be held in 2014 for the remaining two years of the term.

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC)

The Heritage Foundation announced Thursday that U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) will become the next president of the organization.  He takes over for Edwin J. Feulner, the man who first envisioned the think tank in 1973 and has led it as president for the past 36 years.

According to the Heritage Foundation’s own website,

Under his leadership, Heritage helped launch missile defense under President Ronald Reagan and welfare reform under President Bill Clinton and Speaker Newt Gingrich. During the past four years, Heritage has led a principled fight against Obamacare and has taken a lead in advancing the case for entitlement reform.

The American Conservative Union’s Al  Al Cardenas congratulated Senator DeMint:

With a lifetime ACU Rating of over 97%, Senator Jim DeMint  has been an indispensable conservative leader in the Senate and we look forward to continuing to work with him to advance the important cause of liberty and limited government.

Whether the issue has been preserving our economic freedom, standing up for the rights of the unborn or preserving American exceptionalism and protecting our national security, Jim DeMint has been there for conservatives and the American people.

I also congratulate and thank Dr. Ed Feulner who has spent a lifetime as a giant in the conservative movement and wish him well as he remains an important intellectual leader at Heritage.”