Just wanted to share Valerie Foushee's new video on public service. It's a powerful look at how, growing up in Orange County, her parents instilled in the values of education and listening.
If you like the video, I hope you'll share it with friends and neighbors. Valerie has been a great representative for Orange County and I'm looking forward to what she does in Raleigh.
The candidate filing period for the May 8 primary elections begins today at noon. In Orange County, 10 seats in various state and county races are up for grabs.
Today, in a news report by WRAL's Cullen Browder, posted on WRAL.com, House Speaker Joe Hackney was "linked" to convicted felon Bladen County business man Ron Taylor by the fact that his name appeared below Taylor's on an invitation to a political fundraiser. Taylor was convicted in 1982 of accepting a bribe while serving in the statehouse and also pleaded guilty of plotting to setting a rival's tobacco warehouse on fire.
Chris Fitzsimon, executive director of government watchdog group NC Policy Watch, was quoted as saying "It's a little troubling that, in this era of public mistrust of government and all the ethics scandals, that our leaders wouldn't be a little more careful about where their name is used."
Speaker Hackney says he plans to uphold his promise and attend the fundraiser.
With each week the details of NC House Speaker Jim Black's political machine become more embarrassing to Democrats in particular and North Carolinians in general. Or at least it ought to be embarassing to Democrats. The latest revelations turn out to be sadly not-so-shocking:
Jim Black & Co. took control of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2002 by bribing fellow house member Michael Decker with an offer of $50,000 and a job for Decker's son. Decker accepted the offer and took the $50,000 (primarily in donations to his campaign account). His son got the job at the legislature as well. In turn, Decker switched from Republican to Democrat and turned a 61-59 Republican majority into a 60-60 deadlock in the legislature. Yesterday Decker admitted to the bribery scheme in federal court: http://www.newsobserver.com/1179/story/466790.html
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