Triad Conservative

How to Beat Kay Hagan

I have a couple of ideas regarding ways that Greensboro's own Senator Kay Hagan can be defeated at the polls next year. 

The first involves an AP photograph that was recently published in the News and Record.  This is a photograph that voters need to see next year, many times over.  A picture speaks more than a thousand words:

That pretty much says it all.

But there is another technique to defeat Ms. Hagan.

The Senate Conservatives Fund recently produced some ads directed against Senator Mark Pryor in the state of Arkansas.  Here are some of these ads the fund's PAC is running to beat Pryor. 

If we want to defeat Hagan (and we must),  we need to be aggressive.  And we need to tell the truth so the people of North Carolina know who she really is.  The fact is that she cast the deciding vote to pass Obamacare, and the people need to be reminded repeatedly of that fact.   Here is an example of one particularly good ad being run against Pryor:

City Taxpayers Financing a Sitcom? Special Meeting Called

Many of us could scarcely believe when the Greensboro City Council recently voted to finance the production of a situation comedy in our fair city.  

George Hartzman has done a good job of explaining the low likelihood of success of new sitcom pilots. He also demonstrates that the monies for this loan were taken from a fund designated to maintaining the city's fleet of vehicles.  In addition, it appears the few jobs created would pay less than the county's median income.

Now, the Greensboro City Council has been called into a special meeting Tuesday to discuss this matter further.  The best course of action would be to withdraw this financing.  But it is not terribly likely that our corrupt machine government will opt for the best course of action.

Would-Be Jailbirds: The Week, June 28, 2013

The News and Record attempted to stir up a hornet's nest by using one of its usual ploys-- portraying the comments made by a conservative or Republican as impermissible.  After Jeff Hyde playfully referred to Carolyn Coleman as a "jailbird" in a recent Tweet, a newspaper article and blog post followed at the N&R.  Of course, when one is arrested, it is not an unreasonable expectation that one will go to jail. 

But the Moral Mondays protesters have been protected from this eventuality by various components of the Raleigh criminal justice establishment.   The protests have thus been a low-cost proposition for many participants, including Ms. Coleman.  And many of those arrested have been older; are no longer employed; or work in situations that are insulated from any repercussions.  By contrast, MLK Jr. did a bunch of time in jail.  And Mahatma Gandhi, who pioneeered the nonviolent protest technique, actually undertook some highly public hunger strikes.  These were high-cost protests, unlike the anemic imitations we have seen in Raleigh.

One thing should be duly noted.  It seems doubtful that Ms. Coleman or the Rev. William Barber have participated in any Gandhi-like hunger strikes anytime recently.

School Board Redistricting/ Local Education Establishment

Rep. Jon Hardister has been advancing legislation in the North Carolina House to redistrict the county school board.  Unfortunately, he has been pressured by the News and Record to water the legislation down, for instance, by making the races non-partisan or subjecting the decision to a voter referendum.  I hope he does not succumb.  A referendum would merely invite the local education establishment to call out its troops to defeat it.  But astonishingly, one Guilford GOP House member, John Faircloth, favors this approach.

On a note that is not entirely unrelated, the Guilford Education Alliance has a new leader.  Winston McGregor has some fascinating credentials:

...former assistant to the chief of staff for Al Gore, the former U.S. senator and vice president. She has worked as a national fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee and in Gore’s bid for the presidency.

She also worked as development director of the Democratic Leadership Council and Progressive Foundation...

She sounds like a Common Core kind of gal.

Meanwhile, local school board chairman Alan Duncan was elected statewide president of the NC Bar Association during the very same meeting that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to attendees in Asheville.   One can only hope that Duncan took some notes when Scalia spoke.

McCrory Abortion "Promise"

The state's media/left complex is primed to pounce on Governor McCrory over a bill reaching the final stages of approval in the General Assembly.  The bill would require schools to teach that abortion can cause pre-term births.  This is a fairly well established medical fact.  During the gubernatorial campaign, the media tried to pin down McCrory on the abortion issue, asking what further restrictions he would favor.  He foolishly replied, "None".  But the legislation does not propose any abortion restrictions; so he would not be violating any kind of promise.  He ought to sign the bill.

Energy Rights

Occupy Winston-Salem has made a breathtaking claim in response to a requested rate increase for Duke Energy: that "every resident has a right to inexpensive, environmentally safe energy."  From where does this purported right originate; and when did it become effective?  The Occupy crowd must be awfully disappointed in the great Obama, whose policies overall tend to drive up the cost of energy. 

Corrupt City

The work of the worst Greensboro City Council imaginable continues unabated.  It grants a $300,000 loan for Black Network Television to produce a sitcom locally.  This is not even remotely a legitimate function of municipal government.  And local blogger Billy Jones alleges a quid pro quo that ought to outrage citizens across the city-- if true.  He thinks the council's approval to develop the east Greensboro shopping center was part of a deal to make the old downtown Greensboro Inn property available to create a park near the proposed performing arts center.  If true, it would reinforce the old verity that characterizes Greensboro politics:  Melderec con Simkins corruption.

General Assembly

Good legislation passed by the General Assembly makes it much more difficult for localities to use certificates of participation to borrow without voter approval.  In addition, the General Assembly is requiring truth and transparency regarding the purpose and nature of proposed bond issues.  Apparently some municipalities have been profoundly unethical regarding, say, parks bonds used to fund coliseum projects; and transportation bonds used to fund greenways.  Does any of this sound vaguely familiar to you?  If  so, then perhaps you live in Greensboro.

In Raleigh, we see some good stuff, but we also see some bad stuff.  Republicans are having difficulty agreeing on a budget and a tax reform plan.   The problem is that moderates, including Thom Tillis and Governor McCrory, are resisting the more conservative Senate's attempts to make some transformational changes in the state's tax code and to reduce spending.  One of the problems we face is that, when Republicans attain power, they tend not to shrink government and reduce spending.  Unfortunately, the overall trajectory of spending points upward regardless of which party assumes power.  It is merely the slope or the rate of increase that might be different between the two parties.  This, of course, is a recipe for incremental, massive growth of government over a period of time.  We need only look at the last century of American history to understand that.

Watt Double-Dealing?

Sometimes the MSM demonstrates its bias because of the stories it does not cover.  There was recently some litigation over redistricting in the state of North Carolina arguing that majority black districts, such as those created under the Voting Rights Act, are no longer needed.  What was Congressman Mel Watt's testimony?

Watt and other black politicians testified that racially polarized voting doesn't exist in their areas anymore or has decreased dramatically, and so majority-black districts aren't needed there for black candidates to  succeed.

And yet, a few days ago when the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated key parts of the Voting Rights Act, Watt responded as follows:

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt of Charlotte, whose 12th District has been the subject of no less than four Voting Rights cases that went to the U.S. Supreme Court, said the ruling “leaves millions of Americans vulnerable to discrimination in the most fundamental right of citizenship – the right to vote.”

I will leave it up to the reader as to whether these contrasting statements represent intentional duplicity on Watt's part.  But ordinarily, the watchdog media, ever vigilant over politicians' misstatements, should be concerned over the possibility that Watt might have perjured himself in court several weeks ago.   After all, perjury is a big deal-- especially for a fellow being considered for a top post in the Obama administration.

Read more here: http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/morning_memo_from_voting_rights_to_marriage_nc_eyes_turn_to_scotus#storylink=cpy

 

 

 

A Better Approach to Medicaid for Governor McCrory

A couple of weeks ago, I shared some of my impressions at the Greensboro Guardian regarding Governor McCrory's Medicaid reform initiative.  My thoughts were shaped in part by a meeting I attended in Winston-Salem hosted by HHS Secretary Aldona Wos and Carol Steckler, the director of the Division of Medical Assistance.

What is the bottom line?  McCrory and his staff unfortunately appear to be headed toward a statist, big government approach to Medicaid reform.  They are creating "entities" that will function much like the Accountable Care Organizations (ACO's) established under Obamacare.  They seemed poised to jump on a number of trendy bandwagons that are largely untested and unproven. 

They are concerned about rising Medicaid costs; but they seem to be convinced that one of the keys to fixing this problem is to change the behavior of physicians and other health care providers.  It is therefore necessary to influence and/or control their decisions through the use of proxy organizations or "entities".

They don't say a word about the true drivers of Medicaid inflation-- the program's incorporation of both third party insurance coverage and first dollar coverage.  They don't even try to address another key driver-- the epidemic of single parent families in the state of North Carolina.

They don't really talk about incorporating true free market principles.  And they don't even pretend to adopt a "limited government" approach. 

We don't see any effort to change the behavior of Medicaid recipients and their families.  Instead, the McCrory administration is apparently seeking to put pressure on providers to behave in certain ways through the use of quasi-ACO's.

We don't see a concerted effort to identify and achieve cost economies.  Nor do we see a comprehensive approach to reduce dependency.

A couple of things must be understood.  First, North Carolina Medicaid already employs several managed care approaches.  For instance, it employs a drug formulary; requires precertification of expensive diagnostic tests; and usually requires that any referrals be provided by the patient's primary care physician.  Perhaps these tasks could be managed better.  But we ought not presume that the current Medicaid program in North Carolina does not incorporate managed care techniques.

Second, Medicaid is supposed to be a health insurance program for the impoverished.  However, in North Carolina, the program covers many children from working class and lower middle class families.  It gives these families a huge incentive to forego the purchase of private group health insurance; and teaches them that providing health care for their kids is not their own primary responsibility. 

Third, Medicaid covers many optional services that have virtually nothing to do with the direct provision of medical care.  Many of us are familiar, for instance, with the huge fraud that systematically takes place when families structure their estate planning to protect assets while simultaneously enabling Medicaid coverage of future nursing home stays.

What can be done to tame Medicaid costs?  Here are some ideas:

1. Institute higher required copayments, and limit the number of visits covered per year.   These approaches were actually included in at least one version of the North Carolina Senate's proposed budget.  These changes would give recipients a greater financial stake when they seek medical care; and would motivate them to access care in a responsible manner.

2.  Set a high deductible to be coupled with a medical savings account funded by the state.  If Medicaid recipients perceive they are using their own money when accessing care, they will do so more responsibly.

3. Set a time limit on benefits.  For instance, two years.

4. Decrease or eliminate the optional services covered.  Civitas listed numerous optional services funded by Medicaid.   There is no requirement for the state to fund all of these; and we ought to be having conversations about which to cut back or eliminate.

5. Reduce eligibility, especially for minors.

6. Change the process of applying for charity benefits by orienting it toward work.  Institute work requirements for parents and recipients, as appropriate; and provide coordinated, automatic job placement referral.  Make the process of applying for Medicaid akin to entering a "Work Center".

7. Make adjustments so the single parent family is not incentivized, and the two-parent family is not penalized.  Don't make it much more likely that a minor will be excluded from coverage if there is an intact two-parent family.  Also, set an arbitrary future date-- for instance, two or three years hence.  And inform the public that new applications for children from single parent families will no longer be accepted after that arbitrary date.

Yes, I know that the federal government likely will not allow some of these approaches.  And I know that some Republicans will feel that some of these are politically unwise. 

But let's remember that the Republican Party holds itself up to be the party of limited government, low regulation and minimal interference in private markets.  And we often see the party represent itself as pro-family.  And yet, the reality is sometimes that Republicans embrace solutions that represent big government; high amounts of regulation; and the perpetuation of incentivizing single parent families.  The McCrory administration's Medicaid reform initiative is but one example.

I think that Governor McCrory can do much better with his well-intended efforts to control and manage Medicaid costs.  He can genuinely adopt free markets and low regulation-- instead of high-regulation approaches.  He can embrace limited government instead of big government.  He can try to change the behavior of Medicaid recipients and their families in a manner that reduces costs.  He can earnestly promote the formation and maintenance of two-parent families, and thereby reduce the huge swell of potential applicants to the Medicaid program.  He can seek to reduce dependency.  He can cut costs by reducing  both eligibility for coverage and also services covered.

There is a better way to handle this challenge.  Let's hope the McCrory administration finds it.

Greetings

I am pleased to announce the start-up of a new blog.  Triad Conservative will be devoted to commentary and news on local and state issues.  In addition, cultural, pro-life and pro-family matters will be discussed.  Finally, we will cover health policy and perhaps other topics as time permits.

I will be posting here approximately twice weekly; and will be running the blog. 

But Charles Davenport-- the best columnist the Greensboro News and Record ever had-- will post here periodically also.

Would you like to receive our new posts automatically?  If so, please go here to sign up.  

Please note that this new blog has a comment policy.  It is found on our "About" page.  The policy reads as follows:

Respectful comments that contribute to the conversation are welcome. There is a required sign-in process; and all comments will be moderated. We reserve the right to edit or to refrain from publishing comments that contain profanity or indecency; or that, in our judgment, are unacceptably inappropriate.

This blog is initiated in response to Charles' decision to cease any new activity at the Greensboro Guardian.  I appreciate very much his allowing me to post there over the last year or so.  

The Guardian certainly will be missed.  Charles has decided to write a book and pursue other endeavors; but I eagerly anticipate his contributions here.

Welcome aboard!

Joe Guarino