Triad Conservative

Greensboro/ Guilford Identity Politics Update

The last several weeks are no exception to the usual flow of history in these parts. We witnessed several blatant examples of the local left using identity politics to achieve their ends. 

Here are some specifics:

1. An angry, disorderly crowd descended on a Greensboro City Council meeting to demand the scalp of the police chief in the wake of the Marcus Smith incident. Notwithstanding the fact that there was clearly no intent to harm Mr. Smith-- and, in fact, that the police were actually trying to help him-- the left must still go for the jugular. Now, several council members are urging a special investigation of the incident outside of the usual pattern. Once again, the objective is to depose the all-too-white police chief.
2. The "Cure Violence" proposal pushed by Skip Alston is receiving attention from Guilford County authorities. This is a program to throw money at Yvonne Johnson's non-profit to create an affectation of preventing crime and saving lives. The county is giving this consideration even though the problem of black-on-black violence in our area is mostly a city of Greensboro problem.
3. Board of County Commissioners chairman Alan Branson correctly called out the democratic socialist black commissioners for slamming prospective employers with racial demands. Quotas and set-asides are unethical and immoral, and ought to be resisted. But the black commissioners did not appreciate his critical discussion of their tendency to impose identity politics. They gave Branson a tongue-lashing at the very next meeting. It was almost as if  their mother's milk-- their very sustenance-- was being taken away. Branson regrettably apologized to them during the public meeting after they targeted him even though the public square in Greensboro is absolutely sullied with these types of demands.

I differ from Branson in one key respect. He attempted to make the case that corporations would find such racial demands undesirable. Ordinarily, I would have agreed in the past. However, after watching the response of the corrupted corporate community to HB2 in North Carolina, it is obvious that a sharp left turn has been taken. Perhaps they would enjoy being told that ten percent of those they hire must be from a certain group, and five percent from another group.

Good News on State Health Plan?

The awful GOP majority in the North Carolina House passed its effective repeal of State Treasurer Dale Folwell's changes to the State Health Plan earlier this week. This was a massive poke in the eye of the taxpayer. The recorded vote is found here. The House GOP leadership forced a vote even though more democratic socialists than Republicans actually voted for the bill.

But there is still hope for Folwell's plan. Dan Way writes at Carolina Journal: 

(T)he Senate appears less eager to interfere with the operations of the State Health Plan, says the office of Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham.

“Senator Berger thinks that the hospital industry and the treasurer should continue their negotiations, and he would be hesitant to involve the legislature in micromanaging a plan that we authorized the treasurer to manage just a few years ago,” spokesman Pat Ryan said.

It would be outstanding if Phil Berger refuses to allow this bill to advance in the Senate. Sticking it in the Rules Committee to die would be an excellent outcome. Recognition is due when Senate Republicans demonstrate more conservative integrity than their counterparts in the House. Let's hope it happens this time.

Need to Deliver on Promises

NC GOP Indictments a Consequence of Being Unprincipled

The news today was jarring. Whereas yesterday GOP state chairman Robin Hayes was announcing he was not running for re-election this year because of health issues, today it was announced his indictment by the feds.

An indictment does not prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. But this is a stunning fall.

Some of us recall how another Tea Party-aligned state chairman, Hasan Harnett, was deposed from his position by the state GOP establishment in part because of his alleged inability to raise funds. It is an open question as to whether this indictment provides a window to learn about the manner in which Robin Hayes raised funds.

Harnett was likely removed from his position because he was a more principled conservative than the characteristic establishment functionaries; and because they did not want Tea Party types taking over the state party.

This indictment, however, is illustrative of the current state of the North Carolina GOP. We have seen the performance of our two Republican U.S. Senators. We have seen the performance of the GOP-led North Carolina House, and the unfortunate direction even in the North Carolina Senate. We witnessed the leadership of our most recent GOP governor.

When a party and its elected officials become unprincipled, then the primary interest becomes paying off one's donors; and perpetuating one's hold on power for the sake of holding power. The focus is not to advance a bona fide conservative agenda. This is what we have seen all too often.

One suspects that Robin Hayes might be the tip of an iceberg.

The GOP's control of the General Assembly is at risk. The media will not let this go; and in fact they will magnify it whenever possible. Perhaps Trump will somehow save them during 2020.

Political fundraising is very difficult; and the temptation to satisfy mega-donors must be intense. There can be a fine line between contributions given because of a candidate's proclivities; versus contributions given in exchange for some type of unmerited, favorable treatment.

I sympathize with conservatives who are staunch Republicans. What afflicts them? It is not merely Lucy's repeated pulling of the football from beyond the reach of Charlie Brown's extended foot. The tendency to stick with such a corrupted organization suggests that many believe no other option exists.

But that is simply untrue.

Obama's Involvement in Russia Probe

Now, Let's Do the Russia Reset

Srdja Trifkovic, Chronicles:

Now that the Russian Collusion Myth has been revealed to be a mendacious conspiracy by the Deep State, the Democratic Party and the media, President Donald Trump needs to move on with his election promise to improve relations with Moscow. That is a geopolitical and civilizational necessity.

It is essential to note that the same neolib-neocon conspiratorial cabal which manufactured the Collusion out of whole cloth also contains America’s morbidly Russophobic heart of darkness...

The list is long and predictable in its chief contours: All of these people want Trump dead and they also want Russia eradicated from the map, or carved up...

These people’s motives for hating Trump and hating Russia are rooted in rather similar forms of malevolent ideological obsessions. They hate all American deplorables inhabiting the flyover country because they are rather similar to most Russians: white, Christian, non-postmodernized, free from self-hate and morbid introspection, not ashamed of their ancestors, unwilling to surrender their country to alien multitudes, unobsessed by transgender bathrooms, microaggressions, and other “issues” indicative of a society’s moral and intellectual decrepitude.

In order for the real reset in relations with Russia to be possible—and this is, let me repeat, an urgent geopolitical and civilizational necessity—these people need to be fought mercilessly, now that they are down...

People spewing raw hate and fear-mongering—both on the character and motives of the President of the United States and on the character and intentions of his opposite number in the Kremlin—must be stopped. They are deranged and dangerous: we have not seen anything like the discourse they deploy even in the darkest days of the Cold War.

Over the past two years Trump may have been serious about the Reset, but as we’ve seen after Helsinki last summer the Deep State/media counterpressure proved just too great. A solid rejection front now extends even into his own team (Pence, Pompeo, Bolton . . . ) and has so far inhibited him from making moves that could have appeared influenced by “collusion.” It is time to discard that burden and do the right thing.

The realist assessment is clear: the U.S. and Russia have no “existential” differences, and share many actual and potential commonalities. As I have written before (see Chronicles, May 2017),

Russophobic mania prolongs the European civil war which exploded in July 1914, continued in 1939, and has never properly ended . . . not even with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It would be in the American interest, as well as Russia’s and Europe’s, for that conflict to end, so that the existential challenge common to all—that of resurgent jihad and Europe’s demographic crisis—can be properly addressed.

This is, in fact, one of the greatest casualties of the entire Russian Collusion hoax that was perpetrated against Trump. The prospects for more peace with Russia ought to be a priority, especially because China is a much greater competitive threat and a more dangerous potential long-term adversary. We need to understand that the European Union has become much worse than Russia in some important respects.

NC Senate GOP Proposes Bill to Require Involuntary Servitude in Health Care Industry

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

This amendment was passed in the wake of the Civil War. Slavery was to be a thing of the past.

The North Carolina Constitution, Article I, Section 17 also prohibits involuntary servitude.

The North Carolina Senate GOP, however, has other ideas. A bill has been introduced to address the phenomenon of out-of-network charges in the health care environment. It attempts to deal with the phenomenon of physicians who do not have a contract with certain insurance companies. If these physicians see patients insured by plans with which they do not participate, they would be required to accept a certain fee determined by the state. They would not be free to set their own fee.

This is involuntary servitude. The physician is often required to see the patient because of certain obligations. He or she has no choice in many instances. The state then tells this physician he must accept a certain fee even though there is no contract.

The Senate GOP is attempting to solve a problem that irks some health care consumers. And the patient is typically in no position to "shop around" when in the hospital environment. But the solution they propose steps way over the line. It is a statement that the patient has a right to the physician's service at a predetermined fee even though it is otherwise a private transaction. And it seems to affect many services provided outside of the hospital environment. 

This is statism. It is socialism. And it is being pushed by Republicans.

Among the GOP senators who have no problem with involuntary servitude are Ralph Hise, Joyce Krawiec and Rick Gunn. Krawiec represents part of Forsyth County; and Gunn represents part of Alamance and Guilford Counties. These three are among those sponsoring or co-sponsoring the legislation.

What the Schools Were, What they Became, and What they Should Be

Local GOP U.S. District Court Judge Invalidates NC Pro-Life Law

The North Carolina General Assembly had passed a ban on abortions performed after the 20th week of pregnancy. The news yesterday was that U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen invalidated this law, ruling that it violates the pregnant mother's constitutional right to abortion after 20 weeks. 

He argued that the doctor gets to decide when the unborn child is viable-- which is utterly absurd.

Of course, there is no constitutional right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution; and there never has been one. Nor should there be.

Osteen was nominated to serve on the federal bench by President George W. Bush. His father had been a well-respected, solid federal district court judge; and was a committed Christian.

I am told that the current Judge Osteen was raised Southern Baptist; but later migrated to liberal mainline Presbyterianism. This denomination, of course, is notoriously pro-abortion and pro-homosexual marriage. Some readers will recall how he punted when a challenge to North Carolina's marriage amendment came before his court a few years ago. He had the opportunity to write a rigorous, sound defense of our state's marriage amendment; but he refused to do so.

We are told we must have Republican U.S. Senators so that we can have confirm good judges. But what if the Republican-nominated judges like Osteen turn out to be worthless? What is our recourse at that point?

NC House GOP Shafts Taxpayers

The latest act in a longstanding drama took place today.

NC State Treasurer Dale Folwell, in yeoman fashion, has been fighting for the taxpayers with his proposal to adopt a new reimbursement strategy for the State Health Plan. But special interests-- especially the state's hospital systems-- rebelled against these changes. They have bought-and-paid-for legislators on both sides of the aisle in the NC House to whom they have extended sizable campaign contributions.

Today, a House committee headed by Republican Rep. Greg Murphy-- a physician-- voted to place Folwell's plan on a long-term hold. 

Interestingly, Murphy is running in the 3rd Congressional District for the seat previously held by the late Walter Jones. Murphy is a moderate/progressive Republican who tries to present himself as a conservative. He has recently voted for the massive school bond issue; and also has proposed a massive new health care entitlement program in North Carolina called Carolina Cares.

Murphy had the power to stop this bill in its tracks; but he refused to do so.

The Daily Haymaker has previously reported that shooting down Folwell's plan will easily cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Some conservatives refer to legislators like Murphy as "RINO's". However, that is a misnomer, because Murphy is behaving precisely in the same manner that Republican elected officials typically behave. While the bill has other hurdles to clear, it is anticipated it will pass the corrupt GOP-controlled NC House. Leadership clearly wants this bill to pass.

Let's hope the NC Senate stands firm against this chicanery.

And let's hope also that eastern North Carolina GOP primary voters repudiate Murphy in the upcoming primary. But there is no guarantee, because a few apparent conservatives running in the primary will split the conservative vote. Moreover, the GOP primary electorate can be severely lacking in various ways.