1 00:00:04,839 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,599 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,480 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,519 --> 00:00:16,679 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,719 --> 00:00:19,199 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,559 go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:25,120 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 8 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,679 smartphone or tablet, and again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,719 --> 00:00:31,600 your support. It's Tuesday, It's noon, and that means we 10 00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:34,920 speak with Andrew Dunn. He is a publisher over at 11 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:39,560 long Leaf Politics longleafpol dot com and a contributing columnist 12 00:00:39,719 --> 00:00:42,000 to The Charlotte Observer. Andrew, how are you, sir? 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,119 Speaker 2: Oh, I'm fantastic. 14 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 3: How are you? 15 00:00:44,759 --> 00:00:48,679 Speaker 1: I'm not quite fantastic, but I'm okay. So that's good. 16 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:51,920 So you've got a bunch of pieces up at long 17 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:55,439 Leaf Politics and over at the Charlotte Observer as well. 18 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,159 So let's start there. At the paper. You've got a 19 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,320 piece that public I guess yesterday two new incidents show 20 00:01:02,359 --> 00:01:05,879 why North Carolina should not let schools keep secrets, and 21 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,840 one of them is this rgerie Kel High School principal 22 00:01:10,879 --> 00:01:14,840 who was suspended with pay back on May second. And 23 00:01:14,879 --> 00:01:18,719 then there's the Randolph Middle School principal who was also suspended, 24 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,599 although it also seems like it may be related to 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,959 her being attacked by a parent. So that's like, that's 26 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,959 a rough day. You get suspended with pay but also 27 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,120 strangled in your office by an angry parent. So what 28 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,400 did this prompt that? What? These two cases rather prompted 29 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,640 your op ed? But you're using it to, as we 30 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,840 always like to see, offer a solution here for the 31 00:01:44,879 --> 00:01:48,200 public and parents who don't actually know why these two 32 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:49,920 principles were suspended. 33 00:01:51,159 --> 00:01:54,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And both of those incidents came to light 34 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,640 within hours of each other, really, and they're very similar. 35 00:01:58,719 --> 00:02:03,200 You know, the principles essentially go missing. Parents eventually start 36 00:02:03,239 --> 00:02:05,680 asking what's going on. The school sends out a note 37 00:02:05,719 --> 00:02:08,879 saying that they're away from some time, and you know, 38 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,280 to their credit. Journalists in the city, you know, ask 39 00:02:11,439 --> 00:02:15,039 cms put in public records requests. But all they're able 40 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,560 to find out is that they were suspended. There's no 41 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,800 details on why, for how long, anything like that. And 42 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,879 when you dig into it, it's because the state public 43 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,840 records law doesn't require anything other than that, all the 44 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,560 public is entitled to know is that someone was suspended, 45 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,400 not why. And that's actually fairly unusual when you look 46 00:02:39,439 --> 00:02:41,560 around the country. You know, every state has its own 47 00:02:41,599 --> 00:02:46,360 public records laws, and most of them require a little 48 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,199 bit more detail, you know, to at least give the 49 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,240 general reasons or length of time for the suspension. And 50 00:02:53,319 --> 00:02:55,879 so it'd be a relatively easy fix for the General 51 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,680 Assembly to go in and update public records laws just 52 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,680 to re w are a little more transparency there. You know, 53 00:03:02,719 --> 00:03:05,599 in my mind, you know, I've got four kids, several 54 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,199 of them at CMS, and you know, principles really do matter. 55 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,159 I mean, they're they're public officials that are highly visible, 56 00:03:13,319 --> 00:03:15,879 you know, really influential in a school, and you know, 57 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,159 parents really just deserve to know what's going on with them. 58 00:03:20,719 --> 00:03:22,159 Speaker 1: Yeah. I thought you had a really good line where 59 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:25,159 you say it's more than just communication, it's about accountability. 60 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,199 It's about whether families are treated as partners or bystanders 61 00:03:29,319 --> 00:03:32,960 in public education. And that is like that is I 62 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,479 think sort of the dividing line in where a lot 63 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:40,199 of conservatives that really kind of blew up during the pandemic, 64 00:03:40,599 --> 00:03:43,120 where parents started pushing back on some of the stuff 65 00:03:43,159 --> 00:03:44,840 saying well, well, well wait a minute. You know, this 66 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,000 is my kid and I want to be informed of 67 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,599 what it is that you're teaching them. And you saw 68 00:03:51,599 --> 00:03:54,840 a lot of pushback from school systems that you know, 69 00:03:54,919 --> 00:03:57,919 want to just kind of keep the parents at arm's length. 70 00:03:58,159 --> 00:04:01,800 And you're not part of the your kids education when 71 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:03,520 they're in the school, and so you don't get a 72 00:04:03,599 --> 00:04:05,479 say you don't need to know this stuff, we'll take 73 00:04:05,479 --> 00:04:08,840 care of it all. And what are the chances then 74 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:13,039 that you could get the General Assembly to change this 75 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,920 law because you mentioned this Government Transparency Act of twenty 76 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,879 twenty five and it did not make the crossover deadline. 77 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,279 So what you're thinking gutting stuff instead? Like you you 78 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:26,519 find a bill that's not going anywhere and you rip 79 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,000 out the language and insert some other language. 80 00:04:29,639 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 2: I mean, that's always possible. It could even be part 81 00:04:32,519 --> 00:04:33,360 of the budget bill. 82 00:04:33,519 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 3: You know. 83 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 2: There if the General Assembly wants to do something, they 84 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,680 tend to find a way to do it. True, you know, 85 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,040 to your point earlier, you know the General Assembly has 86 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,160 done a lot a lot of good work around you know, 87 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,439 parental rights. You know, the Parents Bill of Rights I 88 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,360 was a big proponent of that passed a year or 89 00:04:51,399 --> 00:04:54,720 two ago. That's given parents a lot more visibility into 90 00:04:54,759 --> 00:04:58,079 what's going on at their kids' school. And this is 91 00:04:58,399 --> 00:05:02,439 you know, it's related, it's not obviously related. And that's 92 00:05:02,439 --> 00:05:04,120 why I wanted to write the op ed is to 93 00:05:04,319 --> 00:05:07,279 kind of, you know, to tie those two things together. 94 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: Let's shift gears and look at the election twenty twenty six, 95 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,959 because it's never too early to start looking a year 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,399 ahead for the campaigns. And Justice Anita Earles is going 97 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:21,920 to be on the ballot. She is one of two Democrats. 98 00:05:21,959 --> 00:05:25,360 Alison Riggs just fought that long fight with Jefferson Griffin, 99 00:05:25,399 --> 00:05:29,519 the Republican challenger. She maintains her seat on the Supreme Court. 100 00:05:29,879 --> 00:05:32,959 And Anita Earls is the other Democrat appointed, well, she 101 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:37,399 was appointed initially, she did win her election, but she's 102 00:05:37,439 --> 00:05:40,480 going to be up for reelection next year. And you 103 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,639 are really looking forward to this race, I take it. 104 00:05:45,199 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 2: No, I am absolutely dreading it. 105 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 3: And you know the. 106 00:05:49,079 --> 00:05:51,959 Speaker 2: Reason why I wrote that piece is we're just you know, 107 00:05:52,199 --> 00:05:56,639 Anita Earl. Justice Earls is starting to hit the stump speeches. 108 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,240 You know, she had an event in Durham where she 109 00:05:59,319 --> 00:06:02,639 posted some footage of and you know, her messaging is 110 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:05,240 exactly what you would think it would be. It's all 111 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:08,839 about threats to democracy and you know, democrats on the 112 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,519 Supreme Court as you know, the last hope of freedom, 113 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,959 and it just makes me roll my eyes. I hate 114 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:20,519 that kind of rhetoric. You know, it's really seeped into 115 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,720 kind of all corners of our nation's political life, you know, 116 00:06:24,879 --> 00:06:29,000 really apocalyptic language, and I think it does a disservice 117 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,560 to everyone, and I think voters are getting tired of it. 118 00:06:33,079 --> 00:06:36,360 But because of this huge, long debacle we just had 119 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,839 with Jefferson Griffin, I think that voters are going to 120 00:06:38,879 --> 00:06:41,560 be a little bit more receptive to it. And I 121 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,360 think Justice Earls is just going to raise an unbelievable 122 00:06:46,399 --> 00:06:48,879 amount of money. I went in and looked at some 123 00:06:48,959 --> 00:06:51,639 of the dollar figures, and the cost of a Supreme 124 00:06:51,639 --> 00:06:53,720 Court seat has really gone up a ton over the 125 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:58,199 past ten years. You know, the Sherry Beasley Paul Newby race, 126 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,639 which really wasn't that ago. That was twenty twenty, you know, 127 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,319 that was a three million dollar race. Alison Riggs raised 128 00:07:05,439 --> 00:07:09,879 five million herself just this past year, and Jefferson Griffin 129 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,879 had two million on top of that. I think Earls 130 00:07:12,959 --> 00:07:14,600 is going to just blow that out of the water. 131 00:07:14,639 --> 00:07:17,480 It's going to be a ten million dollar Supreme Court race, 132 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,480 so the airwaves will be packed with this doom and gloom, 133 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:23,399 death of democracy stuff. 134 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: Do you think the cost of the races is tied 135 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,079 to the increase in lawfare essentially? 136 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 2: I think that's a big part of it. I think also, 137 00:07:35,399 --> 00:07:39,439 you know, national interest groups have really set their sights 138 00:07:39,519 --> 00:07:43,360 on the Supreme Court seats in North Carolina. If you 139 00:07:43,439 --> 00:07:50,399 look at Alison Riggs donations in this past cycle, pages 140 00:07:50,439 --> 00:07:53,079 and pages, thousands and thousands of them were you know, 141 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,959 they show up as aggregated individual contributions and basically what 142 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,639 that means is, you know it's Act Blue. Yes, when 143 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,759 people are clicking on a Facebook ad and donating ten 144 00:08:02,879 --> 00:08:06,160 twenty dollars and that's going to be ramped up really 145 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:09,480 high in this race, and it's a great way to 146 00:08:09,519 --> 00:08:12,040 get millions of dollars that you don't know where it's 147 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:12,600 coming from. 148 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,759 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, we've covered the Act Blue scandal in my 149 00:08:15,879 --> 00:08:18,199 I mean, to me, it's obviously a scandal, but it 150 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,240 does not get nearly the attention it should. But at 151 00:08:20,319 --> 00:08:23,199 least they I think they did put in. They put 152 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,720 in a safeguard that they had been ignoring for years prior, 153 00:08:25,879 --> 00:08:29,279 so I don't know, maybe it's a little bit better. Also, 154 00:08:29,759 --> 00:08:32,240 your talk about the you know, this language of the 155 00:08:32,279 --> 00:08:36,600 apocalypse in all of these campaign stump speeches. My concern 156 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:38,879 with that as well is that it creates a permission 157 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:44,000 structure for basically anything, because if if the alternative is 158 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:49,879 utter apocalypse, then you're justified almost in doing really anything 159 00:08:49,919 --> 00:08:52,480 to prevent that. It's like the it's like the comparisons 160 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:54,679 to Hitler and Nazis. It's it's like, well, if you're 161 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:57,360 trying to prevent Hitler from taking over, you can really 162 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,159 do just about anything. And that's the concern I have 163 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,720 with that kind of language as well. Now, absolutely, yeah, 164 00:09:06,039 --> 00:09:08,240 on the House or on the budget side of things, 165 00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:12,000 we've been kind of in this lull between Memorial Day 166 00:09:12,039 --> 00:09:13,799 and now they're coming back and you've got the House 167 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,039 with its budget proposal, you've got the Senate with its 168 00:09:16,039 --> 00:09:20,120 budget proposal. Both of them are Republican controlled, but their 169 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,320 budget proposals are are pretty different. They spend the same 170 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:27,600 amount of money, but they do it differently. So what 171 00:09:27,759 --> 00:09:30,200 is you talk about in your piece over at long 172 00:09:30,279 --> 00:09:34,440 leave politics. The difference in philosophy between the House approach 173 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,360 and the Senate approach. So what's the difference in the philosophy. 174 00:09:38,879 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean there's always been a difference in a 175 00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:44,480 House and a Senate budget. You know, the Senate tends 176 00:09:44,519 --> 00:09:48,320 to be a little bit more conservative, you know, with 177 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,200 lower spending levels, lower taxes. The House has always been 178 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:53,480 a little bit more spending. 179 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:53,799 Speaker 3: You know. 180 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,519 Speaker 2: The House is more willing to, you know, allocate a 181 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,840 little bit more or to so that sort of thing. 182 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:03,440 I think a lot of it has to do with 183 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:05,799 how many more members there are in the House, and 184 00:10:05,879 --> 00:10:09,120 everybody wants their own little little project to be a 185 00:10:09,159 --> 00:10:12,519 part of the budget. But this year it's it's unusually 186 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,000 divergent between the House and the Senate. You know, as 187 00:10:16,039 --> 00:10:18,960 you mentioned, the top line spending figure is the same. 188 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,799 The big difference is on taxes. You know, the Senate 189 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:28,039 proposes actually accelerating the tax cuts. There's been tax cuts planned. 190 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:30,840 You know, it's going to keep the personal income text 191 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,440 is set to steadily drop over the next couple of years. 192 00:10:34,919 --> 00:10:39,759 The House proposal actually pauses that and requires the state 193 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,559 to have higher levels of revenue before taxes drop again. 194 00:10:43,879 --> 00:10:46,440 Where the Senate just goes full on, we're actually going 195 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,919 to lock in some of these tax cuts. And because 196 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:51,960 of that, you know, the House has more spending. You know, 197 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,600 it has the fifty thousand dollars starting salary for teachers, 198 00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:01,000 where the Senate doesn't. Those are kind of the big differences. 199 00:11:01,039 --> 00:11:03,960 But you know, one of the other really unusual things 200 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:06,559 that I'm picking up on this year is the reaction 201 00:11:06,759 --> 00:11:09,200 to the two budgets. You know, the Senate put out 202 00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:14,039 their budget first a couple months ago and there wasn't 203 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,360 much reaction at all. But when the House dropped this budget, 204 00:11:18,399 --> 00:11:21,360 I mean, it got all sorts of support from from 205 00:11:21,399 --> 00:11:25,360 all corners, including from Democrats, which is just a completely 206 00:11:25,399 --> 00:11:28,240 different dynamic from what we've seen. You know, there was 207 00:11:28,519 --> 00:11:32,200 you never heard of Governor Cooper praise a Republican budget, 208 00:11:32,799 --> 00:11:35,960 so that was super unusual to see. 209 00:11:35,960 --> 00:11:40,279 Speaker 1: Right And in fact, the Club for Growth, and I've 210 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,519 got a copy of it, they went after they said, hey, 211 00:11:42,519 --> 00:11:45,399 we're gonna you know, we're gonna score this these budgets, 212 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,519 and we're not going to be cool if you guys 213 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,360 do this House budget and you say in your piece 214 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,759 that they threatened to blackball anybody who voted for it, 215 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,759 but then they quickly backed down, so I did not 216 00:11:54,879 --> 00:11:59,080 see the backing down. What happened? There any explanation given 217 00:11:59,120 --> 00:11:59,320 for that? 218 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 2: No, I mean everything just kind of quietly went away. Yeah, 219 00:12:04,519 --> 00:12:07,720 I think the post got deleted and haven't heard a 220 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,360 word about it since. I don't know who was picking 221 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,600 up the phone and saying don't do this. But I 222 00:12:14,639 --> 00:12:17,840 don't think that that will be a factor in the 223 00:12:18,039 --> 00:12:18,679 compromise and. 224 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: Negotiation, yeah, which are underway or about to be underway soon, 225 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,240 and we'll be following it. Andrew Dunn, I appreciate your 226 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,799 time as always, sir, great work as always, and we'll 227 00:12:27,799 --> 00:12:30,519 talk to you next week. All right, thank you, thank you. 228 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:32,960 That's Andrew Dunn. He is a contributing columnist at the 229 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,919 Charlotte Observer, and he is the publisher of long Leaf Politics. 230 00:12:36,159 --> 00:12:40,159 That website is longleafpol dot com. All right, if you're 231 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,960 listening to this show, you know I try to keep 232 00:12:42,039 --> 00:12:43,759 up with all sorts of current events, and I know 233 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,240 you do too, And you've probably heard me say get 234 00:12:46,279 --> 00:12:50,200 your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how 235 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,840 you detect media bias, which is why I've been so 236 00:12:52,919 --> 00:12:57,159 impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website, 237 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,600 and it combines news from around the world in one 238 00:12:59,639 --> 00:13:03,159 place so you can compare coverage and verify information. You 239 00:13:03,159 --> 00:13:06,720 can check it out at check dot ground, dot news 240 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,320 slash pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. 241 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,039 I started using ground News a few months ago and 242 00:13:13,159 --> 00:13:15,759 more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate 243 00:13:15,759 --> 00:13:19,120 because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered 244 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,080 and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which 245 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,000 stories get ignored by the left and the right. See 246 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:30,080 for yourself. Check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe 247 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:32,960 through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. 248 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,039 I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to 249 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,559 every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, 250 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,960 but it also supports ground News as they make the 251 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:48,919 media landscape more transparent. So the GOP controlled house in 252 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,320 North Carolina, the General Assembly. The House passed its budget 253 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:56,600 plan by a vote of ninety three to twenty and 254 00:13:57,639 --> 00:13:59,879 that earned some and that included by the way, the 255 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:06,679 three included twenty seven Democrats, which is more than half 256 00:14:06,799 --> 00:14:11,120 of the Democrat caucus. Right only twenty votes against the plan, 257 00:14:12,279 --> 00:14:16,919 even earning support from the House Minority Leader Robert Reeves. 258 00:14:17,519 --> 00:14:20,919 The Democrat leader, described the GOP authored proposal as a 259 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:25,759 quote negotiating document that's better than a plan proposed by 260 00:14:25,799 --> 00:14:30,000 the Senate. He said, quote, I voted for the House 261 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:33,039 budget understanding that there are a lot of policies I 262 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,320 disagree with and hope to see removed during the conference period. 263 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,440 You think that's going to happen? Okay, he says. The 264 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:47,120 House is serious about governing this state, and it is 265 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,200 up to the Senate to come to the table in 266 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:53,759 good faith. Now, I would be curious. I would be 267 00:14:53,799 --> 00:14:57,240 curious to see if the Senate were to just say, okay, 268 00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:01,559 House will do your plan, and then see how many 269 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,279 Democrats actually vote for the final version if it were 270 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,799 exactly the same. Would they still vote for the budget 271 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,840 if it were exactly the same as the one that 272 00:15:12,879 --> 00:15:17,480 they just voted for. Broadly speaking, this is according to 273 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:25,399 Will Duran, Emily Walkinhorst, and Paul Speckt at WRL. Broadly speaking, 274 00:15:25,399 --> 00:15:29,279 the House favors larger state employee raises than the Senate, 275 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:36,080 more state job cuts, and smaller income tax cuts. Right, 276 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:38,600 So those are sort of like the key takeaways here 277 00:15:38,639 --> 00:15:46,879 you've got smaller income tax cuts, more state jobs eliminated, 278 00:15:47,879 --> 00:15:53,240 but larger employee raises. Its budget plan proposes new types 279 00:15:53,279 --> 00:15:57,759 of tax reforms, like the return of the Baptist schools 280 00:15:57,799 --> 00:16:03,320 sales tax holiday gimmick. That's what that is. That's a gimmick. 281 00:16:06,159 --> 00:16:08,679 But on this one weekend, everybody gets to shop for 282 00:16:08,679 --> 00:16:12,919 stuff and there's no sales tax. Also no tax on tips. 283 00:16:16,159 --> 00:16:19,600 The Senate plan doesn't have that. State Representative Terry Brown, 284 00:16:19,799 --> 00:16:24,320 Democrat from Mecklenburg, said he appreciated Republican efforts to include 285 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:28,240 some initiatives that Democrats have sought for years, particularly the 286 00:16:28,399 --> 00:16:32,840 back to school sales tax holiday. See, because Democrats love 287 00:16:33,039 --> 00:16:39,000 imposing taxes and then giving carve outs. It's like the 288 00:16:39,279 --> 00:16:42,360 tax incentives, and Republicans do this too, in order to 289 00:16:42,679 --> 00:16:47,480 attract new businesses. Right at least, Republicans also say we 290 00:16:47,519 --> 00:16:51,559 should keep taxes low for all businesses so the existing 291 00:16:51,639 --> 00:16:55,559 ones can benefit as well from tax policy, rather than 292 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:01,559 having high corporate tax and then giving car vouts and 293 00:17:01,639 --> 00:17:06,880 forgiveness and you know, incentives for businesses to relocate here. 294 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,839 But Democrats, so that it's obvious why they like the 295 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,119 sales tax holiday, they want a sales tax, and then 296 00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:16,640 they want to be able to, you know, give people 297 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:22,599 a jubilee for certain periods of the year. This is 298 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,279 Terry Brown again, Democrat, Mecklenberg County state representative. He praised 299 00:17:26,279 --> 00:17:29,200 the House Republicans for taking measures to potentially avoid a 300 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:33,839 revenue shortfall. So this has been projected out in I 301 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,680 forget how long, I think it's about four years or 302 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:43,039 something away that there is this projection from the legislative 303 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:48,200 staff that there's going to be a budget shortfall, that 304 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,680 the revenue is not going to keep up with expenses 305 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,119 in like four or six years, whatever it is. And 306 00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:58,440 so Democrats have dare I say pounced seized Maybe they 307 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,599 have seized on this projection in order to argue against 308 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,799 any kind of tax cut, even though the Republican philosophy 309 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,920 is you cut the taxes and that generates more economic activity, 310 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:14,200 which increases revenue. Here's a great idea. How about making 311 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:17,279 an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in 312 00:18:17,319 --> 00:18:20,000 western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain 313 00:18:20,079 --> 00:18:23,440 and cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating 314 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,960 an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a 315 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:28,720 memorable proposal, or get family and friends together for a 316 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,160 big old reunion. 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I got 336 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,240 Mecklenburg County on the radar here said, I've Charlotte did 337 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:48,240 their budget straw vote last night. The chambers the House 338 00:19:48,319 --> 00:19:52,200 and Senate up in Raleigh. They do agree on some issues, 339 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,400 according to WRAL, such as a plan to free up 340 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,839 more than one hundred million dollars to help pay for 341 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:03,880 tax cuts by slashing spending on higher education and requiring 342 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,759 universities to raise tuition. They both also seek to eliminate 343 00:20:08,799 --> 00:20:13,960 state programs aimed at helping black, Hispanic and other minority communities, 344 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:17,680 with Republican politicians saying they want to root out pro 345 00:20:17,839 --> 00:20:23,720 diversity efforts within state government. Pro diversity efforts. That's the 346 00:20:23,759 --> 00:20:30,079 way WRAL frames the uprooting of the racisty DEI regime. 347 00:20:32,799 --> 00:20:34,319 Let's see, is there anything else that is a very 348 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,039 lengthy piece? Okay? So then I go to the Carolina Journal. 349 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:42,960 This a piece by Brianna Kramer Carolina Journal dot com. 350 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:48,440 Like the Senate proposal from April, the House budget from 351 00:20:48,799 --> 00:20:51,640 May will cost the same amount of money sixty six 352 00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:55,119 billion dollars over the next two fiscal years because they 353 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,920 do their budgets in two year cycles. And just real 354 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,119 quick that we're in the long session right now, which 355 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,519 is when they construct the two year biennium the budget, 356 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,680 and then next year they do a short session where 357 00:21:08,759 --> 00:21:13,200 they make minor adjustments to the budget theoretically, and they're 358 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,119 supposed to just do like some cleanup work. It's not 359 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,920 supposed to be a long session, although in years past 360 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,599 the short session has gone on quite long. Which I 361 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,200 would be in favor of an actual calendar, to put 362 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,079 everybody on a calendar. And I'm not just saying that 363 00:21:28,079 --> 00:21:30,640 because my last name is Calendar, which sounds a lot 364 00:21:30,839 --> 00:21:33,960 like calendar but is spelled totally differently. But I think 365 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,400 it would be helpful to put some deadlines in place, 366 00:21:36,559 --> 00:21:38,839 much like we have the crossover deadline, when the House 367 00:21:38,839 --> 00:21:40,759 and the Senate have to have all their bills filed 368 00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:43,680 and then cross over to the other chamber. It forces 369 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:49,440 the lawmakers to get stuff done. So sometimes these sessions 370 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,880 go on and on and on because there isn't a 371 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:56,559 specified end date. Anyway, the House aims to bolster pay 372 00:21:56,559 --> 00:21:59,519 from any taxpayer funded jobs to do so. The House 373 00:21:59,559 --> 00:22:05,559 plan reallocate savings from government efficiency efforts like defunding DEI programs. 374 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,839 See that's another way that you could report what WRAL 375 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:12,160 just told you. That'll bring in over ten million dollars 376 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:15,839 in a forthcoming amendment. They also plan to instruct agencies 377 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:19,880 to cut a percentage of vacant government positions just don't 378 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,200 fill them. So nobody's getting fired, they're just eliminating positions. 379 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,319 The House proposal would give a two and a half 380 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,680 percent across the board pay raise for state agency employees, 381 00:22:32,039 --> 00:22:36,720 community college staff, and UNC system personnel. It also provides 382 00:22:36,759 --> 00:22:40,000 state retirees with a one percent cost of living bonus 383 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,519 in year one and a two percent bonus in year two. 384 00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:49,680 Teachers they would see an eight point seven percent increase 385 00:22:49,799 --> 00:22:53,079 in their salary over the course of the two year 386 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,359 budget cycle, and so by the end of that two 387 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,000 year cycle they would be at fifty six thousand, five 388 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:03,720 five hundred and ninety three dollars a year. So fifty 389 00:23:03,759 --> 00:23:09,400 six and a half thousand dollars for the average or 390 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:14,359 sorry for the starting teacher salary, no experience starting teacher 391 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:19,880 pay fifty six and a half thousand dollars. The House 392 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:24,240 plan would also make North Carolina the number one state 393 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,359 in the Southeast for entry level teacher pay, which will then, 394 00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:33,880 of course prompt outrage from the veteran teachers. What about 395 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,119 teachers that have been here so long. See, when they 396 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,400 do one chunk at a time, the chunk that is 397 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:44,279 not addressed in the current chunk, they get outraged because 398 00:23:44,319 --> 00:23:46,720 this happened, and the left and the media. But I 399 00:23:46,759 --> 00:23:50,319 repeat myself, they they always they used the group that 400 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:54,079 didn't get the big bump this year to you know, 401 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,119 pummel the Republicans over. But then the next time around, 402 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,400 the Republicans go back and do them like in this case, 403 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,319 it would be the veteran teachers, and then they would 404 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:09,440 get an increase. This way, it's not all one big, 405 00:24:09,519 --> 00:24:13,799 massive budget hit all at one time. The plan would 406 00:24:13,839 --> 00:24:18,480 also restore master's pay to reward teachers who have pursued 407 00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:22,440 graduate school. The additional pay for teachers was previously funded 408 00:24:22,519 --> 00:24:26,839 up until twenty thirteen. Republicans got rid of this additional 409 00:24:27,079 --> 00:24:31,640 pay for masters. And I think that's for the masters 410 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,400 because I think they did reinstate the National Board certified 411 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,799 pay increase because at the time this was twelve years ago. 412 00:24:42,039 --> 00:24:45,680 They were pointing to studies that showed the teachers who 413 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,480 get master's degrees don't actually have there's no correlation to 414 00:24:49,599 --> 00:24:54,480 improved student outcomes. So why would you pay to have 415 00:24:54,799 --> 00:24:58,079 teachers get master's degrees just to give them more money 416 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,440 when it doesn't actually improve the performance of the students. 417 00:25:02,039 --> 00:25:04,440 The House wants to slow down the pace of income 418 00:25:04,519 --> 00:25:07,680 tax cuts scheduled for the next few years. This is 419 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:12,480 going to be a big riff between the two plans. 420 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,839 Back when the Republicans took over control of the General 421 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,279 Assembly in twenty ten, they won the election in twenty 422 00:25:18,279 --> 00:25:23,119 ten under maps, the Democrats drew themselves. I always point 423 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:28,359 that out. They won. They then took office in twenty eleven, 424 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:30,559 and one of the first things they did people dubbed 425 00:25:30,559 --> 00:25:34,640 it Rucho nomics, named after Bob Ruco, state senator from 426 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,519 Mecklenburg County, And he said, we're going to we're going 427 00:25:38,599 --> 00:25:42,200 to drive down the income tax rates, personal income tax 428 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:46,359 and corporate income tax. We're going to drive down these rates. 429 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,720 And Bob always wanted to get to zero. And so 430 00:25:49,759 --> 00:25:52,079 they said, okay, we're going to have triggers, right, So 431 00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:55,000 if we have a certain revenue growth, we have certain 432 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,279 economic activity right that we're not running deficits, then that 433 00:26:00,319 --> 00:26:03,759 will trigger the next cut of like a quarter point 434 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,200 or half a point. And so the triggers that are 435 00:26:08,319 --> 00:26:12,079 fixing to take hold or sorry, fixing the tackle, the 436 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,680 Senate wants to keep those, and the House wants to 437 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:19,240 pump the brakes on them. The personal income tax rate 438 00:26:19,319 --> 00:26:21,799 is scheduled to go from four and a quarter percent 439 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:26,960 down to three point ninety nine, so a quarter point 440 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,640 dropper twenty six point twenty six, and then the possibility 441 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:36,720 of further reductions would be down to two forty nine 442 00:26:36,759 --> 00:26:40,000 two point four nine percent, so a point and a 443 00:26:40,039 --> 00:26:43,599 half by the year twenty twenty nine. But again this 444 00:26:43,759 --> 00:26:46,839 is only if the triggers are hit. The budget would 445 00:26:46,839 --> 00:26:49,519 exempt the first five thousand dollars in tipped wages from 446 00:26:49,559 --> 00:26:52,039 personal income tax. Leaders also want to reinstate the back 447 00:26:52,079 --> 00:26:55,160 to school sales tax holiday weekend. That's why Democrats are 448 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,079 in love with it. Also, in line with disaster recovery, 449 00:26:58,079 --> 00:27:00,880 the House wants to replenish the sale savings reserve that 450 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,160 has been depleted through recovery aid to help western North 451 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:09,240 Carolina since Hurricane Helene. The state savings reserve balance has 452 00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:12,839 decreased from four point seventy five billion down to three 453 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,079 point six billion. Both the House and the Senate recommend 454 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:24,079 replenishing the account to its pre Hellene number. Other provisions 455 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:34,319 DMV privatization pilot program, Oh please please, disaster recovery redirects 456 00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:37,720 NC innovation funding, which I was never really sold on. 457 00:27:37,759 --> 00:27:41,880 That program funding would be diverted then to ongoing relief 458 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,680 and recovery efforts. They also want to throw fifty million 459 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,319 in grants to improve safety and security in schools across 460 00:27:48,599 --> 00:27:52,839 North Carolina. By the way, the DMV privatization pilot, it 461 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:56,759 would fund dozens of new positions at the DMV while 462 00:27:56,799 --> 00:28:02,920 authorizing a pilot program to test private license renewal services. 463 00:28:03,599 --> 00:28:07,640 And finally, from the Carolina Journal, the two chambers, you 464 00:28:07,759 --> 00:28:11,799 will now begin negotiating a final budget. And once the 465 00:28:11,799 --> 00:28:15,000 House passes its budget, which it did, the Senate then 466 00:28:15,799 --> 00:28:18,279 will have to vote not to concur or to concur. 467 00:28:18,559 --> 00:28:20,440 They're not going to concur, and so they're going to 468 00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:23,200 go into negotiations what's called the Conference committee, and we'll 469 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,000 see what happens from there. All right, So spring is 470 00:28:26,039 --> 00:28:31,359 here a time of renewal and celebrations. You've got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, 471 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,920 and the special days for mom and dad. Your family's 472 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:35,960 making memories that are going to last a lifetime. But 473 00:28:36,039 --> 00:28:39,079 let me ask you, are all of those treasured moments 474 00:28:39,079 --> 00:28:41,559 from days gone by? Are they hidden away on old 475 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,599 VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos slides? Are they preserved? 476 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,400 Because over time, these precious memories can fade and deteriorate, 477 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,279 losing the magic of yesterday. At Creative Video, they help 478 00:28:54,319 --> 00:28:58,039 you protect what matters most. Their expert team digitizes your 479 00:28:58,119 --> 00:29:01,480 cherished family moments and transfers them onto a USB drive, 480 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,960 freezing them in time so they can be enjoyed for 481 00:29:04,079 --> 00:29:07,440 generations to come. I urge you do not wait until 482 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,319 it's too late this spring, celebrate your past. Visit Creative 483 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,240 Video today and let them preserve your legacy with the 484 00:29:14,359 --> 00:29:18,160 love and care that it deserves. Creative Video Preserving Family 485 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,599 Memories since nineteen ninety seven. Located in mint Hill, just 486 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,759 off four eighty five. Mail orders are accepted to get 487 00:29:24,799 --> 00:29:28,720 all the details that create a video dot com. Let's 488 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,119 head over to the phones and speak with Bain. Hello, Bane, 489 00:29:31,119 --> 00:29:31,880 welcome to the show. 490 00:29:32,759 --> 00:29:33,799 Speaker 2: Thank you, pe sir. 491 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,319 Speaker 3: Question for you all right, How are vacancy's factored into 492 00:29:37,359 --> 00:29:42,319 the budgeting process. You always hear that a municipality will 493 00:29:42,359 --> 00:29:45,240 be short two hundred and fifty police officers or short 494 00:29:45,319 --> 00:29:49,359 one thousand teachers. Is then't there a surplus? 495 00:29:50,119 --> 00:29:53,839 Speaker 1: Well if they right, if they go unfilled right for 496 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:57,079 the whole year, then the municipality, like from a municipality, 497 00:29:57,079 --> 00:30:02,759 it may very well reallocate the funding someplace else, Okay, 498 00:30:03,079 --> 00:30:05,400 so that for just that year, like towards the end 499 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:07,200 of the year, they may end up with, you know, 500 00:30:07,279 --> 00:30:11,119 surplus revenue that was not used to pay for the 501 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,720 vacant positions, and so then they could turn around and 502 00:30:14,359 --> 00:30:17,000 spend it on like a one time spend or put 503 00:30:17,039 --> 00:30:20,559 it into savings or something. But for the teachers, it's 504 00:30:20,599 --> 00:30:24,880 a little bit different because the teacher allocation numbers are 505 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,039 based on attendance on I think they do the twentieth 506 00:30:28,119 --> 00:30:31,880 day count, so on day twenty of all new school years, 507 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,400 that's where that's how they allocate your funding levels, is 508 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,599 how many kids are in school on the twentieth day 509 00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:38,039 of school? 510 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 3: Got it? Okay? Thank you? 511 00:30:40,559 --> 00:30:42,759 Speaker 1: All right? Yes, sir, I mean I think that's true. 512 00:30:42,799 --> 00:30:45,759 I could be completely wrong, but I mean that's what 513 00:30:45,799 --> 00:30:50,759 I would do. So there's an organization called the Carolina 514 00:30:50,759 --> 00:30:56,000 Partnership for Reform North Carolina CPRNC dot org is their website, 515 00:30:56,599 --> 00:31:03,759 And this is a conservative organization, and they're calling this 516 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:10,079 House budget a Republican sponsored tax hike, and they said 517 00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:14,240 having no budget deal is a better outcome than this one. 518 00:31:15,039 --> 00:31:18,440 Raising taxes was such a bright red political line for 519 00:31:18,519 --> 00:31:21,759 North Carolina Republicans that when faced with a three point 520 00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:26,519 seven billion dollar state budget deficit during the Reform majority's 521 00:31:26,599 --> 00:31:29,319 very first budget cycle, as I mentioned back in twenty eleven, 522 00:31:30,119 --> 00:31:33,960 Conservatives allowed a scheduled one sense sales tax reduction and 523 00:31:34,039 --> 00:31:37,319 scheduled reduction of the personal and corporate income taxes to 524 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:42,000 go into effect. Democrats had put in place these quote 525 00:31:42,079 --> 00:31:47,400 unquote temporary taxes, and then they kept extending them. Because 526 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:52,119 the Democrats had built budgets that were structurally deficit laiden, 527 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:58,119 they could not figure out how to stop spending, because 528 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:02,039 the Democrat philosophy is, see penny, spend a penny, and oh, 529 00:32:02,039 --> 00:32:03,759 we get this revenue in this year, let's use it 530 00:32:03,799 --> 00:32:06,319 for ongoing operations, Like well, well, no, we don't know 531 00:32:06,359 --> 00:32:08,960 if the revenue next year is going to be as 532 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,039 it is this year. What if there's a recession, Right, 533 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,319 you want to grow your way out of these deficits. 534 00:32:16,359 --> 00:32:19,720 That's the Republican philosophy. Well at the state level, and 535 00:32:19,839 --> 00:32:25,200 well until now so Republican House Speaker at the time 536 00:32:25,319 --> 00:32:29,359 Tom Tillis and Senate President pro Tem Philberger correctly called 537 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:33,720 Democrat Governor Bev Purdues planned to delay those tax cuts 538 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,599 a tax increase. Right, These things were scheduled to sunset, 539 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:41,079 and she was like, don't let them sunset. And they said, well, 540 00:32:41,079 --> 00:32:46,480 that's a tax increase. Well, the same mentality then should 541 00:32:46,519 --> 00:32:50,640 apply now, right. The reform majority in the legislature adopted 542 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:56,200 a two pronged philosophy on taxes, Rutronomics, named after Bob Rujo, 543 00:32:56,279 --> 00:32:59,920 Senate Finance Committee chairman. The first part was that taxes 544 00:33:00,119 --> 00:33:03,119 like the income tax or the franchise tax, these things 545 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:08,599 penalized earning, wealth, generation, and holding assets. And they said 546 00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:14,279 that's unfair and a disincentivized investment, disincentivized productivity as well 547 00:33:14,279 --> 00:33:20,799 as work. Unlike income taxes, sales and excise taxes that 548 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,720 tax consumption and spending were fairer because they do not 549 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:28,920 disincentivise investment. Productivity and work. So that's the first part 550 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,400 of the philosophy. The second part was that tax policies 551 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:37,000 should not pick winners and losers. A single low tax 552 00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:41,519 rate across the board to a broad tax base was 553 00:33:41,559 --> 00:33:44,799 the fairest and most pro growth state tax policy. And 554 00:33:44,839 --> 00:33:48,359 to this end, legislators eliminated hundreds of millions, if not 555 00:33:48,519 --> 00:33:51,799 billions of dollars worth of tax loopholes and carve outs 556 00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,119 in order to flatten and reduce North Carolina's tax rates. 557 00:33:55,279 --> 00:33:59,839 And that philosophy paid enormous dividends for our state economy. 558 00:34:00,319 --> 00:34:04,319 It increased our state GDP. Family incomes have been rising 559 00:34:04,359 --> 00:34:07,039 over the last decade. We end up as the top 560 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:09,519 or one of the top states in the nation for 561 00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:15,000 business by Forbes, US news sites, Selection magazines right all 562 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,480 as a result of the conservative approach, North Carolina went 563 00:34:18,519 --> 00:34:21,039 from having the highest income taxes in the region to 564 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:24,920 the lowest income taxes in the region. And so now 565 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,599 you've got states that are copying us, And now you've 566 00:34:30,599 --> 00:34:34,000 got the House budget that is looking to slow down 567 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,679 this reform effort. And so what they're saying is a 568 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,599 vote for a budget proposal that increases personal income taxes 569 00:34:41,639 --> 00:34:45,400 on North Carolinians by over two billion dollars. The whole 570 00:34:45,559 --> 00:34:49,400 policy principle of the Reform majority, as they called themselves, 571 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:54,760 that's now in peril. The House increases the personal income 572 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:58,760 tax triggers by over three billion dollars this year and 573 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,679 by a staggering seven billion in later years to ensure 574 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:06,039 that North Carolina taxpayers will pay far more in personal 575 00:35:06,039 --> 00:35:10,079 income taxes than they would if the scheduled cuts in 576 00:35:10,199 --> 00:35:14,800 current law take effect. It's a tax increase according to 577 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:19,119 these conservatives. All right, that'll do it for this episode. 578 00:35:19,199 --> 00:35:21,280 Thank you so much for listening. I could not do 579 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,480 the show without your support and the support of the 580 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,519 businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, 581 00:35:26,679 --> 00:35:28,760 please support them too and tell them you heard it here. 582 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,440 You can also become a patron at my Patreon page 583 00:35:31,559 --> 00:35:35,119 or go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so 584 00:35:35,199 --> 00:35:41,840 much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.