Real private sector production is shrinking as the government grows. Metro DC has 6/10 of the wealthiest counties in the US, largely because of the city’s leading employer, the federal gov't
Why Did The Charlotte Observer Memory-Hole A Story On Kay Hagan’s Conflict Of Interest?
Admittedly, education is a far more appealing wedge issue than claiming one’s opponent plans to ban condoms, but lurking beneath the surface of the Hagan-Tillis race is a troubling ethics issue, one that has gone virtually unreported by North Carolina’s two largest newspapers, the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News and Observer: that Kay Hagan’s family, including her attorney husband “Chip” Hagan, her son, and her son-in-law, made out like bandits under the 2009 federal “stimulus” bill championed by Senator Hagan, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate buildings owned by their companies through solar power companies which, coincidentally, were also owned by the Hagan family. Instead, coverage of this potential conflict of interest, in which Hagan’s family may have benefitted from her vote and her political connections, has been left to the tiny Carolina Journal, a blog run by North Carolina’s economic libertarian John Locke Foundation, which has run rings around the state’s larger papers in coverage of this race.
Last night it appeared that the major media embargo on the Hagan family’s dealings had finally broken, as the Charlotte Observer, the state’s largest and most influential newspaper, at last put its imprint on a story run by its partner, television station WBTV, concerning a recommendation by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the Hagan stimulus bundles be subjected to legal review and possible referral the state Attorney General.
By this morning, the story had been memory-holed. Fortunately, Google caches websites, even those that may have been memory-holed, for some period of time, and this story was no exception. Although the Charlotte Observer may feel that Hagan family peccadilloes distract citizens from the important issues of personality and likeability, it’s possible that North Carolina voters may want to know who’s benefitting from their taxpayer largesse.
I remember a comment by P.J. O'Rourke, who got it from somebody else, that when 51% of the voters get a sizable chunk of their income from Govt., the balance has shifted and it's a one way ticket to Palookaville. We're so far past that point, it's truly frightening.
I keep praying for a meteorite to take out the entire DC area.
ReplyDeleteWhy Did The Charlotte Observer Memory-Hole A Story On Kay Hagan’s Conflict Of Interest?
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, education is a far more appealing wedge issue than claiming one’s opponent plans to ban condoms, but lurking beneath the surface of the Hagan-Tillis race is a troubling ethics issue, one that has gone virtually unreported by North Carolina’s two largest newspapers, the Charlotte Observer and the Raleigh News and Observer: that Kay Hagan’s family, including her attorney husband “Chip” Hagan, her son, and her son-in-law, made out like bandits under the 2009 federal “stimulus” bill championed by Senator Hagan, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate buildings owned by their companies through solar power companies which, coincidentally, were also owned by the Hagan family. Instead, coverage of this potential conflict of interest, in which Hagan’s family may have benefitted from her vote and her political connections, has been left to the tiny Carolina Journal, a blog run by North Carolina’s economic libertarian John Locke Foundation, which has run rings around the state’s larger papers in coverage of this race.
Last night it appeared that the major media embargo on the Hagan family’s dealings had finally broken, as the Charlotte Observer, the state’s largest and most influential newspaper, at last put its imprint on a story run by its partner, television station WBTV, concerning a recommendation by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources that the Hagan stimulus bundles be subjected to legal review and possible referral the state Attorney General.
By this morning, the story had been memory-holed.
Fortunately, Google caches websites, even those that may have been memory-holed, for some period of time, and this story was no exception. Although the Charlotte Observer may feel that Hagan family peccadilloes distract citizens from the important issues of personality and likeability, it’s possible that North Carolina voters may want to know who’s benefitting from their taxpayer largesse.
http://thefederalist.com/2014/11/03/why-did-the-charlotte-observer-memory-hole-a-story-on-kay-hagans-conflict-of-interest/
I remember a comment by P.J. O'Rourke, who got it from somebody else, that when 51% of the voters get a sizable chunk of their income from Govt., the balance has shifted and it's a one way ticket to Palookaville.
ReplyDeleteWe're so far past that point, it's truly frightening.
Yep. Money flows from Washington to the LEAST productive sectors of our economy.
ReplyDelete