Category Archives: Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor – Join the TEA Party

  August 18,2011

 

To The Editor:

 

 

                   Come Join the Tea Party

 

Fourscore and seven years after this nation was founded it suffered the horrible effects of a civil war. Booth prevented the wounds of that conflict from being treated as Lincoln intended. Still the nation survived. A century and a half after the Civil War, the entire fabric of American life is again headed for destruction at light speed. Death by a thousand cuts is our destiny in ways unthinkable by Lincoln or Washington if common sense is not soon applied again to our national policies. This current challenge to the survival of the nation will not be overcome by more apathy.

 

Called by scholars “America’s Placid Decade”, the 1950s marked the end of peace and quiet in practically every aspect of American life. With only a few exceptions politicians have presided over half a century when the inmates ran the prison.  The insane have been in charge of the asylum. The majority of eligible voters slept through it.

 

The good news is that Independent voters have been aroused from the nap they started taking about 1960. In February 2009 these independents decided they had been Taxed Enough Already and started the second American TEA Party. Their half-century nap was over. As completely grassroots, non- homogeneous, and unaffiliated with any political party, these patriotic citizens are your only hope of a future for you and your descendants in this country. They proved it on November 2,2010.

 

If you intend to continue to live in the United States it is time for you also to wake up.  You are hereby challenged to begin participating in a local Tea Party group wherever you may live. In Carteret County you can get acquainted online at crystalcoastteaparty.com If there is not a group close by you start one.  The Tea Party organizations nationwide are composed of volunteer patriotic citizens. Their only goal is for good government for a “change”’.  Tea Party Patriots are doing all they can to save your country, but freedom is not free. Wake up from that long nap and help these republicans with a “little r” keep the American ship of state afloat.

 

If you don’t know what a republican with a little “r” is come to the Golden Corral at 6 on Tuesday night and  find out.

 

 

                                         Wayne Willis

                                         T.E.A. Party Patriot

Letter to the Editor, Sheep and Goats

Letter to the Editor:

This is in response to the person that used the analogy in your paper that there are sheep and then there are goats, and that the Republicans are Goats because they follow their leaders.  You can always identify the party of the writer because some democrats never use their name to sign a Letter to the Editor.  But if is five or more paragraphs and just less than a book-from-the-Bible long, and it spouts the democrat mantra for the week, then Ken Humphries  is the author and he does use his name (I’m proud of you Ken).

If you ever tried to herd goats, you would be better off herding cats.  Come to a meeting of the local Tea Party Patriots and you will see that if there are 20 people there, then we have 20 leaders in attendance.

If the writer of the goat and sheep analogy placed the Republicans in the goat category, then that leads me to believe that the Democrats are sheep.

Below is a true article from USA TODAY (in your computer search enter “USA TODAY sheep’s jump off cliff” for a fact check).

USA TODAY
JULY 8 2005

First one sheep jumped to its death. The stunned Turkish
shepherds, who had left the herd to graze while they had
breakfast, watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each
leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported.
In the end, 1,450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned (actually the fall doesn’t hurt, it is the sudden stop at the end), Aksam reported.
It was later reported that the sheep had joined the Democrat party about two weeks previously, just got through with their indoctrination the night before, and that day was their first test on what they had learned.  The oddity of this is that it started about 1792, but it only happens when Democrats of any breed get together ie: Lemmings.
The only other animal that can be indoctrinated into the Democrat Party faster than sheep is the human, but they were found to start a bubble out of plumb and some are scared to put their names on a newspaper article.
As you note, I did take some license with this article but the part of the sheep jumping is true.  But I did sign my name.

Roma D Wade II

Letter to the Editor re. First CCTPP Meeting in Wester Carteret

Newport, NC
August 18, 2011

TO THE EDITOR

The Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots has been aspiring to establish a new TEA Party group in western Carteret County and Tuesday night, thanks to the efforts and hard work of Ken Lang, of Stella, that goal was attained.  Approximately 46 concerned and enthusiastic   citizens met at the Western Carteret County Community Center in Cedar Point.
David Fowler, candidate for Mayor of Cape Carteret and Richie Renna, candidate for town commissioner welcomed the group to the area, and wished them a successful endeavor.
Mr. Lang, who presided over the meeting, gave a brief synopsis of the TEA Party’s birth and growth, as well as it’s rational for existing.  The TEA Party is not affiliated with any political party or national platform.  It is composed of patriots who love America and believe in the Constitution.  We are mothers, fathers, small business owners, service providers, employees, employers; and we are voters.    Our core values are “financial responsibility”, “free markets”, and “limited government”.  While we believe in letting our voices be heard about subjects of interest and value, we refrain from controversial matters that may create diversion in our group.
Plans for this new Western Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots are to meet twice a month.
Next meeting will be held at the Western Carteret County Community Center at 7:00 pm, September 6, 2011 and the following meeting will be held September 20 at 6:00 pm.  Invite all your friends to come out and get involved.
The Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots, who meet at the Golden Corral in Morehead City, will continue meeting every Tuesday.  For those who wish to eat and socialize, we get together at 5:00 pm and the meeting begins at 6:00 pm.  Jerry Jones, Morehead City mayor, was the guest speaker at the meeting on August 2 and David Horton, candidate for Morehead City mayor, will speak at the meeting on August 23, 2011.  We invite everyone, who is interested, to attend.
Peggy Garner
Secretary
Crystal Coast TEA Party Patriots

Editorial – Tea Party member responds by Jennifer Hudson

Tea Party member responds
NEWS-TIMES
Published: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 3:05 PM EDT

Newport, N.C.

Aug. 12, 2011

TO THE EDITOR:

In his August 10 letter, “Obama supporter” says the Tea Party is a “cult” that needs to be investigated. “Obama supporter” couldn’t write a positive letter, itemizing the constructive accomplishments of his guy (oh, wait, there haven’t been any), so he attacks the character of the Tea Party and its members, although he probably doesn’t know any of us personally and he urges the FBI to check out Tea Party leaders. If the Tea Party has, as “Obama supporter” claims, “the power to tell Congress what to do,” it is a power that is based solely on the fact that the Tea Party consists of educated, conservative, informed, America-loving, involved voters who don’t mind contacting our elected representatives to tell them how we feel. And we sign our names.

First, this Congress cannot agree not to “ever” raise taxes; it simply can’t obligate future Congresses to behave in a certain way. The letter writer said George Bush should be impeached? “Obama supporter,” wake up! George Bush is no longer president. How can he be impeached? “And all his money and holdings taken away from him?” On what grounds? Because you don’t like him? How ignorant you are. This is America, not some Third World dictatorship.

The only totally true statement “Obama supporter” made is “It’s President Obama that these Republicans and the Tea Party want to get rid of …” He is correct. That is our ultimate goal, and we make no secret of it. We don’t apologize for it. We want Obama to be “a one-term president” … but not, as “Obama supporter” says, by hook or crook. By hard work, and by honest, fair and open elections. That’s the American way.

“Obama supporter” had to play on the detested “race card.” I say one more time — it’s not about R-A-C-E. It’s about Barack Hussein Obama’s poor policies, his failure to lead, his promotion of class warfare, his failure to close the U.S./Mexico border, his failure to curb unemployment, and the list goes on.

Barack Hussein Obama will never get my respect or my loyalty, until he loves this country as I love it and as every president up to now has loved it, until he implements sound foreign and domestic policies and until he surrounds himself with people who love this country.

I told Barack Hussein Obama these same things in an e-mail that I sent to him personally. And I signed my name. Unlike “Obama supporter,” I am not afraid or ashamed to sign my name to what I say. My name is Jennifer Rose Hudson. I live in western Carteret County, born and bred in North Carolina.

I retired as a Department of Defense civilian with 32 years federal service. I am a Tea Party member, and a conservative Republican voter. I volunteer in my church, in my community and with the USO. I pay my taxes and my bills. Bring on the investigators, “Obama supporter.” I can pass your test. And next time, please have the fortitude to sign your name. It only weakens your position when you hide behind an anonymous signature.

JENNIFER R. HUDSON

American Malady

The recent standoff in Washington’s debt talks are symptomatic of a much deeper illness within the very core of our nation. Other signs of the sickness pervade American society: rampant drug use; the soaring rate of out-of-wedlock births combined with legitimizing the murder of thousands of unborn children; a sinking economy; large numbers of able-bodied people who do not work, but live on the government dole; an entertainment industry whose wares are salacious if not pornographic; a national judiciary that seems to have abandoned common sense; and–worst of all–a president and legislature more concerned with reelection than solutions.

Dr. Charles Stanley’s sermon and book, “Turning the Tide,” urges listeners and readers to humble themselves, repent, pray for our leaders and to seek God. Not bad advice. Think about it. If those in our Congress would put aside their pride, turn from wickedness and selfishness, pray to their Maker and look for His face and His wisdom, could their differences not be resolved?

Certainly a lack of faith in God is at the heart if it, but it all boils down to an attitude of “What’s in it for me?” A professor of mine once said he believed all the world’s problems stemmed from selfishness. Never has his homespun wisdom been more true. Our man in the White House is so concerned with his reelection that he is willing to retain entitlement programs at a level that is unsustainable in order to garner for himself those left wing votes he needs to win in 2012 and blame the opposing party for the nation’s ills. Next, the Democrats want to raise the legal limit of our national debt so they can continue to spend more money than the country has or will have in the distant future; they do not seem to understand the meaning or consequences of bankruptcy. And the Republicans may be the worst of all, individually grandstanding and openly criticizing the President and his party instead of looking for and working toward bipartisan cooperation that will get us moving forward. All this because of selfishness and pride.

Think about this: a nation of 300 million is being ruled by 545 people (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches combined) who ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOBS.

What is needed? I could write a laundry list that would extend into the next county, but these points are immediately germane to the current situation: (1) our nation–in particular our leaders–must return to God; (2) our government at all levels must stop ruling us and serve us; (3) our government must live within its means–NO DEBT!; (4) those who serve in government positions–at all levels–must humble themselves and regard their employer as the people, not the government; (5) our contentious two-party politics must become two-party cooperation.

I believe Galatians 6:7 says it all: “A man reaps what he sows.” As a nation, if we continue to sow selfishness, that is what we will reap. If we continue to ask, “What’s in it for me?” selfishness is what we will reap. How to heal the sickness within our land? “…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and WILL HEAL THEIR LAND.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Jere Geurin

Teacher pay does not equal formal education

Letter to the Editor, Carteret News Times

Teacher pay does not equal formal education

NEWS-TIMES

Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:03 PM EDT

Morehead City, N.C.

May 16, 2011

TO THE EDITOR:

I put this right up front: I am not opposed to teachers and education administrators getting paid all they can through responsible negotiation with the taxpayers’ representatives. All I ask is for our representatives to fulfill their obligation to faithfully represent the majority of the taxpayers’ desires. Maybe even take that a step further, and through careful analysis project the general taxpayers’ ability to pay the education tab without impoverishing themselves in the process.

What brought this to mind are recent articles and letters to the editor published in the Carteret County News Times, some insisting that the county commissioners pay for whatever the school board and administration wants because our children’s education depends on it?

This argument seems to confuse and emotionalize the issue because in practical terms “teacher pay” and “formal education” are two distinct issues. To get to this distinction, we must ask what formal education is all about.

Formal education, in any useful sense, is the more or less organized presentation — to a “receptive mind” — of useful information that is factually true, morally sound and relevant to the current age and future needs of the one being educated.

The “receptive mind” is formed in two ways. In the case of young people still at home, it is both parents’ responsibility to instill in the child’s character useful self-discipline, along with an eagerness and desire for education. Lacking two parents, the single parent must also accomplish this parenting responsibility.

We can see in the inner cities that street kids — those without involved parents — are lost to formal education, in large part forever. For example, like many cities that get vast amounts of federal and state taxpayer dollars to “improve” education, Detroit, with a population of 951,000, must contend with 47% of its population, or 447,000 citizens, who are functionally illiterate. There are about the same percentage of illiterates in all of America’s large cities and places like Washington, D.C. Being functionally illiterate means not being able to fill out a job application or read the instructions on a pill bottle — and things like that.

The key point one can glean from such information is that across America formal, government education is not working for many of our citizens. However, there are alternatives to government schools that achieve better results. We find this to be true because the source of the information offered in formal education can come to the “receptive mind” in a number of ways: home school, private schools, Christian schools, some charter schools, some government schools, Sunday school, and even organized self-study by young people with initiative. As I recall, Abe Lincoln did some of the latter by candlelight and became president.

A teacher, then, is any person who satisfies a “receptive mind’s” need for factually true, morally sound and relevant information that will become useful in their future endeavors. A teacher who is truly called and inspired will also insist on teaching their students how to think, not just what to think.

The teacher that insists on politically correct thought from their students or approves of trendy immorality is not really a teacher but a state sponsored propagandist or an irresponsible parent. If the teacher has a classroom of students without “receptive minds,” the function they are performing is not “education.” It is called “daycare,” which seems to be enough for a high percentage of students and their parents.

How does all of that lead up to the issue of teacher pay? Well, the successful home school teacher doesn’t get paid, yet their students perform very well on standardized tests and in life. Private school teachers, such as in Christian schools, are paid but a pittance — with few if any benefits — compared to the current levels of government school teachers; however, it is an easy thing to make a case that their students excel in national testing and in life. Sunday school teachers don’t get paid and the students who learn for the love of it don’t get paid — yet become some of the most accomplished individuals we know.

So when we talk about teacher pay, we are not talking about education. In fact, if we could listen in on a government school’s faculty lounge we might hear them say, “Why don’t they let us teach the way we know is best? Why do they change the requirements every year? Why must we do all of these reports? Why am I responding to requirements dreamed up by a person who has never been in a classroom for more than a year or two, and then it was phys-ed? Why can’t I use textbooks that tell the whole story? Will they really fire me if I teach that, even if it is the truth? Why do I have to put so much of my own money into the classroom? Is the ACLU really more important than the students?”

Please don’t get me wrong. I believe teachers should argue for and get all they can from the taxpayers in the way of higher pay. After all, the upper management of the school system is among the financial elite of Carteret County — and there is nothing wrong with that either. If I were in their shoes, I would want all I could get from taxpayers too.

But the truth is — it is not the county commissioners or the Board of Education’s money that is being spent. Whose money is it? It is the hard earned money of the average Carteret County taxpayer that pays the tab. This confusion is seen when the local citizens’ teacher support groups exhort the county commissioners to give in to teacher demands and request that the county commissioners pay for them. (The fact that half of the folks don’t even pay taxes and live by the sweat of someone else’ brow is too big a subject to start in this letter!)

If the system worked as designed, the people on the state and county payrolls would regularly ask for more pay, more positions or more largesse of whatever nature and in times like these, the county commissioners would just say “no.” Ask yourself this question: in a year or two, do you think the state and county coffers will be more overflowing with taxpayer money than they are today?

No, all this discussion about teacher pay and positions is not about education. It is about the other important factor responsible people must deal with, i.e., — money.

But first, give us back schools that do not require policemen in the halls. Let the classroom teacher — well — teach. Then, give the teachers textbooks that extol the Creator who gave to us our unalienable rights and let them teach the stories of the men and women who, by giving Him credit for forming our nation, inspired generations of school kids to greatness.

That done, soon, the money will not be a problem.

CHUCK BEASLEY

Letter to the Editor by Tom Austin

Subj: Letter by Ken Humphrey (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party) “Obama Got It Done”

Sir / Ms,

It would seem that Mr. Ken Humphrey (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party) wrote his letter to fast and did not check any facts in the case. His devotion to his messiah President Barack Hussein Obama shines through regardless of the facts. According to Mr. Ken Humphrey (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party) President Barack Hussein Obama did the interrogation of the persons that had the information that started the search for the man called “the courier”, set up the mission plan, personally chose the men to take part in the operation, directed the raid training and may have done some of the field work all by himself. He, President Barack Hussein Obama, was not golfing, he was in Pakistan doing observation on Osama bin Laden’s hideout. All that is according to Mr. Ken Humphrey (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party). The fact is the information that started the search along the path that lead to finding Osama bin Laden was gathered during the administration of President George W. Bush. The fact is that is was gathered using interrogation techniques that were condemned by Senator Barack Hussein Obama. So if we had followed his agenda we would not have gotten the information that eventually lead to the destruction of Osama bin Laden. The reports are we had the dwelling place of Osama bin Laden under observation for almost a year. The fact is that it was the CIA and other intelligence gathering agencies along with the US military that carried this out from start to finish. The fact is this started long before Barack Hussein Obama was elected to become the President and well before he took the oath of office. Did President Barack Hussein Obama do some things correctly? Yes. He gave the OK to carry out the raid. Good call on his part. Also he did not call the leadership of Pakistan to get permission for the raid or to even let them know it was going to be carried out. I am not saying that at least one of his advisors did not tell him he should call them and get permission for the raid, I am saying he didn’t do it. Good call there. I feel in my heart that had he done so, someone in the Pakistani would have gotten word to Osama bin Laden or his people and he would have been afforded the chance to escape. What else did President Barack Hussein Obama do that was correct? He allowed many of the operations and intelligence policies of President George W. Bush to remain in place. At this time I would like to point out that President Barack Hussein Obama’s Attorney General Erik Holder is trying to find ways to prosecute the very people that carried out the interrogations that got the information that lead to Osama bin Laden. What does he want to prosecute them for? The interrogations.

As for Mr. Ken Humphrey’s (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party) comments that President George W. Bush started the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, I think he needs to check his recent history. The war with Iraq started when Saddam Hussein and the Iraq military invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. President George H. W. Bush formed a coalition on over 30 nations with the UN backing and drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. After the “active conflict” stopped there was a cease fire in place. There was no peace treaty or a treaty of any kind in place. Just a cease fire agreement. Saddam Hussein failed to live up to his part of the peace treaty. So the US under the administration of President George W. Bush along with several other nations re-engaged Iraq and drove Saddam Hussein out of power and into hiding. He was captured and tried in an Iraqi court where he was found guilty and later executed. So the United states didn’t start that war. As for the United States under the administration of President George W. Bush starting the war in Afghanistan, Mr. Ken Humphrey (Chairman Carteret County Democrat Party) you may want to recall an “incident” that took place on September 11, 2001. Do you remember the towers falling? Do you remember the attack on the Pentagon and seeing a large part of it in flames? Do you remember the fourth plan where the passengers took it back and it crashed in an open field, rather then into another building? That was al Qaeda under the direction of Osama bin Laden. Where was he? Can you say Afghanistan? The Taliban was in power in Afghanistan at that time. We told them who we wanted for the terrorist attack and why. We told they we knew where he was and even gave them his location. We asked them to turn him and his people over to the US. They said too bad and he was their guest. We went back to them and said we knew they had moved him and this time we were telling them to turn him over. Their reply was No and that they would stand with him. Only after working to do things in a diplomatic way did the US go into Afghanistan. President George W. Bush did not start either war. He also went to Congress and got their approval to take military action before going into Iraq or Afghanistan. Did President Barack Hussein Obama go to Congress or the UN before sending US military aircraft and personnel into Libya? He went to the UN. Why didn’t President Barack Hussein Obama seek the approval of Congress?

Respectfully,

Thomas H. Austin
SSgt. USMC (Retired)

Why Focus Solely on the Education Budget?

Many people are genuinely concerned about the trends of increasing education budgets in NC, and the continuing decline of student performance. On February 21, 2011 a group of concerned citizens in coordination with the Carteret County Board of Education spoke out at a County Commissioner’s meeting in support of fully funding the education budget that had not been finalized at that time. Those speaking out for more funding were mainly from upper income families, and not representative of a majority of Carteret County citizens, especially those living on fixed incomes and facing increasing fuel prices, food prices, medical costs, property taxes, and the like. Maybe these well-off families can afford to pay more for education, and maybe they should. But many on a fixed income have already paid their dues.

 

I’m not suggesting that everyone who wants to see more funding provided to education fall into this elite group of speakers. On the contrary, some people I’ve talked to have purported to be conservatives who want to see fiscal responsibility in government, but claim to be willing to spend more on education for the children. Well, let me ask these so-called conservatives who want to see more education spending to save the children, where is your proof that increased spending will result in better education? More spending does not ensure a better product. There are many more factors to consider first.

 

“Let me be clear,” I agree with those who say there are great teachers in our school system, and that many work long hours, and some spend their own money for classroom materials. That aside however, it is clear that what has happened to education over the last 50 years has not contributed to better education. In the last 50 years, education funding has gone up dramatically; Curriculum has changed significantly (there are more choices and more fluff); Curriculum has become more centralized in Raleigh and in Washington; Class size has decreased; Teachers now make more money (above inflation) albeit not as much as they want; teachers now have aides; Most teachers take less work home now; Many teachers work fewer hours after school on such things as parent-teacher conferences, PTA, grading papers, etc; There are more school administrators; School administrators are paid more (above inflation); It’s more difficult to remove poor teachers; There are more “teacher meeting” days during the school year; There are more holidays; School buildings are bigger and better equipped; Schools have more computers and gadgets; the list goes on … With all these changes, why is it that the results are worse than 50 years ago? Why is it that universities are now forced to offer remedial courses to students who took advanced college preparatory courses in high school? Why is the drop-out rate so high? Why …

 

Recently, I attended a meeting organized by the Carteret County Concerned Citizen’s for Education (C4). There was outstanding attendance at the meeting, there were great speakers, and there was interesting dialog. However, it was clear during the proceedings and in off-line discussions that the focus of C4 is on “getting more money for education.” I was told that the members of C4 have decided “it is not their place to get involved with issues, such as those mentioned above, as those issues are the responsibility of the Board of Education and the Superintendent.” Consequently, all that is left for C4 to focus on is the school budget. I disagree with C4’s approach of focusing on the budget to the exclusion of other issues. I submit that the Board of Education and the Superintendent are part of the problem. I suggest that one cannot effectively determine the appropriate level of funding for the school system without addressing the other issues. If the curriculum is full of fluff, doesn’t that impact the budget? If there are a few substandard teachers and consequently their students may have to undergo remedial instruction, doesn’t that impact the budget? The bottom line is if C4 members, parents and taxpayers really want to improve education, then they need to consider the entire school system, not just the level of funding. They need to be asking “why is it that we keep spending more money each year, but the results seems to be going in the opposite direction?”

Letter to the Editor, Kudos to Board of Education (Maybe)

Following the publication of my March 8, 2011, Letter to the Editor in the Carteret News Times titled “Where is our Education Money Going?” I began to write a follow-up letter to the editor titled “Kudos to the Carteret County Board of Education, and Superintendent Novey.” I wanted to congratulate the BOE and Mr. Novey because of their quick response and achievement in raising the Carteret County School’s transparency grade from a “D” to an “A” on the NCTransparency web site. However, before I finished the letter, Mr. Novey launched a personal attack in the News Times on March 16, 2011 in which he made false accusations concerning statements contained in my original letter.

 

Mr. Novey said that I made “misguided statements.” I disagree. I had a goal, I presented FACTS (most provided by the school board at the Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting in February 2011), I expressed my opinion of the FACTS, and I achieved my objectives, which were (1) to call attention to the lack of school board transparency on a particular web site, and to get that grade improved, and (2) to put school officials on notice that the goal stated at the BOC meeting of “spending the money” is not an acceptable way to manage taxpayer money. I accomplished my goals, along with a bonus showing how some public officials react when defending their failures by using personal attacks and disinformation.

 

Mr. Novey launched his personal attack by incorrectly stating that I “falsely accused the school system of not making data available.” Mr. Novey either didn’t pay close attention when he read my letter, or he made a “misstatement” like some public officials are prone to do now days. FACT: Quoting from my editorial “But if anyone needs even more data to persuade anyone but a liberal that more spending is not better, THERE ARE PLENTY OF DATA AVAILABLE TO ANALYZE, ALTHOUGH THE CARTERET COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION DOESN’T MAKE IT EASY TO FIND.” Another quote, “the data is there. You just have to pry it out of them.” So Mr. Novey, please tell me where I “falsely” accused the school system of not making data available? Please tell me how making the data hard to obtain is in any way equivalent to “not making data available.” Sir, it is your statement that is “misguided.”

 

Mr. Novey then proceeded to mis-characterized the basis for my conclusion that “the data were hard to find” by saying that I based my statements on an “out dated web site.” Mr. Novey is wrong again. FACT: I made my determination that the data was available but hard to find by trying to find the information on the BOE web site. I then determined that the school system had a grade of “D” on the NC Transparency web site by looking at the web site, and observing that the data were not there.

 

After understanding that Mr. Novey made misstatements and mis-characterizations about my editorial thus far, one might wonder if Mr. Novey’s response might contain more “misstatements.” The answer is yes.

 

Contrary to what Mr. Novey said, the BOE was, in FACT, contacted by another Carteret County taxpayer some 6 to 8 weeks prior to my editorial. That person reported the grade of “D” on the NC Transparency web site, and asked if the BOE could check it out. However, absolutely nothing was done by Mr. Novey in response to that telephone inquiry. Maybe he didn’t know of the inquiry, or maybe he just did nothing; I don’t know. What I do know is that Mr. Novey misrepresented the facts in his response. What else did Mr. Novey get wrong.

 

Mr. Novey said that I had never contacted the BOE requesting information [on salaries of school’s administrative staff]. But it is Mr. Novey who continues to bend the truth and who doesn’t check the facts. Following the BOC’s meeting on February 21st, I asked one of the Commissioners if the BOC had administrative salary information for the school system. He said he did not, but would get it for me. It took about two weeks for me to receive the information. If that information were as readily available on the BOE web site as claimed by Mr. Novey, wouldn’t it seem reasonable that the link to the information on the BOE web site would be something less than two weeks, or even five days? The FACT is, that document was not on the BOE web site when it was requested. The BOE told me that Mr. Novey received the request from the acting County Manager and asked that the list be compiled. Then Mr. Novey wanted to review the table before it was sent to the County Manager. Both actions reasonable unless the document was already available on the web site as he implied, in which case Mr. Novey should have already approved the list prior to posting.

 

Mr. Novey stated that the BOE’s web site is “functional not fancy” and “is loaded with information.” Well he is right about everything but the “functional” part. Don’t take my word for it, go to the BOE site and judge for yourself. How easy it is to find any of the documents they have since posted on NC Transparency? If you visit NC Transparency, you will now find 14 documents that you can access with a single click. These documents include budget, proposed budget, contracts, test scores, employee salaries and the like. If you have the time to wade through the documents on the BOE site, see if you can find any of those documents or the document detailing the salaries of the school’s administrative staff. Some, or all may be there, but note how long it takes you to find them. I am not asking the BOE to change its web site, just to make information more easily accessible. After all, they provided much of the information to NC Transparency in less than four days. What is still missing on NC Transparency? Checkbook, Capital Improvement Plan, School Spending and Needs, NAEP Scores, EVAAS (Individual Teacher Performance). See if you can find these documents on the BOE web site. Some you might, but some I haven’t been able to find. Look, it’s not whether or not the information is available, it’s how many hoops you, the taxpayer, have to jump through to get the information. It’s whether you have to wade through tons of documents on the BOE web site, or call the BOE and have to wait two weeks (or five days) to get what you asked for, or whether you’re a member of a “special” group that has easy access to the Superintendent because you support him and the BOE.

 

Mr. Novey also was critical of what he called “negative comments” I made about the Chair of the BOE. However, the “negative comments” were direct quotes that Ms Neagle made at the BOC meeting in February. I expressed my concern about her statement hat the BOE’s “goal was to spend the money.” I, quite frankly, am concerned when any public employee makes a statement at a public meeting that their “goal is to spend the money.” Now, perhaps Ms. Neagle “misspoke,” but for Mr. Novey to tell me I don’t have the right to be concerned about a pronouncement like that, misspoken or not, is out of line even for a public employee who makes $142,400/year plus benefits.

 

Mr. Novey then made “misguided statements” of his own when he said that “Mrs Neagle wants to spend the money in a way the taxpayer’s overwhelmingly authorized in Nov. 2005.” FACT, that is not what she said at the BOC meeting. But what is more disturbing than her proclamation “to spend the money” is Mr. Novey’s rewriting of history claiming that “the taxpayer’s overwhelmingly authorized” the project. FACT: According to a BOE spokesman at the BOC meeting, the voters actually voted for a plan to build new buildings at Eastern Carteret High School, and to demolish the old buildings located in the flood plain. The current work being done is to refurbish the old buildings instead of demolishing them, not what the voters approved in 2005. I said in my letter to the editor that I made no judgment on the change in plans, but that I questioned the mind-set of anyone stating that the “goal was to spend the money.” I standby that comment, and Mr. Novey’s spinning the truth does not change my mind. I echo Mr. Novey’s statement, “I simply request that before public statements are made that facts be verified.” That standard should apply to Mr. Novey as well as anyone else.

Letter to the Editor, Oil Spill

10 March 2011

 

Editor

 

The silence in Washington about the possibilities of quickly opening the idled Gulf of Mexico oil platforms is deafining. Don’t even mention ANWR in Alaska. It seems, that the solution, one that the majority of Americans want, that of more domestic oil production, is “Gone With The Wind”. The current Administration apparently would sooner talk and talk about costly windmills, solar electricity, hybrid cars or opening the National Petroleum Reserve than do something with an immediate impact on the rising price of fuel.

Why in heavens name are we fiddling around talking about possible partial solutions that are at best twenty or thirty years away? How about right now, Mr Obama? What about the rising prices of goods/materials other than vehicle fuels which will make an exponential jump in our cost of living in just a few short months? Wind or a breeze is great on a hot day and solar is great for a tan, but come on Mr. President, we need action now.

We, the United States of America, have vast untapped oil/gas and coal resources in our country just waiting to be put to use. We presently have thousands of people out of work in the petroleum industry alone, all wanting to get off the government dole and collect a real pay check. So why are we not marshaling our available forces? What in the name of the American Public are you waiting for Mr. Obama? Is your goal to make us like Europe or some destitute third world country?

The Washington, Chicago and Los Angles elite you seem to represent, Mr. Obama, don’t have a clue about the reality of life outside the Beltways that surround their great, but impoverished fiefdoms. You claim to want the best for Our Country, but what price do you really expect us to pay? Well, we pay at the pump and we pay more and more each day for every thing, while you and yours, party in DC or fly around making fluffy fund raising speeches. All this on the taxpayer’s dollars or doner funds, nothing out of pocket for the DC elite or the well heeled politicians like you.

What about our rusting inefficient refining plants? Everyone knows that American refineries are really old, no new refineries have been built in the last 30 years. If we want lower cost and availablity of the various types of fuel and petroleum products then it is time to act. The Administration (Yours, Mr. Obama) must cut the volumes of EPA rules and regulations immediately and thereby allow private industry to quickly build or expand refineries with new clean technology. Mr. Obama, now is the time to create really good jobs across the country as you have promised for years. Help us keep our petroleum based industries like plastics, paint and polymers right here in the USA. Insure American industry stays right here at home and not in India or China. Keep our farmers in the driver seats of their tractors and combines. Keep our great trucking industry on the road, railroads running and our aircraft flying. We, Americans can come up with and produce more and cheaper products if the United States Government just gets out of the way and lets good old American Industry do it’s thing in the great old capitalistic way.

The answer to the American Domestic Oil Problem is simple; Drill and Refine in America. Results will be assuridly a lot quicker than the current expensive wind and solar power long term solutions that are touted by your advisors. The answer both yesterday, today and tomorrow, is black sticky domestic oil, drilled and refined right here in the old USA. Let Americans drill and refine America’s untapped resources now! Open up ANWR and the Gulf of Mexico and all the public lands that sit on top of oil or gas! There will soon be no dependency on Foreign Oil if you and the Congress act now, but we need you, Mr. President, to quit standing in the proverbial “school house door” with your Czars and obstructing Americas future.

The Tea Party seems to be making a dent in over taxation and the bloated government problem. Well, maybe we Americans need to oil up a Tar and Feathers Party and get that energy engine moving towards Washington, too!

 

 

Austin M. “Gus” Wilgus

Letter to the Editor: Where is Education Money Going?

On Monday, February 21, 2011 a group of people organized by the Carteret County Board of Education paraded their support for the Board of Education’s 2011 Budget before the Carteret County Board of Commissioners. The first thing that struck me during the public comments was a statement by, Cathy Neagle, the Chairman of the Board of Education. She said that the Board of Education’s budget would be finalized and ready for presentation to the County Board of Commissioners on or about March 15, 2011. So, I wondered just how did these people who were pleading before the County Commissioners for full funding of the Board of Education’s budget even know what was in the budget that at the time of the meeting was still unfinished, and just what was did they think was so vital in that unfinished budget to the education of the children of Carteret County? Or, perhaps, they were there just to make sure that the money from Carteret County taxpayer’s keeps flowing to the Carteret County Schools regardless of how the money is to be spent?

 

The parade of these concerned people pleading for full funding of an education budget that they hadn’t seen, or that they couldn’t have studied or critically evaluated is so typical of liberals who come to these meetings just to tell elected officials that it is critical for them to spend somebody else’s money so that the children can read, write, and add one plus one, or the sky will surely fall. They said “If you don’t spend more money, there won’t be enough doctors to take care of all the old people in Carteret County,” and “if you don’t spend more money the reputation of our school system will suffer and businesses will not locate in Carteret County,” and “if you cut spending on education, professionals won’t bring their families to live here because our schools will not be good enough.” Then there are the personal anecdotes they conjure up like “accidentally bumping into a group of hard working average citizens at the car-wash who out-of-the-blue start babbling about how “we just aren’t spending enough money on the schools in Carteret County and how they would be more than willing to pay higher taxes to save the children.” Several of these “school-budget cheerleaders” linked the level and quality of education directly to the level of spending, saying that “everyone wants their kids to be able to read and comprehend; we have to spend more to get better results.” One even compared Carteret County schools to foreign countries stating that “American education is now behind that of Estonia and Poland.” Well yeah, but we already outspend Estonia and Poland, and nearly every other nation on earth when it comes to education, and look what we’ve got to show for it! One might logically conclude from that lame comparison that throwing more money at the problem isn’t the solution. The only thing missing at this circus was the County clown who is constantly waxing so in-eloquently in our local paper; I almost missed him.

 

The arguments presented Monday evening by this group were simply fallacious. One only has to look at the Washington, DC voucher program to see that throwing money at education is not the answer. In the DC voucher program, student performance was better, while spending was about half that of the public schools in the surrounding area (that is, until President Obama ended the DC voucher program to the consternation of many DC residents). But closer to home, there is a private school in Carteret County where the per student cost is about half that of the Carteret County Public School’s cost per student, and the private school’s test scores are higher than those of the public school system’s. Why is that?

 

But if one needs even more data to persuade anyone but a liberal that more spending is not better, there are plenty of data available to analyze, although the Carteret County Board of Education doesn’t make it easy to find. The John Locke Foundation’s NC Transparency (http://www.nctransparency.com/) gives the Carteret County Public Schools a grade of “D” for transparency as to how our school tax dollars are being spent. The data is there, you just have to dig for it! It took me two weeks to get the salaries of the Carteret County School’s administrative staff through a County official. You can see it at this URL http://www.crystalcoastteaparty.com/carteret-county-school-administrative-salaries/ But the bottom line is, it is just plain hard to find out how the Carteret County School Board spends your tax dollars.

 

The second thing that struck me during the meeting was was another comment by Cathie Neagle concerning the funding of a capital expense project at East Carteret High School. This project was funded by a bond approved by the Carteret County voters in 2006 according to statements at the meeting. After approval by the voters, the project was managed very well and the cost of the project was significantly less than projected and approved by the voters. They certainly deserve praise for that. But the project then evolved to accommodate the left over money. Whether that is good or bad thing is not the point. The point is, that during the discussion, Ms. Neagle stated that “the objective of the Board of Education was to spend the money;” referring to the money left over following the excellent management of the capital project that had been approved by the voters. Now, it is this mind-set expressed by Ms Naegle that bothers me. As Milton Friedman, noted economist, said “There are four ways to spend money (video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RDMdc5r5z8&feature=related); “one way is when you (the government) spends somebody else’s money (the taxpayer’s) on somebody else (the schools).” Friedman argues that in this case those spending the money don’t much care about how much they spend because it’s not their money, and that they don’t much care about what they get for the money either because it isn’t their money. Sort of sounds like “our objective was to spend the money?”

 

By the time this gets into the paper, the Carteret County Board of Education should have submitted their budget to the County Commissioners. Maybe, just maybe the people who were so supportive of the phantom budget last month will now know what is in it. Then, just maybe, they’ll have a clue as to what the Board plans to spend your money on. In the mean time, you might want to call or write the Carteret County School Board and the Carteret County Board of Commissioners and ask them why the County got a grade of “D” on the NC Transparency web site. Don’t let them tell you they don’t know about it, because several people have already called and asked them why. Tell the School Board and the Commissioners you’d like to see the County get a grade of “A.” Ask them to post all of their budget information on-line so the public can easily access it, and see where the money is going. After all, it’s your money they are spending.

 

by Kenneth Lang

March 11, 2011