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We can enact a JOBS Plan. WE CAN FIX THIS.
Bill Faison
Paid for by Bill Faison for NC House Committee
Designed by YourWebsiteTomorrow.com
Representative Bill Faison's NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS
We are approaching the New Year and it is time for Resolutions.
My Resolutions all have to do with putting people back to work, improving
conditions for economic recovery and reversing the Radical Republican Social Agenda. I want to share some of my Resolutions with you. Let me know your favorite(s), and let's work together in the New Year to make our Resolutions improve the condition of our State.
Jobs, Jobs, and More Jobs: The Republican Budget put approximately 36,000 people out of work. Thirty-five (35 ) of my House Democratic colleagues and I have a plan to put them all back to work. The Budget let the one cent sales tax expire last summer. If we were to cut that penny by thirty percent and roll a fractional seven tenths of a cent sales tax back into the Budget we could put back to work all of the teachers, teachers aides, and other State employees fired by the Republican Budget (6,455 people), rehire the 15,415 private sector jobs lost because of cuts to Medicaid and SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program), and rehire the other private sector jobs lost because of the economic effects of the other job losses.
I Resolve to put them all back to work.
Help Small Businesses Hire: Small businesses, those hiring less than 20 employees, make up 86.7 percent of all employers. Big businesses have had plenty of tax breaks but not the little guy. We need to modernize our tax code to give small businesses an incentive to hire. We can pay for these incentives by closing tax loopholes. A Department of Revenue Study in 2009 found $5.8 billion in tax loopholes and that four years earlier, sixty five percent of regular C corps filed tax returns showing no tax due.
I Resolve to help small businesses hire.
Repeal the New $39 million Tax Loophole: In the midst of the Great Recession, with $5.8 billion in tax loopholes already on the books, the Senate Republican leadership passed a new tax loophole for multi-state businesses. It allows a business to move all of the money earned in NC to another state without paying any NC income tax. Everyone has to do their part to get through these tough economic times. Additional big business tax loopholes put more of a burden on the rest of us.
I Resolve to help education and repeal this additional tax loophole.
Stop the Educational Race to the Bottom: NC is known nationally for our commitment to education at every level. The Republican Budget took us to 49th nationally in per pupil educational spending. This is not good enough for our kids.
I Resolve to restore our State's commitment
to education.
Save Our Water, Protect Our Wells and Pursue Smart Energy Policies: The Republican leadership seems to be driven by motivating their biggest contributors to to give more money rather than serving the needs of the people. Their fracking bill is an example of this effort. The bill chases oil at the expense of safe drinking water, coastal estuaries and coastal tourist jobs. They put $500 million in the bill for well damage and then say they will not damage a well. Give me a break.
I Resolve to protect our wells and drinking water, while supporting a smart energy policy.
Respect Women, the Privacy of their Medical Care, and Doctors' Ability to Treat Patients Without Legislative Micromanagement: Our Legislature should support individual rights over the power of government. It is a basic American principle that people have inalienable rights on which governments should not tread. The Republican Legislative leadership passed legislation telling women what they must do to get medical care in support of their right to choose. These are very personal matters where women are guided by their faith, their family and the independent counsel of their physician. The Legislation intentionally makes very difficult personal decisions even more difficult by trying to embarrass, intimidate, and place guilt on women. The Legislation went on to interfere with the relationship between women and their doctors by telling doctors what must be said to women, shown to the women and enacting criminal
penalties to enforce it.
I Resolve to reverse this legislation.
Protect Peoples' Right to Vote: Our right to vote is critical to our democracy. The Republican Leadership seems to believe that many folks living in inner cities, using public transportation and foregoing drivers' licenses vote Democratic or Unaffiliated. Moreover, they believe that older folks who have given up driving also make up a meaningful part of the Democratic and Unaffiliated vote. In a blatant effort to take the vote away from these folks, they passed legislation requiring specific IDs as a condition for voting. Their strategy to 'end run' a veto of this Act is to pass local legislation doing the same thing ("local legislation" affects no more than 50 counties and is thus not subject to veto). After all, the bulk of the Democratic and Unaffiliated vote is concentrated in less than 50 counties.
I Resolve to protect everyone's right to vote.
No One Should Be Put to Death Because of the Color of Their Skin: The Democratic Legislature passed the Racial Justice Act almost three years ago. The Act says that if someone can show that a death penalty was imposed because of race, then the sentence is changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The issue is presented to the very same judges who impose the death penalty and allows testimony from prosecutors, court personal and others along with statistical information. Sometimes the truth is in the numbers. The standard is difficult to meet but a very important question to ask. Prior to this last Session few votes were taken on party line votes. This bill was one of those few. All Republicans voted against it when the Act was before the Legislature and all Democrats but one voted for it on final reading. Now the Republicans have repealed the Act in another party line vote. I helped get the Act through the Legislature and fought against its repeal. No one should be put to death because of the color of their skin.
I Resolve to restore the Racial Justice Act.
Don't Waste Our Money On Divisive Constitutional Amendments That Do Nothing: The Legislature adjourned in June after passing one of the worst Budgets ever. Since then the Republican Leadership has brought us back into Session repeatedly to do one meaningless thing after another at a cost of $50,000 a day. Before they are done they will waste $1.1 million of our money on unnecessary Sessions that do nothing meaningful. Among the meaningless activities is a constitutional amendment that does nothing more than confirm a law that has gone unchallenged for more that a decade. That law says marriage is only between a man and a woman. The Republican Leadership is playing divisive partisan politics. They want to put this well-settled law into our Constitution, not to change the law, but to bring out their radical base. This is a bad strategy that only serves to drive them further and further into radical, inflexible and intolerant social positions.
I Resolve to treat everyone fairly, equally, and with respect and to oppose all legislation that would do otherwise.
We Need to Make Government Work for People: Everyone knows that Republicans do not make Government work for people. This Legislative Session they have demonstrated over and over again that they will not effectively govern. They have shown this by sacrificing our kids' education (NC is now 49th Nationally in Educational Spending) and healthcare (big cuts to SCHIP), firing people (this Budget) while increasing big corporate loopholes (Senate $39 million additional tax loophole for multi-state corps), and chasing corporate-based political contributions while taking away individual rights. The role of government is to serve the interests of the people. Effective governing is about pooling resources to educate, provide services and infrastructure, and improve the quality of life for everyone.
Democrats have a proven track record of getting the job done. The Republicans have proven, yet again, that they cannot get it done.
I Resolve to win back the House and keep the Governor's Office Democratic
Help us achieve our Resolutions by letting us know your favorite(s). Contribute to our effort to win back the House. Have a great Holiday season and let's turn the NC House blue in 2012. December 31 doesn't just mark the end of the year - it's also a key fundraising deadline. We need a show of strength heading into 2012.
Thank you!
