Pilot Light: County Plans Budget Forums
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Two public forums on the 2010-2011 budget are planned by the Moore County administration.
County Manager Cary McSwain and key staff members will be available to describe the budget-making process and answer questions from the public at quorums scheduled April 8 and April 22.
The first will be at 7 p.m. April 8 at the Senior Enrichment Center on U.S. 15-501, two miles north of the Pinehurst Traffic Circle. The second will be at 7 p.m. April 22 at Davis Community Center on N.C. 705 near Robbins.
Both forums will be informal, with most of the time devoted to questions and answers, according to Eli Arroyo-Allen, county public information officer. Additional information is available by calling the county administrative office at (910) 947-6363.
TAYLOR - Dr. James Taylor, a Republican candidate for the 6th District seat in the U.S. Congress, has released a statement calling on North Carolina to join other states in efforts to repeal the health-care bill passed by Congress last week and signed into law by President Obama.
"I would hope that the legislature of North Carolina would move forward in protecting North Carolina's citizens and businesses from federal mandates to purchase insurance," Taylor said. "Our unemployment rate in N.C. is nearly 12 percent, and we simply cannot afford this unconstitutional legislation and unfunded mandates."
Taylor, who lives in Southern Pines, is among five Republicans challenging incumbent Republican Howard Coble in the May primary.
CENSUS SAFETY - The U.S. Census Bureau has issued a public safety notice for the benefit of residents who will receive personal visits from census takers in coming weeks.
William W. Hatcher, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau, said census employees will wear identification badges bearing the words "U.S. Department of Commerce," the name of the census taker and the words "U.S. Census Bureau." A census taker will also carry a black bag with the words "U.S. Census Bureau" written on it.
Hatcher said the authorized census taker will provide supervisor contact information and/or the local census office telephone number when such information is requested. The resident may call this number to verify that the person at the door is indeed a sworn census employee.
Sworn census takers are authorized only to ask questions that appear on the 2010 census form. Hatcher emphasizes that they do not ask for donations, bank account numbers, the amount of money in the house, Social Security numbers or credit card numbers, nor do they ask citizenship status.
Contact Florence Gilkeson at florence@thepilot.com.
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SCCstudent 3 years, 1 month ago
"TAYLOR - Dr. James Taylor, a Republican candidate for the 6th District seat in the U.S. Congress, has released a statement calling on North Carolina to join other states in efforts to repeal the health-care bill passed by Congress last week and signed into law by President Obama".
You lost my vote. We already have the walking corpse who adheres to party lines. The handwriting is on the wall.
None 3 years, 1 month ago
@Dr. James Taylor: Not a sound political move to go public based on party lines. Moore County has a 11.4% unemployment rate. You just lost 11.4% votes - give or take a point or two, and perhaps family members who vote - since those who are without jobs and unable to afford COBRA, will just have to die according to you and John Boehner ~ only if they can afford life insurance. Have you ever tried to support a family, pay health care cost, keep a roof over your head - on unemployment? Congress provided tax breaks and incentives for jobs to move off-shore. Remember Ross Perott? That hugh sucking sound is our jobs going accoss the boarder to Mexico. And they have gone!
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
Party lines... Lost votes? You two are kidding yourself. Have you actually been paying attention to the developments with this health care reform bill? 80% of Americans are against this bill, Do you know why? Have you wondered what about this bill has everyone in such an uproar? Of course you haven't. Maybe you should cut out the mindless sheep act, care a little more about your country and countrymen and pay attention to the text of the legislation our congress passes. Your life may actually depend on it. Now for a little lesson on the health care reform:
Page 22; Government will audit all books of employers who self insure. Page 29; You can only receive so much health care per year, $5000.00 per single person 10,000 per family (rationing) Page 30 Sec. 123; There will be a government committee that decides what care you should receive Page 42; The health care commissioner will choose your benefits for you, You have no choice Page 50 Sec. 152; Health care will be provided to all Non-U.S. citizens, illegal or otherwise Page 58; The government will have real time access to individual finances and a National I.D. card will be issued Page 59 lines 21-24; The government will have direct access to your bank account for elective funds transfer Page 65 Sec. 164; A subsidized payoff plan for individuals in organizations such as ACORN Page 74 lines 8-14; Government take over of private health care insurance market Page 85 line 7, AARP members benefits will be rationed Page 91 lines 4-7; All doctors offices and health care providers will be mandated to provide translation for illegal immigrants Page 95 lines 8-18; Government will use private groups to sign up Americans for health care service ( Meaning your private information is at a higher risk for being compromised) Page 102 lines 12-18; Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid you have no choice Page 124 lines 24-25; No business can sue the government for price fixing and there will be no judicial review against government monopoly
There's a lot more than this. Some Americans look at the health care reform as a blessing, but really it's their worst nightmare. It's not party line to be opposed to this bill. I'm opposed to it and I'm an independent. Do you want more information about how this bill will hurt America?
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
Dr. Taylor now has the support of my family and myself. It's good to see a candidate step up on the issues. After reviewing his website I can say he is the best candidate in the 6th district. God speed Dr. Taylor.
SCCstudent 3 years, 1 month ago
"80% of Americans are against this bill", obviously you are fan of Fox News: Bill O'Reilly, Shawn Hannity, Glenn Beck, and last but not least ~ Rush Limbaugh. Please provide a link from a reputable news service like the New York Times or CNN, showing a poll that agrees with your percentage.
Also what has the party of NO proposed to do for the millions without affordable healthcare. Who can't see a bean counting doctor? DIE!!!
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
"Please provide a link from a reputable news service like the New York Times or CNN, showing a poll that agrees with your percentage."
None of these news services are any more reputable, reliable or accurate than the other. You fool yourself trying to debate one aspect of what I said while ignoring the most important points. You want to debate the statistics of Americans against it rather than the key negative points of the legislation.
Is that because you can't debate the negative effects this bill would have? I made it to page 124 of a bill that's 1017 pages long and already pointed out several negative effects. It does get worse if you wish to know more...?
Who said the party of "NO" did anything? I don't believe that the federal government has the right to offer health care solutions either way, no matter which party suggests "reform". It isn't a governmental right or responsibility in the Constitution, which makes any legislation they pass unconstitutional. They clearly over step their boundaries daily.
What do you do for a living or plan to do for a living when you leave college? Are you interested being in a field where the government controls the rate of pay for the service you provide?
Let's look at it like this, Can you perform heart surgery? No... Well only a small amount of people can. How many of these people will continue to perform heart surgery once government tells them how much they can charge for this service? Not just that, Once you start restricting the field, how many new students will enter the field of medicine knowing they will face the same restrictions? This reform is nothing more than more government control. It will limit the services available to us, the quality of those services, the wait time in which we can receive these services and who we have to pay in order to receive these services.
If you don't want to pay the price some doctors charge find another one. You act as though no one had a choice in who they receive health care from. You act as if there weren't already health care insurance companies you could purchase insurance from. Not to mention you can go to any emergency room and receive care if you have to. Those who couldn't afford insurance still wont be able to afford it once this bill takes effect. On top of that, It has the rest of the country footing the bill for more socialist programs. How are the people paying the extra 2.5% in taxes being represented? This is clearly taxation without representation.
"DIE!!! "
Is that a threat or what?
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
More restrictions in the health care industry means less Americans going to school to be doctors. Why waste so much money and time of their life to enter a field where they have absolutely no control of their field?
BTW, I am not a doctor nor have any doctors in my family. I do have health care and I'm an independent.
I do not agree with government intrusion into my life or the lives of my family.
I do not agree with placing restrictions on any field that can clearly be controlled by the consumers.
I do not agree with attacking doctors causing a lower quality of health care in our country. I will go to Canada for health care if need be, but that doesn't change the effect it has on my countrymen as well.
I do not agree with the trade agreements which have caused jobs to leave this country. You have to search high and low in most stores to find an American made product these days, other than food.
This bill will be repealed, whether it's on a state or federal level. Believe that.
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
From CBS:
Just 14 percent of Americans said they approve of the way Congress is handling its job, while 76 percent - the highest figure ever - said they disapprove.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/22/politics/main6321735.shtml
This figure is 4% lower than what I suggested, but you don't have to search the internet long to see the opposition to this legislation.
SCCstudent 3 years, 1 month ago
@Bobby9900:""DIE!!! "
Is that a threat or what?" No that is not a threat by no means; inevitably healthcare coverage is now and will become unattainable for most Americans. Especially for the unemployed and uninsured.
"I do not agree with government intrusion into my life or the lives of my family." that is an open ended statement if I have ever heard one: lets start with interstate commerce. Volumes of regulation for states who conduct business across state lines, just for starters. Department of transportation, regulating our speed limits, highway funding, requirements for the trucking industry, and on and on and on ~ with government regulation. The State and Feds regulate every aspect of our life, and control our lives consumer affairs to whether one has to wear a helmet to ride a motorcycle.
Now lets discuss the IRS and the constitutionality of taxation without representation. Who is represented by those we elect and send to Washington? No - not constituents. Lobbyists! Richard Burr received several million dollars from Pharmaceutical, Insurance industries, and hospital conglomerates [ http://www.opensecrets.org ] ; ergo the 41% increase in California after a 150% increase in three months. Howard Coble received 1.5 million in PAC money for his votes in congress. Congress has been bought out and we have no representation! Why do you think that a tax reform bill was introduced by Congressman John Linder to do away with the IRS is still sitting in committee since 2005. The reason is so that our elected officials can provide "leverage" for large contributors and add a word or sentence to the 68,892 pages of the US tax code. ref: http://www.fairtax.org and http://www.nealboortz.com
SCCstudent 3 years, 1 month ago
@Bobby9900 - I'm really not on a rant here, so let me get to my point. Since John F. Kennedy, and every president since, has stumped for quality health care for all Americans - everyone of them! The republicans under the Reagan Administration had an ample opportunity to implement national health care the same as all other industrialized countries in the world (take a look a Denmark's healthcare system), what happened - they did nothing? Lobbyists screwing the middle class and poor Americans!
I for one am sick and tired of the insurance industry profiting billions at the expense of Americans who are denied coverage for "pre-existing" conditions decided by a coder at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Durham. I had a heart Cath, no anomalies. BCBS refused to pay the cost of the procedure because of PEC. Never had heart problems - just a physician ordered procedure. Three years to get it resolved and taken off my credit report.
Americans can't afford health care any longer, only those who have higher paying jobs. Most health care workers in doctors offices can't afford the premiums. Unemployed workers have no coverage or life insurance. Doctors offices are "releasing" patients who have no insurance plan they "accept". God forbid if you have Antea with a $10,000.00 deductible. Try Pinehurst Family Care if you have no insurance or Medicare; no appointments there except for the wealthy clients.
So the only option for most Americans is just to DIE! Way to go John Boehner....or is it boner like in phallic head.
None 3 years, 1 month ago
"Our present tax system...exerts too heavy a drag on growth...it reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk taking...then present tax load...distorts economic judgments and channels an undue amount of energy in to efforts to avoid tax liabilities."
Small businesses are an have been over taxed for decades as much as 50%, the backbone of American business. Add point-of-sales taxes, health insurance, licenses for businesses or trades, state taxes, county taxes, all of which are increasing due to the political nature of the beast, and the "good 'ol boy" way of conducting business, and what is left to pay for a visit to an emergency room or a one nights stay in a hospital. The party of NO says that we have the best health care in the world. No arguement here. But only members of Congress can afford quality health care. The rest have to sell their homes, if the county doesn't get it first for unpaid taxes, or file bankruptcy to continue to live, on the street or in a homeless shelter. I agree with SCCStudent, the American people are being taken advantage of by elected officicals who are being bought out by lobbyist groups who continue to bleed the American public of every single penny. And our county officicals want to explain the budget. How ironic when political heavy weights just ask for money and somehow, they get want they want, like the 160K for SCC campus police, and new computers. Actually the voters approved that funding in the last Bond Referendum for SCC. It's been in a "line item" slush fund just for the asking. It's just money - who's complaining? In the not too distant future, we will all work for the government just like in China. Who needs money when the government has it all?
None 3 years, 1 month ago
I understood your thread to say that, "80% of Americans are against this bill", when in fact that is the disapproval rating of Congress.
"The confusion about reform – and the long-running health care debate – has not endeared Congress to the public. Its overall approval rating is near an all-time low. Just 14% of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job, while 76%, the highest figure ever, disapproves. Approval of Congress has dropped sixteen points over the past year. CONGRESS APPROVAL Approve 14% Disapprove 76
Is this what you are referring to Bobby9900? It's your link: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/poll_health_care_032210_7am.pdf?tag=contentMain;contentBody
Perhaps once the republican scare tactics have subsided, and the legislation has time to evolve, then those Americans cited in the poll:
UNDERSTAND HOW REFORMS WILL AFFECT YOUR FAMILY? Understand 42% No, it’s confusing 54
Will certainly have a better understanding as opposed to "cry wolf" tactics of the party of NO.
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
Toda, The only thing Congress has been working on really is health care reform. Being their numbers are so low it would be safe to say that health care is a direct result of their low approval rate. Which is the reason for my comment.
You guys think I don't agree with you when it comes to lobbyists being represented over the American people? Of course they are. The majority of both parties are on the take. Which is just another example of what I believe the government is intruding in our life rather than representing us.
When it comes to health care reform, The government could have made this bill small and easy. It could have provided a better option for those who need health care rather than guaranteeing heavy restrictions for the entire field. Because they are going to add so many restrictions to the field of medicine there will be less doctors and specialists in the medical field causing the care we could receive in this country to go down hill.
Toda, Small businesses are taxed way to much. So now on top of that they have to open up their books and provide health care that the government chooses. This is just one more regulation to bring small businesses under government control. You think this is right? So now we have people deciding not to go into the field of medicine with more restrictions on small businesses which will cause less job creations in the future.
What does health care reform have to do with the government managing and deciding what assets you can leave to your children? With this bill passed the government can review and decide what you can pass on to your children when you die. So what does that have to do with health care reform?
This bill and Dr. Taylor's opposition to it is only one of the reasons I am voting for him. There's no doubt we need a health care option for those who can't receive it. I don't think people should have to just die and not be helped if possible. So what's your solution? Who would you vote for and what stance have they taken?
Let's hear it.
None 3 years, 1 month ago
@Bobby9900: It's like my grandma used to say about putting a bunch of snakes in a bag; when you pour it out, you still have a bunch of snakes.
Your points are well taken and I agree for the most part. My ere is with Washington sitting on their anuses for decades when a simple health care plan could have been legislated. Until POTUS'O, stepped up to the plate, and said we are going to get this done. I agree - it's not pretty, but as far as republicans going off half cocked and suggesting that the legislation be scrapped is the same mantra we've heard for years. Lets just start over and perhaps in 50 years of so we will pass legislation. Too little too late for many who need health care.
Now with respect to doctors: perhaps they won't continue living in gated communities and driving Mercedes or Lexus's. Somewhere it was said that medical professionals go into medicine to help people; now it's those people who have deep pockets. I don't believe for one minute there will be any difference as far as the number of admissions to medical school. Heck, they could go practice in a third world county like doctors without borders and help someone who is in need as opposed to counting beans.
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck! I visited Dr. Taylors' website early on when I was asked to support him because of my ere with Howard Coble and his do nothing approach toward the working class. Dr. Taylor is cut from the same fabric as those in Washington now. His comment, "released a statement calling on North Carolina to join other states in efforts to repeal the health-care bill" sent a message loud and clear that he's in it for the ride and could care less about those who live from paycheck to paycheck or unemployment check to unemployment check. That dog just won't hunt.
I asked his volunteer about his position on a FairTax ~ I really think the good Dr. is clueless. You asked who I would support? Billy Yow from Greensboro who is working class, operates a small business,and is intouch with the working class as opposted to the black ties with tails country club crowd. Like my old grandma used to say, "thank God for country clubs, because they bleed off those who you normally wouldn't want to associate with anyhow"!
Bobby9900 3 years, 1 month ago
You sure are saying a lot about Dr. Taylor for someone who doesn't know him. I found his position on fair tax easily as it's listed on his website. What issue do you have with it?
Billy Yow? The business man in the spot light for selling shirts of a racist nature? That's who you would see represent the 6th district? You know why Yow is running? It's not because he had an Epiphany and decided he could better serve his countrymen in congress. It's because the republican party approached him to run against Dr. Taylor because they knew Coble had become stale in his position. Why Yow? Because he tows the party line harder than any other prospects they had for the 6th district. You've been duped. Now you have become a trumpet for the very thing you were against which will leave a bitter taste in your mouth I guarantee.
Billy Yow.... You have got to be kidding me. I guess there are some in this district that don't want to be represented. His take on taxes are that people are happy to pay them if their tax dollar is being spent efficiently. What? No one is happy to pay taxes. It may be necessary, but happiness doesn't fit any where into that equation.
I could go on, but I digress.
After reviewing the positions of all candidates running and talking to their campaigns directly, I support Dr. Taylor.
Vote James Taylor May 4th!