newsobserver.com projects - Meek: Dalton's spending requests good - Comments

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:06:40 -0400

I think that's reading a bit too much into it.

Seriously, I have four or five words tops. There's simply no way to write a headline that covers all of the items in that list.

And I'm not convinced that the headline is that important on a blog where the rest of the post is right there beneath it.

— RTB

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

aperrin — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:35:39 -0400

...but the focus (i.e., the headline) is always on how much the legislator wants to spend -- not on what, not relative to others, and not based on what values or priorities. That encourages us readers to place cost first and substance second.

Meek and Dalton have never seen a dollar of taxpayer money...

Senate — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:05:24 -0400

...they didn't want to spend.

This is the guy that voted to spend money on a teapot museum, a cooking school in charlotte, crab research, an old pirate ship, a grass study, and Randy Parton's Theater.

Know what he said about every single one of them? "These are good spending requests."

Please! Why won't they let the taxpayers get back some of their money and make their own choices on how to spend it? Because they can't get kickbacks from special interest donors that want to suckle on the public's teet.

Pittenger has a novel idea. Cut taxes and reduce spending. It is so startling in it its simplicity that it appears to have taken Meek and Dalton by complete surprise. Bravo Pittenger.

Of course they know how to spend your money better than you do, just trust them, be quiet and pay your ever expanding tax bill.

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:27:36 -0400

I respectfully disagree. If you read the spending bills, they usually only list amounts, not how the money will be spent. Obviously, the agencies and nonprofits have plans for that, but those aren't always publicly available.

Second, I think you are making presumptions about readers that are unwarranted. Sure, some folks are going to only look at the numbers, but others are going to read where the money is going. I put both in the original post.

Finally, the amount spent is an indicator of how seriously the politician takes the issue at hand. Spending $25,000 to fight, say, teen pregnancy, is a different thing than spending $250,000 or even $2.5 million.

— RTB

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

FFC1304 — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:11:50 -0400

WHEN are the multiple TELEVISED DEBATEs between Dalton and Pittenger going to start?

This is the race to watch. We NEED Pittenger SO MUCH in NC right now!

Dalton is an inbred democrackkk corruptionist!

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

aperrin — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:01:16 -0400

This all raises a bigger question about the way the Dome covers the legislative session. Why is it that the Dome highlights *spending* as opposed to the specific *programs* on which spending is proposed? Despite what certain political actors think, money spent by government is not simply buried, never to be seen again -- it is spent *on* something. Sometimes that something is wasteful, sometimes frivolous -- and sometimes quite sensible and in line with North Carolinians' values! By highlighting the bottom line without what it's to be used for, Dome contributes to this overly cynical view of government.

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

mickiep — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:21:02 -0400

Just another example of Democrats in the legislature on their ever constant "drunken sailor" spending spree. The amount of wasted money these people preside over is staggering. Pittenger should be applauded for his common sense approach to state appropriations.

got to love those Republican hypocrites

Hudba — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:54:00 -0400

You have to love those Republicans talking about practicing "monetary responsibility".
I say, practice what you preach. They obviously have never looked at what the Republicans are doing on a national level?
They've created the biggest deficit in history and we're now deeper in debt than we've ever been, thanks to a 12 year long Republican control of congress and a President who never even heard of the word "veto" until Democrats took over Congress.

Re: Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

tangoz — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:14:29 -0400

Dalton, Rand, Blue, and Hackney are the ones out of line. It is time to throw them out of office and put in Republicans who will practice monetary responsibility.

Terrell III for State House
Republican nominee for the 33rd district-North Carolina State House
4549 Tollington Drive
Raleigh, NC 27604
919-523-0304 Cell
http://terrellforhouse33.blogspot.com/

Paul Terrell III is a conservative blue collar worker who will do things in Raleigh for House district 33's citizens.

Meek: Dalton's spending requests good

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:23:04 -0400

Jerry Meek says a Republican attack on Sen. Walter Dalton is off-base.

The state Democratic Party chairman told Dome that a criticism from the state Republican chairwoman about the candidate for lieutenant governor's requested $277 million in state appropriations this year misses the benefits the bills would bring.

"If you look at the appropriations that Senator Dalton has proposed, you'll see programs that help families protect their homes from foreclosures, help bring jobs and infrastructure to rural North Carolina, improve education and invest in programs that help the developmentally disabled," he said.

He said that Republican chairwoman Linda Daves and Republican lieutenant governor nominee Robert Pittenger "haven't met a good idea that they were not against."

"I think we expect our leaders to show leadership and not just oppose things without actually looking at them," he said. "These are all strong programs that are going to help North Carolina, and I think Senator Dalton is on the right track by promoting them."

Dalton, who was at a funeral today, was not available for comment.