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Re: Physical health, not mental health

kook123456 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:28:49 -0400

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Re: PhRMA ad praises Hagan

captainjack — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:38:48 -0400

Where is the "truth squad" when you need 'em?

Re: PhRMA ad praises Hagan

Right_is_Right — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:16:33 -0400

One thing that irks me about that commerical is that I can already choose my doctor and my doctor already decides which treatments and medicines are best for me. I had that before Kay Hagan rode the Obama Train into the Senate. So what gives? Another thing that irks me is how, according to the Post, Barack Obama "has asked health advocacy groups to stop criticizing Democratic senators." No need for me to remind everyone how we're living in a nanny state, apparently. Finally - and I'm just going to up and say this because I think it needs to be said - if you're without health insurance, sell your flat-screen television, get rid of cable and internet, and switch out your iPhone for a TracPhone. Oh, and while you're at it - sell your car, too, and you'll probably be able to buy private health insurance for several years to come. I mean, the same people who support government-mandated health insurance are the same people who want me to take the bus everywhere.

Re: Stam quick on his feet

Gosh — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:19:19 -0400

I'd start a website where I talk about the news talking about the news, but I'm afraid my navel lint would recreate the Big Bang to put us all out of our misery.

It must be June.

Nothing more after the jump.

Re: A place where formality reigns?

FFC1304 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:45:00 -0400

just remember...she's a sugah coated dumplin...corrupt from the inside out.

Re: Dome's Take: Perdue's missed opportunity

JasonDeans — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:34:03 -0400

Again I'm somewhat biased in my opinion but looking at this objectively I think it was a lose-lose decision for her.

She appears weak and defensive for not participating in the only statewide debate but at least that damage is somewhat limited. She has the upper hand on the media buy so she doesn't really need the exposure. As the "quasi-incumbent" she has little to gain from engaging McCrory.

On the other hand if she "debates" she runs the risk of making a costly mistake and/or opens a door for McCrory to draw more distinctions between them which is ultimately what he must do to win.

Place Empty seat @ debate for Perdue

concerned53 — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:00:06 -0400

Let's make sure that there is either an empty seat or podium at tonight's debate to emphasize Beverly's cowardice for choosing not to participate. North Carolina's voters need to know that she is ducking an important duty of a candidate. Beverly, what would be the democrats comment if John McCain chose not to debate Obama? There would be outrage as there should be here as well!

If she becomes Governor, is she also going to shy away from other duties that she doesn't feel will position her in the best light. Expect Beverly to be the real "Ms NoWhere" in NC even though she could reside full time in the Governor's mansion in Raleigh.

One reason she is a poor debater is because she can't think on her feet. Instead she depends on sound bites that she has used until she can't forget them, including:

- When asked by Jim Morrill if she would be going to the fundraiser that Sewell was hosting for her this week: "I need to think about that"

- During an interview regarding Ike on WBT Radio in Charlotte, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue advised motorists to get out and “get our gas tanks as full as they’ll let us do it during in the next 24 or 48 hours” due to Hurricane Ike. When questioned by host Al Gardner if this would create a panic, Perdue flip-flopped and said people should not overact and “there is no need for anybody to rush right out.”

- When asked by the WRAL debate moderator about what she would do differently than Easley all she could come up with after repeated follow-ups was, "I would be more hands on."

- During the same WRAL debate, she emphatically states that physical health is obviously separate from mental health. She has to back track the next week when she says that "my background in health care tells me that it makes no sense to separate mental from physical health care."

Re: Why Not Reconsider?

Proctor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:44:39 -0400

Can you imagine being a major party nominee for Governor of North Carolina and declining an opportunity to appear on UNC-TV before the best statewide public affairs audience in the entire Old North State?

Surely, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue will reconsider.

It does not matter how many other debates have been held, this is now the time of year when voters are really focusing in on the major statewide political races--governor, U.S. Senate, lieutenant governor and the Council of State.

After all, they have had a pretty full plate trying to gauge the dimensions of the interesting and historic presidential campaign of 2008, right?

No matter what the pundits and the advisers may contend, the lieutenant governor comes across just great on television forums with her distinguished Republican opponent Pat McCrory, the mayor of Charlotte. Bev Perdue should not miss this opportunity to appear on the one program sure to be seen by interested voters from Murphy to Mocksville to Manteo.

And this time the dashing Libertarian gubernatorial hopeful Michael Munger will be on hand to offer his interesting and insightful perspectives on the priorities for North Carolina state government.

Missing this forum on UNC-TV would be like winning the league playoffs in Major League Baseball, then declining a trip to the World Series. It would be like attending an entire ACC basketball season and then turning down tickets to the ACC Tournament.

Yes, folks, not going on UNC-TV in a meeting of candidates for the Office of Governor would be like choosing to run for Congress and turning down free political advice from Gary Pearce and Carter Wrenn.

Why, it would be like WRAL-TV Sports without the "Plays of the Day" or an end-of-the-year News & Observer with no political prognostications for the coming year by political columnist Rob Christensen.

As a fan of all these great gubernatorial candidates, including Libertarian Michael Munger, who will get a good seat at the table at the UNC-TV forum, I would suggest that Bev Perdue is still not as well-known to the voters in terms of her major platform issues as her campaign's staff may think she is, and furthermore that the UNC-TV forum is the one event which allows a candidate for governor to reach all the folks from the coast, Plains and Sandhills, through the Piedmont to the mountains out west.

If the lion from "The Wizard of Oz" were to hear about this absence of Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue from the UNC-TV event, he no doubt would roar:

"Imposserus!"

Surely the lawyers and political operatives who people the campaign staffs of gubernatorial candidates such as Bev Perdue can figure out a way to get her back into the ballgame before the managers hand over the starting lineups to the umpires. Or as an exasperated Casey Stengel once lamented to the New York Mets in their early days: "Can't anybody around here play this game?"

You don't have to be as smart as "The Old Perfesser" to realize that participating in a candidate forum on UNC-TV is just about the next best thing to holding a press conference in the Rose Garden on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. Here's hoping that the Perdue campaign will find a way to make up for this glaring error as the candidate seeks to solidify her political standing among the voters of North Carolina in the last weeks of this campaign.

She has a lot to offer the people of North Carolina, and appearing on UNC-TV would have been the best single avenue of expression of her views on the issues.

After all, even folks in New Bern will be watching the gubenratorial forum on the excellent UNC Television Network.

David Proctor McKnight

Re: A place where formality reigns?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:19:00 -0400

Legislative fights in the Senate are frequently won or lost on parliamentary rules. That's what I meant by "formal."

— RTB

A place where formality reigns?

domewatcher — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:44:27 -0400

A quote from the above Dome report:

"As Betts noted, Perdue has presided over the Senate for eight years. It's a place where formality reigns."

I question the "formality" of it all. I recall the Dome reporting that the legislative leadership refer to the Lieutenant Governor of the State of North Carolina as "dumpling." That seems a bit "informal" to me. In some ways it might be considered "condescending."

There is a need for "formality" and some sense of decorum in our state government. I hope that our next governor will not be called "dumpling" by the legislative leadership. Being too "informal" tends to make me think things are not quite proper. And it will be especially embarrassing if we elect a male governor............"dumpling" wouldn't sound all that good.

"And now for a message from Governor Dumpling....."

Re: Dome's Take: Perdue's missed opportunity

CarltonH — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:21:00 -0400

With mistakes like these we can all look forward to celebrating the first Republican in the Governor's Mansion since January 1993 and laud an end to the Democratic culture of corruption that has lagged in putting our state in the fast lane for the 21st Century.

Ok, Bev

Isaac136 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:16:58 -0400

Glad you straightened out your p.o.v. on the mental versus physical health issue. But dang I wish I had more faith that you actually had a firm grip on the realities beneath the issues you know are important. Had you been truly invested in the subject wouldn't we have been able to see or hear that in your response during the original exchange?

I would dearly love to believe in a leader, but I can no more convince myself that you are a leader than I can that David Hoyle cares about ethics when he casts his votes, Tony Rand cares about open meetings or Marc Basnight won't be calling the shots when you take office.

Re: Physical health, not mental health

anniepema — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:20:07 -0400

The male biological clock is often the culprit in the de novo genetic mental/physical disorder. Older dads with DNA mutations in sperm stem cells and sperm. Yes the problems are physical, an accident or genes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paternal_age_effect

Re: Physical health, not mental health

scharrison — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:30:46 -0400

"It is unbelievable that you support someone who believes that government can do it best or has the answers."

I find it unbelievable that you (or anyone else) would support someone for Governor that doesn't have faith that government can do it best or have the answers. But I understand that many have developed an antipathy towards a system that takes your money but never seems to give you your money's worth, and I will admit to feeling that way from time to time myself.

But when we talk about privatization, we're not really talking about "small government", in the classic sense. Small government taxes less and provides fewer services. In the case of privatization, we're talking about private employees doing the jobs that public employees once did. The same amount of taxpayer-subsidized services that are contracted out to the private sector, theoretically because they can provide the same service(s) cheaper, or better services for the same cost, etc.

But there are a multitude of potential problems that can arise, such as the mental health fiasco, which was partly due to a poor capabilities assessment. And no matter how "corrupt" folks reading this might believe civil servants can become, privatization provides numerous avenues for corruption and waste. Part of it is due to kickbacks, but a bigger issue is loss of accountability. And one of the worst aspects of privatization (in my eyes) is what can happen to the employee who ends up doing the job.

Government employees have relatively decent health care, a marginally livable wage, protection from discrimination, retirement plans, etc. Very often, their private-sector replacement has none of these employee benefits, which is a major reason the private company can "outbid" the government entity. Our General Assembly has taken many steps to guarantee State employees have these benefits, because we need to recruit and retain good people. The outsourcing of their jobs basically amounts to an end-run around these laws, and should be viewed as malfeasance instead of "innovation".

Re: Physical health, not mental health

razor0397 — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:46:42 -0400

If McCrory is a danger as you and Beverly say he is....why has he been able to serve as Mayor for 13+ years. McCrory is an intelligent down to earth nice guy. He listens and is approachable. I own a business in eastern nc. I have seen him more in the east than Beverly who you know lives here. I went to Charlotte for a football game and asked people about McCrory. The response was overwhelming positive. I talked to employees in the hotel, police officers, waiters in the restaurant to employees at the stadium. They like Pat because he does it right. It is unbelievable that you support someone who believes that government can do it best or has the answers. We can't continue to spend, spend and tax to meet our needs. She cannot lead without selling the taxpayers out.