newsobserver.com projects - economy - Comments

Nice call Matt!

Gosh — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:38:56 -0400

Submitted by MattM on August 26, 2008 - 4:10pm.

Larry Kissell got lucky back in '06, a lot of Hayes supporters stayed home figuring he already had it locked up. They'll be out this year. Kissell will have to settle back into his real job and stop pretending like he can be a Congressman.

...

Whoops, sorry to bump. Was looking for Matt's latest supporting that NFL guy, or maybe it was the DA that also passed.

A randomly selected housewife in the phonebook would be a better representative than Kissell.

Does the NRCC not have a phonebook?

Sorry, Dad :(

scharrison — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:35:06 -0400

I'll try not to be so lazy in the future. :)

A couple of things, Francis:

WOULD YOU PLEASE TELL
ME IF YOU APPROVE OR DISAPPROVE OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING?
"A PROPOSAL TO GIVE EVERY SMALL BUSINESS A 10% STATE TAX CUT TO HELP
SMALL BUSINESSES RETAIN AND CREATE NEW JOBS"

1) Is there really a bonafide proposal for this, or is that just a construct for the question itself?

2) Especially in these economic times, you could put pretty much anything in front of "retain and create new jobs" and get a standing ovation. Try "hire a root doctor" and see what you get. ;)

As far as your implication that I'm whining about a few clicks to find out something, let's look at what's posted here:

59.7 percent selected small business and entrepreneurs, 18 percent large corporations, 9 percent government and 3.5 percent non-profit organizations, while 9.8 percent had no opinion.

versus what categories were actually offered to the respondents:

From the following list, who do you think is better able to create jobs and rebuild the economy?
1. Small businesses and Entrepreneurs
2. Large, multinational corporations
3. The Government
4. Non-profit organizations

While many large U.S. corporations might be "multinational" in nature, it's definitely not a universal trait. The term also carries an extremely negative connotation in a state that has lost so many manufacturing jobs overseas. And the fact that the term "multinational" didn't survive the transition from question to summary to Dome publication is just one more example of why my request is not unreasonable.

Don't be lazy!

fxdeluca — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:06:29 -0400

Take a minute from attacking everyone and to go to the Civitas website and look under Media/Publications and Press Releases where you will find the release with the full question and links to crosstabs. Or I can save you the trouble and just put the link here for you: NC Voters: Small Businesses way to Economic Growth

Of course you could have the General Assembly just pass a law requiring Dome to post every bit of information for every post to save everyone the trouble of a few clicks or searching - this would seem to fit into the bill passing frenzy the G.A. is in the midst of as we blog.

Posting eveything would also protect Dome from getting into trouble if this bill passes!

Re: Poll: Small business is the answer

scharrison — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:18:37 -0400

"Civitas is a hack. Nothing to dissect here."

Gosh, if a large percentage of people believed that, you wouldn't see their polls being quoted in newspapers and blogs all over the state, or being used by conservative politicians to push their agendas.

Until the day arrives when nobody pays attention to them anymore, I'll keep "dissecting" this frog that too many people think is a prince, even if it does seem like a waste of time to some of the readers here.

Re: Poll: Small business is the answer

Gosh — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:41:50 -0400

Sure scharrison, why not the cross tabs, client executive summary and phone numbers of respondents to boot? How about the trend data from previous polls and all the proprietary demographics by actual respondent name and address? Maybe you'd also like an 800 number to call in and monitor the next poll for integrity?

Why don't people get press releases about polls?

Look at the source, read what they CHOOSE to release, draw your own conclusions.

Ryan does not have more information than released by the private firm, and there is no freedom of information act to force them to release it to Bluenc.

Civitas is a hack. Nothing to dissect here.

Re: Poll: Small business is the answer

scharrison — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:25:56 -0400

I have a request/recommendation for the Dome: when posting these poll results, could you please also post the questions used in the poll? Not a paraphrase or summary, the exact questions, if you don't mind.

Re: Poll: Small business is the answer

PaulTerrell — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:11:06 -0400

I want to know how the Democrats are going to reduce state spending to make up the $4.6 Billion shortfall in NC without raising taxes. If they raise taxes it will only further strangle the economy. Anyone think differently?

Re: Hagan to hold stimulus roundtable

PaulTerrell — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:04:20 -0400

Challenges? We all face challenges.

Re: Burr feared banks would fail

CitizenOpinionated — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:49:15 -0400

James, exactly what quote are you talking about from Paulson? I have read the entire article and there is not one quote from Paulson there. Was he at the event? How did the reporter in Hendersonville obtained this "never before heard Burr only quote" from Paulson.

First of all, James, please present the entire story told by Burr.

“On Wednesday morning of that week, after they had given the transfer notice to the bank, the Chicago bank called and said, ‘We didn’t transfer the money. There is no money being transferred. There is no money that will transfer from a bank to a bank anywhere in the United States, and likely there is no money that will transfer from a bank to a bank anywhere in the world,’” Burr said.

“On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.”

Burr's story as quoted in the original article never offers any specific dates. Thus I am not sure how James knows exactly what he knew about the financial markets on that particular "Wednesday". James' argument is founded in taking a quote out of context and playing the "victimhood" card.

Yet, James, HuffPo and others claims that Burr was subject to insider information.

Can you provide the dates of that Wednesday, James?

For a smart guy, you sure have a way of missing the point

James_Protzman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:55:33 -0400

Why are you trying to make this about partisanship or Obama? This is about a sitting Senator learning something from the Secretary of the Treasury and then acting on that information privately to protect his own financial interests.

I followed this issue closely throughout all the Congressional deliberations. I'd never heard that Paulson quote before yesterday. Had you? Only one person that I know of for sure got that information from Henry Paulson. His name is Richard Burr. There may have been others, that's hard to say. But those others didn't include me - nor did they include millions of other North Carolinians.

With that information in hand, Burr acted in his own self interest. To use his own words, he panicked. Just what we need in a senior Senator.

Not.

Re: Burr feared banks would fail

CitizenOpinionated — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:09:14 -0400

People, please read the entire article - instead of the hack job of quotes assembled PREVIOUSLY...

The incident and others at the time pushed Paulson to make improvements to the “financial architecture” in the country, where the “simple transfer of money could happen,” he said.

“It’s safe to say when you don’t have money moving from institution to institution, you don’t have an economy,” Burr said. “And you certainly don’t have a financial market.”

"Paulson and Congress eventually crafted the $700 billion bank bailout bill, the Troubled Assets Recovery Plan, and Burr voted for it. The goal was to get the financial markets moving by shoring up the financial architecture and purchasing toxic assets, Burr said.

The state of the financial system at that time had a profound impact on the senator.

After learning that no money was moving from bank to bank, I guess it would be a good idea to remove money.

Perhaps if anyone was the event - the quote would not have taken out of context, but since it appears no one on this board was - here is what an attendee said...

"Local businessman Jeff Miller said the talk was refreshing.
Burr did not discuss partisanship or criticize the Obama administration, he said.

“It’s scary,” Miller said. “It’s the stone cold truth. It’s what we needed to hear.”

Re: Burr feared banks would fail

tangoz — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:58:54 -0400

Please print more articles about cooper and his lawsuit.

Burr is not well known versus I cannot tell the truth in campaign ads Cooper. Hmm, who should we vote for?

Re: Burr feared banks would fail

tangoz — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:57:06 -0400

Well with the extra $10 TRILLION of debt we are getting under Obama, it might be a great idea to buy precious metals with you dollars. Hyper inflation here could make us look much worse than WEIMAR Germany in the 30's.

Insider trading?

James_Protzman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:43:35 -0400

This doesn't really rise to the level of being illegal, to my knowledge. Just stunningly bad judgment.

A rising star!

James_Protzman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:42:07 -0400

Maybe Senator Burr is finally getting the attention he so badly wants.

Now up at Huffington Post.