newsobserver.com projects - drivers licenses - Comments

Re: What North Carolina thinks: Elon

FFC1304 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:35:55 -0500

As an ELON alumnus...would you please poll people on their opinion for the Constitutional need for states rights and sovereignty from the federal government? thanks!

Re: RGA targets Perdue on jobs

pickingperdue — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:46:14 -0400

McCrory himself recruited new companies? Yes, that's right: just like he recently "recruited" Wells Fargo!! HA!! What a joke; does he have an ego or what? Please refer to CLT Observer article in which the City Council members state that he is a non-factor in any of CLT's successes or failures. I'm sure Harvey Gantt was just being kind in his referral to McCrory, but let's face it; that is far, far, far from the endorsement Gantt gave Perdue.

Re: A brief history of the N.C. driver's license

ladybug7008 — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:40:35 -0400

This has nothing to do with the article. I'm writing a paper for a class, and need to find out when it was made law that a person was to be 16 years old to get a drivers license. Can anyone help me out?

Re: A brief history of the N.C. driver's license

feliduca — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:47:42 -0400

I am a NC drivers license holder. I was trapped for 90 in a 60 while
driving in SC. The magistrate stated that I could plead no contest,
the points would not show up on my NC license, and the penalty would
be reduced to 4 points (which did not affect me, he said). 4 points
is 'over 15 mph over but under 25 mph over.' I took this bargain.
That was August of 2002.

The violation never appeared on my NC license, and likewise never
showed up on my NC insurance through any consumer groups of any kind.
I have even changed insurance carriers since then.

I have accepted a full time position in SC starting late January,
2004. I could live in either SC or NC due to the job's location. I
would prefer SC, as the taxes are slightly less, cost of living is
less, etc. However, whether I live in SC or not largely depends on
the situation about the ticket.

My question is whether I will recieve a SC drivers license with the SC
violation on it, even though I was a NC driver when the violation
occured. If so, will the violation be accompanied by the 4 points.
If this is the case, how could that affect my insurance? I plan on
celebrating my employment fresh out of college with an expensive car,
so insurance will already be a little high. I would love for it not
to be higher. How long will the violation be active on my record (I
believe in NC the duration is 3 years)? Would there be a way to
further reduce the penalty before/after I move to SC?

I have searched extensively, but mine seems to be a unique situation
where no one moves to the state where the non-resident violation
occured. Unfortunately, SC has limited information on it's DMV
website. I also have never had any moving violations on my NC
license, so nothing would transfer to SC from NC but a big fat zero.

I think these questions are very closely related, so if you find that
one source, youve made my day! Thanks for any help you can provide!

____________________________
Submited by : Descargar Libros

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

JohnHood — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:36:40 -0400

I understand what your task is here, Ryan. I was just observing that differentiating between the Southeast and the Deep South/Gulf Coast is hardly bizarre.

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:18:57 -0400

Word choice matters. If you want to say we have "one of the highest rates" in the Southeast, I've got no problem with that. If you want to define the Southeast in a way that most people would agree with, same deal. If you want to say we have the highest tax rate of our bordering states, or the Atlantic South Coast or whatever, again no problem.

The goal of the Claims Department is not to evaluate who has the best tax plan etc. etc. but to determine if the claims made in an ad are true.

— RTB

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

JohnHood — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:17:03 -0400

Ryan,

I know you explored many different definitions of the Southeast, and regional delineations are debatable, but JLF's use of the term "Southeast" to describe the Southern coast of the U.S. is hardly "bizarre." Plenty of folks distinguish between the Virginia-to-Florida region, called various things, and the Deep South. The two groups have distinguishable political and economic cultures (as I learned a couple of decades ago in a class taught by John Shelton Reed, as it happens). For example, check out how the election-projection site FiveThirtyEight.com groups the states:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

And you'll see that their "South Coast" grouping includes VA, NC, SC, GA, and FL and their "Gulf Coast" grouping includes the Deep South states of AL, MS, LA, and TX. They then chose to put Arkansas and Tennessee into a "Highlands" group that includes border states. I think it makes more sense to group the former into the Deep South and the latter into the Southeast, but neither choice should be seen as "bizarre."

I also don't think the issue matters all that much. If politicians said NC has "one of the highest tax burdens in the Southeast" or "South," they would be stating the truth.

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:33:20 -0400

Interesting point. Thanks for sharing.

— RTB

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

scharrison — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:30:37 -0400

"During those five years, the state's overall debt went from $3.5 billion to $6.9 billion"

I've never been a big fan of debt Ryan, but until the economy does a turnaround, you're going to see (most) individual states' debt burdens rising. As a matter of fact, it is (or should be) one of the components used to determine the total tax burden per state, because in the absence of an economic turnaround, those bonds will have to be covered by increasing revenue or cutting spending.

It's also how many states get away with keeping their tax burden (relatively) low compared to their neighbors. If you examine the per capita debt burden for Virginia ($2,049) and South Carolina ($2,661), you'll see they're higher than North Carolina ($1,653). These stats are from 2005 and may have changed some, but you get the picture. Some of our neighbors (have been) borrowing more than we have, and that burden rests on the shoulders of each states' citizens.

JLF knows this and chose to ignore it, which is just one more example of their partisan bent.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/state_local_govt_finances_employment/state_government_finances.html

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:01:58 -0400

It is bizarre. Get out a map and color in the states they're using for this analysis. What's the definition of Southeast: States that were part of the Confederacy and border the Atlantic but not the Gulf of Mexico exclusively and/or are a major capital for country music? Look, there are a number of combinations of states that they could have used that are defensible, but this one is not.

— RTB

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:57:15 -0400

Language, please.

— RTB

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

Indy1776 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 07:51:42 -0400

But your use of the word "bizarre" is more than semantics. It shows a slanted view.

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

MeckDeck — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:14:02 -0400

Uh, maybe because Tenn. shares a border with NC but Bama does not? That Nashville and Memphis are peers that compete with Charlotte and Raleigh, Birmingham not so much?

Seriously, this vetting of ads has become laughable if all it boils down to is a reporter substituting his value judgments for those of campaign.

NC has damn high state taxes, especially on top earners. That is the big picture.

JAT

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:19:12 -0400

I blogged extensively about definitions of the Southeast. Obviously everyone has a different opinion on how far west and how far north to go, and you could argue all day long about the semantics.

But I don't see how you can stretch all the way to Memphis, but not include folks in Birmingham — 230 miles to the southeast.

— RTB

Re: Claims Dept: NRSC's 'Gold Medals'

tangoz — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:09:23 -0400

How do you figure bizarre? Louisiana is in the south and is south central.
How can you say Arkansas is southeast? Arkansas is WEST of the Mississippi. Calling Arkansas southeast is bizarre.
If Kentucky is southeast, why isn't Maryland southeast? The only stretch you go is Alabama can be considered southeast and Mississippi can be south central or southeast.

So yes NC is the highest taxed state in the southeast.
John Locke Foundation is not bizarre, but the N&O is becoming that.

Ryan, did they teach you geography in that liberal arts school?