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Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch writes on his blog that the Senate's tax plan is not only bad public policy but is bombing politically.

"If Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and his colleagues in the Senate get their way, you will pay more for bread and milk at the grocery store and the cost of a getting a haircut and having the brakes on your car repaired will increase too," Fitzsimon writes on his blog that can be found at ncpolicywatch.com.

That’s a key part of the Senate GOP tax proposal released this week, to expand the state sales tax base by applying it to food, non-prescription drugs, and dozens of services that are currently not taxed.

"Who cares about the rights of 130,000 people?'' asks Chris Fitzsimon on his blog which can be found at weekend Follies column at www.ncpolicywatch.com.

Apparently it is ok to make it more difficult for 100,000 registered voters in North Carolina to cast their ballots. That was one of the interesting outcomes of the debate this week about the unnecessary voter ID bill making its way through the House.

Lawmakers heard from DMV officials that 318,000 of the state’s more than 6.4 million registered voters could not be matched with DMV records and that 171,000 of those people did not vote in the last two elections.

That information followed reports last year that more 600,000 people did not have a government-issued photo ID, though most people understood at the time that number was high because of confusion about name changes due to marriage and other factors.

"Governor Pat McCrory appears to be on a privatization spree that could have serious implications for jobs and health care in North Carolina,'' writes Chris Fitzsimon on his blog at NC Policy Watch. "And none of it seems very well thought out.'

McCrory announced a plan Monday that would turn over the state’s economic development efforts to a private non-profit corporation he would chair, essentially abolishing the Department of Commerce.

McCrory claims the plan would “leverage existing state funds,” which sounds like political speak for letting private interests manage public resources with little accountability.

One of the most illustrative moments of this legislative session came during this week’s debate on the legislation to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls before casting a ballot,'' writes Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch which can be found at ncpolicywatch.com.

The bill has been a top priority of Republican legislative leaders since they assumed control of the General Assembly in 2011. They initially said that we needed voter ID laws to stop voter impersonation fraud in the state but wild claims about fraud from right-wing groups have been disproven again and again.

One of the most illustrative moments of this legislative session came during this week’s debate on the legislation to require voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls before casting a ballot,'' writes Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch which can be found at ncpolicywatch.com.

The bill has been a top priority of Republican legislative leaders since they assumed control of the General Assembly in 2011. They initially said that we needed voter ID laws to stop voter impersonation fraud in the state but wild claims about fraud from right-wing groups have been disproven again and again.

An interview with Art Pope shows up in this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek magazine with some interesting new details about the governor’s new budget director.

The wealthy and influential conservative financier tells the magazine he turned the job down at first because his wife didn’t like it that he had become a favorite target of liberal groups, and had even received a death threat on an anonymous blog post.

Chris Fitzsimon in his blog N.C. Policy Watch writes that Gov. Bev Perdue should pardon the Wilmington 10 before she leaves office.

"Beverly Perdue is the duly elected Governor of North Carolina for almost another three weeks regardless of the difficulty Republican legislative leaders seem to be having coming to grips with that," writes Fitzsimon.

Perdue has been busy lately, leading the effort to turn the Dorothea Dix property into a destination park, working on a plan to keep people with a mental illness from being kicked out of group homes, and weighing possible judicial appointments.

Perdue, like every outgoing governor or president, also faces a stack of hundreds of requests for pardons.

One needs to rise to the top soon and demands her serious attention, the case of the Wilmington 10.

Chris Fitzsimon, the liberal N.C. Policy Watch blog provides this count down to Republican Gov-elect Pat McCrory taking office.

33—number of days until Gov-elect Pat McCrory makes his inaugural address (“Interloper threatens to spoil inaugural ball,” Raleigh News & Observer, December 8, 2012)

33—number of days until inaugural parade for Gov-elect Pat McCrory (Ibid)

20—number of inaugural balls for state’s governors that have been hosted by the Junior League of Raleigh in the last 80 years to support the group’s charitable work (Ibid)

14—number of days after election that McCrory announced he would also attend an inaugural celebration to benefit The Foundation for North Carolina, a political advocacy group organized to promote McCrory’s agenda (“McCrory will party with nonprofit that backs his ideas, WRAL.com, December 5, 2012)

By resigning last week, state Rep Harold Brubaker can begin lobbying when the legislature returns in January at the start of its 2013 session, Chris Fitzsimon of NC. Policy Watch notes.

Brubaker, a former House speaker, is resigning now because there is a six month cooling off period before a legislator can register as a lobbyist. “His resignation six months before the end of his term to cash in is ridiculous and makes a mockery of the efforts to stop the revolving door between legislating and lobbying,” Fitzsimon writes on his blog, The Follies.“When the current lobbying law was being debated several years ago, good government groups wanted at least a two-year cooling off period, but lawmakers would have none of it. Too much money to be made.'' Read more here.

A bipartisan proposal to change how the state draws legislative and congressional districts, which is based on Iowa's redistricting process, will be considered in the House this year.

The proposal would have nonpartisan legislative staff draw districts that legislators would accept or reject.

The aim is to take partisan politics out of redistricting, cut down on lawsuits, save money, and work efficiently.

Iowa is close to approving its new maps. North Carolina has barely gotten started. The proposal is supported by a N.C. Coalition for Lobbying & Government Reform, a group of individuals and organizations representing a wide range of ideologies.

"John Hood is right on this," said Chris Fitzsimon, director of the left-leaning N.C. Policy Watch.

"Chris is wrong, but not on this," said Hood, president of the conservative John Locke Foundation. "Representative government is impossible if voters can't elect representatives of their choice," he said.

Legislators are deeply involve in drawing districts. Republicans this year say they are going to draw fair and legal districts, but redistricting is frequently an opportunity for the majority party to exercise its advantage.

Previous efforts to have a commission draw political lines have gone nowhere.

The Iowa way has legislative staff, who are not allowed to talk to legislators while they're drawing districts, do the plans.

Two Iowa House members appeared via Skype at a news conference today, saying the process has worked well.

Rep. David Lewis, a Harnett Republican and chairman of the House Elections Committee, said the committee would consider the bill.

"This is an excellent road map, an excellent first step," he said.