Comments | Eastern NC Now

Don't you just love the "Racist-Hated-by-other-Racists" feel good story?

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 6:15 pm By: Stan Deatherage

What has happened to Europe with the invasion by illegal aliens is frightening. They have a limited window to correct things before the continent becomes a caliphate. Fortunately, parties willing to do what is needed are coming to the fore in many countries.

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 3:51 pm By: borderhawk

Having been there during a key part of the period described by Campbell, I have to disagree with him over the changes in the legislature and in politics generally. For five years in the Jim Martin administration, one of the hats I wore was as a member of the legislative team for my department and worked regularly with the General Assembly promoting Governor Martin's agenda as it pertained to my department.

One of the big differences between now and then is the sea change in the Democratic Party during the intervening years. During the Martin administration, there was still an active conservative wing of the Democratic Party, one whose members, like State Representative Walter Jones, Jr. (D-Pitt), worked regularly with us in helping pass Governor Martin's agenda. The conservative wing of the Democratic Party is now an extinct critter. Democrat legislators now range from full blown "progressives" of the far left to "go along / get along" business Democrats, who tilt liberal, but somewhat less so.

I was sitting in the House gallery with others from our legislative team when a coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans ousted dictatorial House Speaker Liston Ramsey and replaced him with conservative Democrat Joe Mavretic (D-Edgecombe). I was also there when Democrats stripped most of the Lieutenant Govenror's power from Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner and handed it to Marc Basnight as President Pro Tem of the Senate.

That brings me to the major thing that has led to the problem in functioning of today's legislature. That is the concentration of power in the leadership in both houses, placing great power at the top and emasculating individual legislators. The leadership has far too much power viz-a-viz individual legislators.

For a century, the NC House had a tradition of one term speakers. After serving one term a speaker moved on to something else, like a state cabinet position or a judgeship. They did not stay around in office to build up a political machine but turned over the reins to someone else. This prevented a concentration of power. That tradition was broken when Speaker Carl Stewart decided he wanted to run for statewide office but do so from the perch of House Speaker. Stewart broke tradition by running for and winning a second term. Then his successor, Liston Ramsey, decided he wanted to be Speaker-for-Life and built up a dictatorial power structure within the Speaker's office. Ramsey's running roughshod over individual legislators led to a rebellion from within his own party that led to his ouster and replacement, with Republican help, by conservative Joe Mavretic. Unfortunately, the genie was out of the bottle, and we have never had a voluntary one term speaker since.

In the Senate, power was long divided between the Lieutenant Governor and the president pro tem, which prevented a concentration of power and lieutenant governors changed every four years anyway. Most of the Lieutenant Governor's legislative powers were in Senate rules rather than in the state constitution. When Jim Gardner was elected as lieutenant governor as a Republican in 1988 that changed everything. The Democrat majority in the Senate stripped him of all of his legislative powers that came from Senate rules and gave those to the president pro tem, who at the time was Marc Basnight, concentrating power in that office. It took Basnight a few years to get a firm grip on things but once he did, he was called "the most powerful man in North Carolina."

The real problem in the legislature is the concentration of power in the hands of the legislative leadership, and to solve the problem that needs to be changed. Since no one seems to want to honor traditional voluntary term limits, the best solution is Constitutional term limits for the top leadership positions in both houses to no more than two terms. One term would be even better.

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 3:29 pm By: Steven P. Rader

Mr. Campbell is making several huge points that I'd urge fellow conservatives thinkers, especially those within the inner sanctum of the County GOP, to REALLY focus in on.

Republicans and Conservative Unaffiliated minds need to focus on NOT engaging in the Hegelian Dialectic of the Uniparty and presenting the facts as they are....as given by THEM.

It can be done without theatrics...if both sides know the boundary lines. It would be refreshing to see honest and real conversation between opposite sides of the aisle. It would be even more interesting to see who keeps their cool and maintains control of the debate.

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 12:10 pm By: John Valley

At the same time corrupt Phil Berger was trying to shut down our local shrimping industry, a company that imports shrimp from Red China was undergoing a big expansion in the Norfolk area. Was crooked Berger on the payroll of the Red Chinese trying to cut out local shrimp production to hand the market to them? "China Phil" Berger needs to be voted out of office.

Beaufort County should never forget that Boss Berger gerrymandered our county into a Democrat senate district to gerrymander Senator Bill Cook out of office. The reason? Bill Cook was the leading Senate figure fighting against the "green energy" boondoggle, a boondoggle that Berger was in cahoots with the speical interests to impose on North Carolina.

Phil Berger is an enemy of eastern North Carolina and an enemy of conservatism. He is more devious and evil than even Marc Basnight thought about being. He is far worse than Basnight, but just as much of a legislative dictator.

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 11:30 am By: Concerned Taxpayer

Google is anti-privacy and pro-censorship. Any real conservative should shun them and not use any of their services. They are far more of a menace than, say, Bud Light.

Commented: Saturday, August 30th, 2025 @ 8:58 am By: Rino Hunter

Bureaucrats only get real power when elected officials allow them to do so. Bureaucrats are supposed to carry out policy, not make it. There is no question that our city council is a pathetic rubber stamp. Heck, Councilman Richard Brooks is even illiterate, unable to read or write. Our present city council are nothing but yes-men. The real question is who is behind the scenes pulling the strings. Is it the mayor or the city manager, or some of both. The mayor has his fingerprints on the police surveillance of his political opponent, although the city manager was probably involved, too. It was the city manager who was lying through his teeth to try to justify the massive tax increase the city just gave us, so that would suggest he may have been the prime mover in that, but the mayor was likely a very willing accomplice.

The main thing we need to straighten out Washington is at least three competent council members who can think for themselves and not dance on the puppet strings of the mayor or city manager.

Commented: Friday, August 29th, 2025 @ 5:32 pm By: Conservative Voter

BCCitizen; As we've discussed, when you state things as they are...very plainly but with knowledge of the audience....fact has a way of shutting down any intelligent opposition.

Peace through strength😎

youtu.be

Commented: Friday, August 29th, 2025 @ 10:22 am By: John Valley

John, FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT. I have seen so many talk about the rate decrease and blame the county for their tax increase. The average taxpayer does not understand what you just put in plain English. Well done sir. Now get on Facebook and shut down the misinformation coming from all directions on how this works, lol. The City increased taxes without providing more services. It is about like when they increased the rate .02 to save for the police station. They were supposed to give it back once it was built. Did they do that? NO! So that's an extra .02 that was diverted to fund their other pet projects and misuse of tax dollars.

Commented: Friday, August 29th, 2025 @ 8:48 am By: BCCitizen

Unfortunately, there seem to be too many Michaels in the general population. They just don't know what they don't know. It kind of makes me want to rethink the poll test route.

Commented: Friday, August 29th, 2025 @ 8:45 am By: Van Zant

This Michael dude is totally clueless about tax rates after a revaluation. To keep taxes the same, OF COURSE the rate would go down. The state calculates a "revenue neutral" rate that would generate the same amount of taxes. If a local government adopts a rate higher than the revenue neutral rate, it is a tax INCREASE even though the rate is still less than the previous year. To determine if there is a tax increase or not, the point of reference after a revaluation is NOT the previous year's rate but the revenue neutral rate.

The county taxed this year at the revenue netural rate. The city of Washington taxed 28% OVER the revenue neutral rate. That is a 28% tax INCREASE and it is outrageous.

Maybe this lack of knowlege by Michael indicates that there needs to be more voter / taxpayer education on this subject.

Commented: Friday, August 29th, 2025 @ 7:56 am By: John Steed

The only way to put an end to riots like this is to arrest all the rioters and deport them immediately.

Commented: Thursday, August 28th, 2025 @ 8:22 am By: borderhawk