More stink coming from Golden LEAF

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In the shadow of the political assassination of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning USA, a stain now exists upon our nation's collective conscious, a condition that must be excised, or our nation will not function properly as one of a self-governed people. Understanding these long standing truths: What would you suggest as a quick, and, or proper corrective measure?

20% Destroy the Fascist Donald Trump and all of MAGA, because America must never be Great Again.

80% Our self-governed people, and their properly restored institutions, under President Trump, must discover the root causes to properly correct, and save our Constitutional Republic.

0% I thought we had to shut down Free Speech we don't like to save our "democracy," so I am totally confused now.

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Published: Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 @ 7:57 am
By: Beaufort Observer Editorial Team ( More Entries )

    Publisher's Note: This article originally appeared in the Beaufort Observer.

    Board member and wife feeding at the money trough

    If we were cynical we would say, when it comes to the Golden LEAF it's who you know that counts. The Golden LEAF can even take a good idea and screw it up with crony capitalism among the Good Ole Boys.

    The good idea was that Golden LEAF would designate $2 million for each of the state's Tier 1 counties. They would get local "leaders" to sit around and talk about how to best spend the money. Then they would award contracts to pull off the idea.

    Only problem is, sometimes, that money goes to those in inside connections to either Golden LEAF and/or the Democrat Perdue/Easley machine.

    So we now have yet another example. The Winston Salem Journal is reporting that a board member of Golden LEAF pushed for a project to renovate an old mill in Pilot Mountain where his father and grandfather worked that is next door to his boyhood home. Not conflict of interest he says. Everything is on the up and up.

    Then we learn that his wife is going to be the recipient of much of the money to get this project accomplished. Oh, and he will be paid a couple of grand a month as a....well, we're not exactly sure what he will be doing to earn the money.

    You can read all the gory details by clicking here.

    By the way, Beaufort County is in this money chase also. They just haven't decided yet exactly what they will spend the $2 million Beaufort will get...or who will get the contract to do the Beaufort project(s). We'll bet they have good connections also.

    Commentary

    If you are not too disgusted to read the Journal article you discover that all of this is reported to be perfectly legal, and by the Golden LEAF's and State of North Carolina's ethics standards, it is said to be perfectly ethical. And that is the real sordid part of this story. The cronies have written the rules so mess like this not only goes on, but it is perfectly acceptable.

    The next worst thing about this story is the response it will get. Most people have become so jaded these days about these oligarchs' shenanigans that we will bet most will just shrug it off as "that's the way they do business in this state." And that is the real shame of it all.

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