Comments by Steven P. Rader | Eastern NC Now

The most objective format for any political debates, including presidential is that of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, where the questions came from each candidate, NOT from a moderator. In fact there was no moderator at all. Moderators controlling the questions, especially when they are from the liberal media, is one of the major ways that political bias enters into the current debate format. Most so-called political debates today are really serial media interviews, and that does not inform the voters the way a real debate would.

Commented: Friday, January 14th, 2022 @ 11:29 am By: Steven P. Rader

Photo voter ID is international best practice for election integrity. With recent adoption by the UK, it is now used nationally in the elections of all developed countries in the world except for the US, as well as in many less developed countries. The American far left largely stands alone in the world in opposing it. It is appalling that some US courts stand to the far left in not allowing this honest election practice of photo voter ID.

Commented: Thursday, January 6th, 2022 @ 10:13 am By: Steven P. Rader

Interesting column in the Daily Telegraph, the UK's largest circulation broadsheet newspaper, which is small "c" conservative and generally supports the Conservative Party, by Tim Stanley, one of their leading columnists, and it is entitled "The Tories surrendered the country to a medical-socialist state" and he says the only way out is to start governing like Conservatives again, but his hopes are fading for that. www.telegraph.co.uk

Commented: Sunday, December 26th, 2021 @ 7:13 pm By: Steven P. Rader

These so-called "independent" redistricting commissions have a track record of being more partisan than redistricting done by elected state legislatures. California gets worse partisan gerrymanders from the independent commissions than they ever did from the legislature. Ten years ago, it was a huge pro-Democrat gerrymander, and this year they are shoring up all the Democrat incumbents while gutting the districts of five GOP incumbents in Congress: www.breitbart.com

Commented: Wednesday, December 22nd, 2021 @ 11:09 am By: Steven P. Rader

Indeed. President Trump said Johnson was "making a big mistake" going with wind turbines when he was interviewed on British TV a few weeks ago. Trump called the notion that wind energy could power the economy "ridiculous". www.telegraph.co.uk

Commented: Thursday, December 16th, 2021 @ 9:05 am By: Steven P. Rader

Your poll ignores one factor and that is that "professional" law enforcement can be just as or even more political and corrupt than other forms, and the chief example these days is the highly politicized FBI, once a highly respected institution, but not any more. Electing your law enforcement head at least gives citizens a direct opportunity to remove bad eggs through elections that does not exist with "professional" law enforcement like the FBI. Also, elected sheriffs are more responsive to protecting our Constitutional liberties. Many elected sheriffs around the country have stood up for 2nd amendment rights, but I have never heard of an appointed police chief doing so. The same is true with elected sheriffs standing up to governors' excessive Coronavirus executive orders. Neither system is perfect and bad leaders can arise in either, but I'll take the elected system over the appointed system any day. It is easier for voters to straighten out if it takes a wrong turn.

Commented: Tuesday, December 7th, 2021 @ 12:20 pm By: Steven P. Rader

Looking at our local legislators on the Green New Deal bill, in the House some eastern conservatives including Rep. George Cleveland (R-ONslow) and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) fell for the misrepresentation of Speaker Moore on the first House vote and voted for it as a means to try to get it back to what it had been originally, a bill to push modular nuclear reactors to produce electricity, with no green new deal aspects. When it came back from the Senate, their eyes were open that it was a Green New Deal monster. Cleveland voted NO and although Kidwell was an excused absence due to the serious health issues his wife was confronting at the time, he worked the phones against the bill and helped pull at least one legislator, Rep. Steve Tyson (R-Craven) from a yes to a NO. I do not fault Cleveland or Kidwell from their first votes when they were misled by the Speaker. They both lined up on the correct side once it was clear what this bill was.

On the Senate side, our current Senator is a liberal Democrat and, of course voted for the Green New Deal. With redistricting, it looks like Lenoir County's GOP Senator Jim Perry will likely run in our new district. Perry was a major player in pushing the very worst version of HB951. But that is not all on Perry. A conservative former legislator pointed out to me that Brant Clifton, editor of the Daily Haymaker, had written a column a year or so ago, identifying Perry as what he calls a "solar goon", a Republican who is in the hip pocket of the solar and wind grifters. Clifton provided documentation for his call on Perry. Perry is one who does need to be replaced in the primary.

Commented: Friday, November 26th, 2021 @ 7:58 am By: Steven P. Rader

This lockdown by Austria's caretaker Chancellor is getting criticism from others in Europe, such as: www.conservativehome.com

Schallenberg is only filling in as Chancellor due to a political hit job by the Green Party on Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is now serving as party leader of the Austrian Peoples Party in parliament. After the last election, the conservative Peoples Party had a choice of forming a coalition with either the populist-nationalist Freedom Party, its previous coalition partner, or the Green Party. The Freedom Party was still miffed about Kurz' reaction to a major scandal within the Freedom Party during the coalition period and not very cooperative, while the Greens were so eager to get into government, they were willing to go along with just about all of the Peoples Party's more conservative policies.

Unfortunately, one of the cabinet ministries given to the Greens was the Justice Ministry, and the Greens apparently learned the US Democrats tricks of phony investigations of Donald Trump. Their Justice Minister announced an investigation of an apparently frivolous corruption complaint against Kurz. Due to that investigation, Kurz had to stand down as Chancellor until the investigation was completed, and the Greens are dragging that out. There are indications that Kurz is talking to the Freedom Party about changing his coalition partner after the bogus investigation is put behind him. The biggest bone of contention the Greens have with Kurz is his strong stand against illegal immigration.

Schallenberg's lockdown is just stupid and risks damaging all the work Kurz has done to build the party in the last two elections.

Commented: Monday, November 15th, 2021 @ 7:24 pm By: Steven P. Rader

This Biden nominee is an admitted communist, who also has said she wants to eliminate local banks and have all banking go directly through the Federal Reserve. She is the sort of very dangerous individual that Biden is filling his regime with.

Commented: Thursday, November 11th, 2021 @ 9:33 am By: Steven P. Rader

Charles, I share your disgust at this fiasco. It is worth remembering that AOC's Chief of Staff openly said that the green new deal was not really about the environment but was actually about building socialism. Why are Republican legislators, or at least the leadership, so keen to help build socialism?

I would not heap too much blame on the original bill sponsors. There was nothing wrong with the original bill they filed, and in fact it would have helped. The small modular nuclear reactors are a very efficient way to make electricity. The real blame falls on the members of those legislative committees who approved adding all this other leftist rubbish to what had been a good bill. Hopefully they will draw primary opponents, especially the ones like Szoka and Steinberg.

The first vote in the House is not the key vote I look at either. A number of usually solid conservatives were misled on that vote. The vote in both House and Senate on the Senate version, when everything was clear as to what was up is the key vote I look at, and yes some of those who voted for it then are shocking to say the least. Some were absent, and those with excused absences generally had a good reason, such as medical, but those without excused absences who just took a walk are not much better than those who voted for it.

What happened with this bill tells conservatives that we have a lot of work to do within our own party. This bill goes against the principles set out in the North Carolina Republican Party platform. If our legislative leadership goes off the reservation like this, there must be a way to rein them back in.

Commented: Friday, November 5th, 2021 @ 9:32 pm By: Steven P. Rader

Curtailing consumption of meat is a goal of totalitarian ideologue Klaus Schwab's "Great Reset". Schwab runs the globalist World Economic Forum in Davos. It is telling that Boris Johnson, Joe Biden, and Justin Trudeau all use Schwab's "Build Back Better" slogan. Maybe, if they were honest, they would use another of Schwab's Great Reset slogans - "you will own nothing and you will be happy". Other than the being happy part, that is where their train is headed. The tantrum over CO2 is a big part of Schwab's strategy It simply must be stopped.

Commented: Monday, November 1st, 2021 @ 7:23 am By: Steven P. Rader

It looks like the Medicaid expansion train may have run out of steam. The 3rd district GOP also sent out an email asking activists to call GOP legislators from eastern North Carolina to oppose this, after Rep. Kidwell spoke with the district chairman. Now, multiple eastern NC Republican state senators are telling callers they oppose expanding Medicaid and that this proposal will go nowhere. Hopefully a stake has been driven through the heart of this monster. The monster that the legislative leadership did unleash as Cooper collaborators, the Green New Deal, will hit us hard enough.

Commented: Tuesday, October 12th, 2021 @ 1:24 pm By: Steven P. Rader

After the Berger / Cooper / Moore HB951 Green New Deal, we can see that train coming down the tracks in North Carolina. The Labour Party in the state of South Australia took 16 years to move to 50% "renewable energy" there, and in doing so took the state from the cheapest residential electric rates in the world to the most expensive residential electric rates in the world. When Labour campaigned to move to 70%, the voters kicked them out of office. Berger / Cooper /Moore demands to go to 70% in eight years. That is sure to be an even more expensive and bumpy ride for electric customers.

Commented: Friday, October 8th, 2021 @ 3:11 pm By: Steven P. Rader

The virus lockdown restrictions are at the state level in Australia, and generally the Labour run states are much worse. But this particular restriction shows how it is better to use a flip phone than a smart phone. There is less government can do to track you. I knew a guy who was retired deputy commander of his country's secret police and he personally carried a flip phone because he knew professionally what they could do with a smart phone.

Commented: Friday, October 8th, 2021 @ 11:41 am By: Steven P. Rader

Biden wants to out-radical the EU on energy, and NC's Berger is even worse. When this green energy boondoggle is already failing miserably in Europe, why would any sane person want to go down that path in the US? Here is a good article on the subject:
issuesinsights.com

Commented: Tuesday, October 5th, 2021 @ 8:40 pm By: Steven P. Rader

I have obtained a copy of the Senate HB951 and read it. In some ways it is actually worse than the House bill. It is the Green New Deal of the far left and it is a total surrender of energy policy to leftwing Democrat Roy Cooper. It is absolutely mindboggling that anyone who calls himself or herself a Republican would have anything to do with it.

The immediate past president of the Czech Republic, Dr. Vaclav Klaus, has aptly termed climate alarmism as "a budding totalitarian ideology that is the greatest threat to freedom, democracy, and prosperity in the world today". That threat is right here in North Carolina right now and it is represented by HB951.

The Senate version of HB951 sets out the climate alarmist goal of 70% reduction in "carbon emissions" by 2030, just like the Thunberg-inspired EU legislation which is already wrecking havoc with electricity prices and soon availability in Europe with a lesser 50% reduction. Unlike the House version, it leaves the details up to the Cooper-appointed Utilities Commission, giving it broad new rulemaking authority. This is handing even more power to a very leftwing and power obsessed governor. While the House version at least retained some legislative control, the Senate version hands this off in its entirety to the governor.

The goal is still the premature elimination of our cheap and dependable coal fired electric plants and replacement by expensive and unreliable wind and solar. As shown by results in other countries, this leads to big rate increases and to blackouts and brownouts. This is the Green New Deal agenda.

This bill is a declaration of war by weak Republicans against President Trump's America First agenda. President Trump got us out of the absurd Paris Climate Accords mess and all of its destructive provisions. HB951 is surrendering to the same leftwing demands that Trump steadfastly opposed. It also thumbs its nose at the Platform of the North Carolina Republican Party which opposes the Green New Deal and supports using all economic sources of energy.

HB951 undermines our great Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, who by existing statute heads the state policy council on energy, and has his head much straighter on what North Carolina needs in this respect than our idiot legislators and our power drunk ideologue of a governor. Yet Robinson and his wise counsel have been totally ignored in this process. It has all been the backroom boys of special interest lobbyists and rotten political deals looking out for what is in it for them, not the consumers. Worst of all, the rate increases will be hitting right when he runs for governor.

This bill is a declaration of war by weak Republicans against electric consumers, whose rates will go way up due to it, and the dependability of their service way down. It is a declaration of war by weak Republicans against the Republican base which wants no part of the Green New Deal. The Republican base needs to gear up and fight back against these Vichy Republican sellouts. We need to decide that any Vichy Republican who votes for HB951 is completely unacceptable as our legislator going forward and we need to identify primary challengers and help them defeat any Vichy Republicans who vote for this far left sellout bill. But the votes have not yet been cast. Lets hope that most of them come to their senses and vote to stop this Green New Deal travesty.

Who does HB951 side with? Roy Cooper, Al Gore, Joe Biden, Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, George Soros, Klaus Schwab and his totalitarian "Great Reset", Greta Thunberg, and lots of similar lefties. What genuine Republican wants to put himself or herself in their company?

We also need to forgive some of our conservative House members who got suckered the first time around. The key vote that we need to look to is the one on this Senate version. If not stopped by common sense Republicans in the Senate, it will be up to the House.

Lets not have weak Republicans give Joe Biden and Roy Cooper a big ideological win.

Commented: Sunday, October 3rd, 2021 @ 8:21 am By: Steven P. Rader

Another encouraging sign in Virginia is that slightly more Republicans are early voting than Democrats. Traditionally, Republicans vote on election day and Democrats in early voting. In 2020, Democrats won early voting by 30 points over Republicans, for example. freebeacon.com

Commented: Tuesday, September 28th, 2021 @ 8:14 pm By: Steven P. Rader