Eleanore Wood

North Carolina Health News: Budget Benefits Current State Retirees, But Dings Future Ones

By Eleanore Wood / June 23, 2017 / Comments Off on North Carolina Health News: Budget Benefits Current State Retirees, But Dings Future Ones

Hidden in the NC GOP’s budget is a line that will end teacher/state employee retirement health benefits for new hires after 2020. This means new teachers are going to flee to other states with better benefits and will greatly affect our middle and elementary students who will still be in school when this goes into…

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See how badly the GOP budget fails public education

By Eleanore Wood / June 22, 2017 / Comments Off on See how badly the GOP budget fails public education

Despite Republican lawmakers’ big claims about the education funding included in their budget, any North Carolina teacher will tell you our public school system has diminished under Republican rule. In fact, a comparison of education funding statistics under the current budget to the 2008-09 budget — the last budget year before the Great Recession began…

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Raleigh News & Observer: GOP budget short on vision, long on breaks for the rich

By Eleanore Wood / June 21, 2017 / Comments Off on Raleigh News & Observer: GOP budget short on vision, long on breaks for the rich

The NC GOP’s budget claims it gives a raise to teachers and state workers, but the average raise for North Carolina teachers is a measly 3.3%. And state retirees are getting a raise also….of 1%. So who is benefitting from the NC GOP’s budget? The top .01% who will receive a 5.25% personal income tax…

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Gov. Cooper Puts GOP Lawmakers on the Spot to Redraw New Districts ASAP

By Eleanore Wood / June 14, 2017 / Comments Off on Gov. Cooper Puts GOP Lawmakers on the Spot to Redraw New Districts ASAP

Republican lawmakers have the ability to draw new legislative maps quickly; they’re just flat out refusing to. This is why Gov. Cooper has called them out and reminding them that the Supreme Court of the United States, among other courts, have said the current legislative districts are unconstitutional and they’re refusing to fix the problems.…

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Federal Judges Request NC Acts Quickly on Gerrymandered Districts

By Eleanore Wood / June 12, 2017 / Comments Off on Federal Judges Request NC Acts Quickly on Gerrymandered Districts

Four days after the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled 28 of North Carolina’s legislative districts unconstitutional, three federal judges released a memorandum stating they plan to act quickly. These judges have the ability to call for special 2017 elections and are requesting that the North Carolina General Assembly acts quickly in redrawing…

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Russian Hacking Attempts in…North Carolina?

By Eleanore Wood / June 7, 2017 / Comments Off on Russian Hacking Attempts in…North Carolina?

A National Security Agency leaked document was released Tuesday that claims Russian spies infiltrated a voting machine company that is used in North Carolina and a few other states. Following this hacking, the Russian spies sent emails to several election officials in an attempt to obtain their login information. The NSA, however, is unclear if…

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Illegal voting districts helped GOP win control of NC

By Eleanore Wood / June 6, 2017 / Comments Off on Illegal voting districts helped GOP win control of NC

The Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled Monday that 28 of North Carolina’s legislative districts were illegally drawn and racially gerrymandered. This means the NC GOP pack as many African Americans into as few districts as possible in order to maintain a Republican majority in the North Carolina House and Senate. Now that…

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US Supreme Court tosses NC legislative districts; no special election ordered

By Eleanore Wood / June 5, 2017 / Comments Off on US Supreme Court tosses NC legislative districts; no special election ordered

Tuesday the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously voted to confirm that 28 of North Carolina’s legislative districts were racially gerrymandered. This means the politicians in Raleigh have no more excuses. The districts they drew were unconstitutional, and there’s no denying it now. Our legislators were unconstitutionally elected, and it’s now time to redraw these districts. From WRAL: The U.S.…

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Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway anchoring NCGOP convention this weekend

By Eleanore Wood / June 2, 2017 / Comments Off on Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway anchoring NCGOP convention this weekend

As Donald Trump continues to wage war against truth, democracy and the free press, Trump spokesperson Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway will be the keynote speaker of the NCGOP’s state convention this weekend. “It’s no surprise that the NCGOP is embracing the politics of deception enough to invite Kellyanne ‘Alternative Facts’ Conway to speak at their convention,” said Gerrick…

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Legislature’s budget — More comfort for the comfortable

By Eleanore Wood / June 1, 2017 / Comments Off on Legislature’s budget — More comfort for the comfortable

The GOP-controlled House revealed their budget plan and it’s exactly what we expected: tax cuts for big corporations and underfunding education. The plan includes The House boasts about adding a small amount of money to NC scholarships, however, they are not providing adequate funding for our public schools and universities. Not only are they not providing…

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