Newsbusted is New for 5-31-2011 Please Enjoy The Embedded Video Compliments of Newsbusters

Newsbusted is new for 5-31-2011 please enjoy the embedded video compliments from our friends at newsbusters.

Topics in today's show:

-- Does Obama know which year it is?

-- President auto-signs Patriot Act extension

-- Barack O'Bama?

-- Do Israelis support Obama's border plan?

-- DNC chair, who drives an Infiniti, says GOP wants everyone driving imports

-- Romney sends leftover pizza to Obama

-- Lech Walesa won't meet with Obama

-- Carla Bruni pregnant

Starring: Jodi Miller
Production: Dialog New Media

Feeling generous? Text 'NewsBusters' to 85944 to make a $10 contribution to keep 'Busted going strong.

NewsBusted is a comedy webcast about the news of the day, uploaded every Tuesday and every Friday.

If you like the show, be sure to tell your friends and family!

Feel free to post your comments on this video, we love them. We also love seeing how many people won't read this disclaimer and realize the laughtrack is a joke itself.

Think you're funny? Send your (short) jokes to newsbusted at dialognewmedia.com. If we use them, we'll pay you USD $50 for each one.

"Perkins announces mayoral bid"

"Councilman Robbie Perkins formally announced his bid for mayor today
at the Greensboro Regional Realtors Association.

How much campaign cash has Robbie recieved from local developers and landlords?

Perkins, 55, stressed the importance promoting the region to lure companies,

To subsidise Robbies real estate business with taxpayer dollars?

investing in public infrastructure

Does "investing" mean raising taxes to borrow money

for "public infrastructure" nearby Robbie's supporters

"private" real estate projects?

and working with council colleagues to find solutions for the whole community."

"solutions for the whole community"

as long as Robbie and TREBIC make bank in the process?

Amanda

The proposal of any new law or regulation which comes from [businessmen]

ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted,

till after having been long and carefully examined

not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention.

It comes from an order of men

whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public,

who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public,

and who accordingly have, upon many occasions both deceived and oppressed it.

Adam Smith

Moral philosopher and Father of Modern Economics

ROBBIE PERKINS William M. Kotis III Kotis Properties Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER


ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Henry Carrison IV NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/09 Henry G. Carrison IV NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/09 Katherine Black NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/08/07 Laurence Anthony Bates NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/08/07 Lydia H. Watson NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/06/09 Lydia Watson NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/09 Maria Ramirez NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 08/07/07 Robbie Perkins NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 07/19/07 Robbie Perkins NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 07/18/07 Robbie Perkins NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 07/24/07 Wiley Brown NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/24/07 Jerry Poole J. Wayne Poole Construction Construction

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/26/07 Pete Osborne Osborne Construction Construction

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Norman G. Samet Samet Corp. Construction TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/18/07 Joe Earl Bostic Bostic Development Developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/13/09 Roy E. Carroll II Carroll Companies Developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/19/09 Vanessa Y. Carroll Carroll Companies Developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 James F. Marshall Lyndbrook Developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/28/09 Arthur Samet Samet Construction Developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/04/09 Marshall Alan Tuck Samet Construction Developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/28/09 Donald E. Linder Developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/18/09 Alvin C. Leonard Jr. Alaris Homes Homebuilder

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/22/09 Michael P. Winstead Jr. Mega Builders Homebuilder

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/05/09 Wade Jurney Wade Jurney Construction Homebuilder TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Patrick Parr Homebuilder

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Bradford J. Deaton Deaton Development Consultants Land development TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/13/09 Greensboro Landlords Association PAC Greensboro Landlords Association PAC Landlords TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/12/09 Steve Bell Bell Partners Property management

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Chester Brown Brown Investment Properties Property management TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Jon Bell Steven D. Bell & Co. Property management

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Steve Bell Steven D. Bell & Co. Property management

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/17/07 Lowell Easter Triad Commercial Properties Property management TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/22/07 JoAnn Preston Allen Tate Real Estate Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Thomas L. White Jr. Alliance Commercial Apartment Management Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/11/09 Thomas White Alliance Properties Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/17/07 George Carr Beacon Management Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/16/07 Randall Dixon Dixon Properties Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/18/09 David B. Hagan Hagan Properties Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/07 David Hagan Hagan Properties Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/09 Jim Marshall JF Marshall & Lindbrook Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/07/09 NC Realtors PAC NC Realtors PAC Real estate ???

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/04/07 NC Realtors PAC Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/24/09 Carole B. Pearce Pearce Properties Real estate ???

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/18/09 Jonathan Seth Coker Signature Properties Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/21/07 Richard Beard Simpson Schulman & Beard Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/12/09 Lowell Easter Triad Commercial Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Thomas Townes Triad Commercial Properties Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/24/07 Drew Showfety Twin City Commercial Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/29/07 Bill Yearns Yearns Properties Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/07 Lynn Black Yost & Little Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/05/07 Edward B. Krusch Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/11/09 Richard Beard Simpson, Schulman & Beard Real estate TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/14/09 Bobby Akin Real estate

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/20/07 Gordon Cole John McCracken & Associates Real estate appraisal

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/19/09 George E. Carr III Beacon Management Corp. Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Amy Gaskill Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/16/09 Christopher T. Dunbar Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Christopher T. Dunbar Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/24/07 David F. Couch Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/15/09 David L. Couch Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS H. David Niblock Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Lyle Everhart Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/14/07 Lynda M. Hill Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/14/09 Susan E. Passmore Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/15/09 Wesley Stallings Blue Ridge Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/09 Mark P. Reynolds Burkley Harris Construction Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/09 Mike Murray Burkley Harris Construction Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/22/07 Alvin C. Leonard Carroll Cos. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 08/21/07 Jerone Pearson Jerone Pearson Inc. Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/21/09 Wesley Scott Wallace Keystone Homes Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/09 Ashley K. Vanore Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Ashley K. Vanore Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/09 Edmund W. Koury Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Edmund W. Koury Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/09 Kelly K. Harrill Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Kelly K. Harrill Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/19/10 Lisa K. Johnson Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Lisa K. Johnson Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/12/09 Ronald W. Mack Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/03/07 Ronald W. Mack Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/09 Stephanie K. Craft Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Stephanie K. Craft Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/22/09 Stephen D. Showfety Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/03/07 Stephen Showfety Koury Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/16/07 North Carolinians for Leadership in Government Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/29/09 Peter J. Osborne Osborne Contracting Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/28/09 Norman Samet Samet Corp. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/01/07 Frank Auman Signature Property Group Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/17/07 Seth Coker Signature Property Group Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/15/09 Frank Auman Signature Realty Group LLC Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/18/07 Mente Benjamin Starmount Co. Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/16/07 Tom Hall Windsor Investments Real estate developer TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 07/22/07 Michael Murray Real estate developer

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/21/07 CL Weill Jr. Robins & Weill Real estate insurance

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/02/07 Chester H. Brown Jr. Brown Investment Properties Real estate management TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/18/07 Keith Phillips Phillips Management Real estate management

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/17/07 Durant Bell Steven D. Bell & Co. Real estate management

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/09/09 Michael Wasserman Wellington Advisors Real estate management ???

ROBBIE PERKINS Sharon P. Wasserman Wellington Advisors Real estate management ???

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/25/09 David R. Howard Windsor Commercial Real estate-development TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 09/27/09 William S. Seymour Windsor Commercial Real estate-development TREBIC MEMBER

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/14/09 Thomas R. Beard Beard Hardwoods Wholesale lumber

ROBBIE PERKINS 10/16/2007 Roy E and Vanessa Y Carroll North Carolinians for Leadership in Government TREBIC MEMBER

ask a cop on "City Police see exodus of officers"

Could the spike of gun related violence
be connected to the new chief's reorganization of the department,
which included dismantling the gang unit and tactical special enforcement teams,
as well as reducing the number of officers on the street
during peak hours for criminal activity,
which also means officers don't always have backup available
when they answer priority calls?


Could this have anything to do with the increase in attrition?


ask a cop

On Amanda Lehmert's not online "City Police see exodus of officers" News & Record story:

If recently hired City of Greensboro officials
are blaming lack of "perks" for recent turnover,
with no mention of potential losses
from replacing an entrenched black veteran police chief
with a new white outsider who may not be allowing some behaviors that occurred before
why wouldn't the article reflect other possibilities
other than saying "wages and lack of perks may be to blame for the turnover"?

How many of the officers wanting to leave are unhappy with the new chief?

How many of the officers wanting to leave were involved with prior unhappiness?

Or is it about more money?

Or is it about getting all City of Greensboro employees a 1.5% raise?

If the City knows how many applied for other jobs,
why haven't they studied the cases?

If Robbie Perkins is for spending more money, as almost always,
should his non-endorsement endorsement be considered a red flag?

Are some city officials looking to tap the city's savings of about $300 million?

Could the attrition have anything to do with a spike of gun related violence?

Could the attrition have anything to do with the City of Greensboro
being governed by a racially divided council?

Why such a one sided article?

$449,511.19 Wasteful Spending of Our Tax Dollars on Public Notices in Paid Print Media, and RHINO TIMES CHIMES IN.

Triadwatch did a public records request for information on just how much taxpayers money goes to our local paid print media due to the fact that we have a state law that allows only the paid print media to have a monopoly on how the state, county and local municipalities  can show public notices to their constituents.

$449,511.19 is the total amount as of today that we have gotten from the records request from Guilford County, City of Greensboro and City of High Point . Let it be known that we also have other municipalities in this county who also have to abide by this law in places like Jamestown, Pleasant Garden, Summerfield, Stokesdale, Gibsonville, Oak Ridge, Sedalia and Whitsett. Triadwatch will try to get in touch with these municipalities in due time.We can also add that the Guilford County Schools are also under this law as well and see plenty of request for bids in the Greensboro News and Record on a weekly basis.

Here are a few links to  post in regards to public notices in paid print media from the past few months on TRIADWATCH.

-$218,775.13 is Amount Guilford County Taxpayers Waste on Public Notices in Greensboro News and Record
CLICKHERE

-$49,347 City of High Point Wasteful Spending on Public Notices in High Point Enterprise
CLICKHERE

-$96,288.47 City of Greensboro Wasteful Spending on Public Notices in Greensboro News and Record
CLICKHERE

-$31,665.96 City of Greensboro Wasteful Spending on Public Notices in Carolina Peacemaker
CLICKHERE 

-$86,740.29 is the Amount Guilford County Taxpayers Paid For Tax Delinquency in Greensboro News and Record on March 23, 2011
CLICKHERE


 We also heard from our local conservative weekly paper in Guilford County called the Rhino Times  here is what John Hammer had to say in a article titled "Numbers Do Lie: City Budget Really is Smaller" CLICKHERE

"The council also discussed several bills before the North Carolina state legislature, including one that would allow cities and counties to place public notices on their own websites, instead of being forced by law to advertise public notices in newspapers with over 50 percent paid circulation.

Assistant City Manager Denise Turner said this would save Greensboro about $120,000 a year, but she was corrected by Wade who said the figure was closer to $300,000. Turner later agreed the figure was probably higher.

Imagine there are 50 tire stores in Greensboro and there is a state law that says the city has to buy all the tires for police cars from a tire store with a 100,000-square-foot showroom on a six-lane highway. Does anyone think that would be fair? It's similar to what the current law does.

There are many effective ways to advertise – paid circulation newspapers are one, so are free circulation conservative weekly papers, direct mail, radio, television, outdoor advertising, robo-calls and sandwich signs, to name a few. According to state law, there is only one way to advertise a public notice and that is in a paid circulation newspaper, even if there is not a paid circulation newspaper in the entire county.

It is a law that provides millions of dollars worth of noncompetitive advertising to paid circulation newspapers across the state, and a law that in these economic times the state can certainly do without."

It is good to hear from a weekly paper  but we also have a situation in Guilford County where our other weekly newspaper in Yes!Weekly is propping up the ads from the North Carolina Press Association, here is a link to their main web site and look in bottom right corner CLICKHERE . On the Yes! Weekly web site you will see the ad saying "would you let a fox quard your hen house?" The only reason i see Yes! Weekly doing this is because their main company is Womack Publishing who has papers from caswell county to orange county to also having a local paper in Jamestown News.Triadwatch will try to do a public records request to see how much taxpayers money is going to the Jamestown News or let's see if Ogi Overman the editor will tell me if i ask him.

The North Carolina Press Association has been on an all out war in regards to these bills on the state level , check out what the association had to say in this newsletter from their web site on May 19, 2011 CLICKHERE 
NCPA goes to battle again over public notices

The public notices battle, which played out in NCPA’s favor last week in the House Government Committee, rages on. The same committee had scheduled a hearing for today on a local bill aimed at allowing Wake County governments in Cary, Clayton, Wendell and Zebulon to put notices on their web sites. NCPA and member publishers from around Wake County have teamed up to tackle this bill. NCPA beat back a similar local bill, aimed at Currituck County, a few weeks ago. Watch ncpress.com for updates. NCPA papers won a major skirmish last week when a squad of 15 publishers and top editors gathered to lobby and appear en masse before the House Government Committee on May 12. Despite more than a dozen speakers and legislators taking the floor to testify for HB472 (and a team of the bill’s backers staring down committee members as the vote began), the committee voted 21-10 to kill this bad bill and keep the public informed. Efforts are under way now to kill the Senate version of that statewide notices bill, SB773. Contact your local senators and ask them to vote against this bill if it comes up in committee.

This North Carolina bill either needs to be retooled or simply redone because to me it would make more sense if we are going to allow more people to see the public notices  then the weekly free papers like the rhino times and yes weekly should also have the opportunity to has a shot at these public notices. I see plenty more opportunities to get a copy of these weekly papers then i ever had a chance of getting a paid copy of the Carolina Peacemaker which only is in the african american community.

The North Carolina House and Senate bills in regards to electronic notices if they do go down in defeat need to come back with some alternatives . For example I for one could care less about the $86,000 bill to Guilford County citizens in regards to tax delinquency that was a 20 page part of the Greensboro News and Record. It would be great if we could get some assistance from our county officials along with our Guilford County delegation to bring up a local bill that would alow the county to not have to put this public notice in paper but could offer it online for any citizen to see the tax delinquency  and if anyone wants to request a copy please inform the county clerk and they can mail you out a copy or if you have a computer then they can e mail a copy. This one thing could save the taxpayers of Guilford County $86,000 and also they said that it was also published in High Point Enterprise but with the invoices that were sent i could not decipher which bill it was. Let's be conservative and say that if we did away with just the tax delinquency as a part of public records in paid newspapers then we could save close to over $100,000  just in Guilford County.

More to come on public notices and what is happening in North Carolina in regards to the bills that were filed. Hopefully we will see the state representatives understand how technology is there to help this process and save taxpayers money all over this state.

Newsbusted is New for 5-27-2011 Please Enjoy the Embedded Video

Newsbusted is new for 5-27-2011 please enjoy the embedded video compliments of newsbusters

Topics in today's show:

-- Debt ceiling debate

-- 70% say gas prices are hurting them

-- Mayor Emanuel wants a casino in Chicago

-- Border patrol agents stop two trucks carrying 513 illegals

-- UCLA study: men like housewives

-- 7-year-old caught with heroin

-- Playboy archives to go digital

-- Scientists find the key to obesity

Starring: Jodi Miller
Production: Dialog New Media

"Latest figures show [Greensboro-High Point metro area] sluggish job growth"

"April unemployment rate fell to 9.9 percent — only the second dip below 10 percent since the beginning of 2009.

...since the recession began, the number of people without jobs in the area has increased by nearly 100 percent, growing from 17,839 in December 2007 to 35,447 last month.

...officials at the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina put a more positive spin on the latest numbers.

...the area labor force has contracted by 2.2 percent in the past year, suggesting that some of those have become discouraged and quit looking for work.

If the labor force fell 2.2% by not counting discouraged workers,

is the unemployment rate really much higher?

Since the recession began, North Carolina has lost 6.7 percent of its employment base, or nearly 279,000 positions, and has seen its unadjusted unemployment rate climb from 4.7 percent to 9.5 percent.

If the labor force fell 6.7%,

and the 279,000 still live in North Carolina,

is the unemployment rate really much higher?

In April, the state gained 2,900 more jobs than it lost.

Over the past year...employers have added 24,100 more jobs than they cut for an average monthly gain of just more than 2,000 jobs.

How many North Carolina based college recent graduates are now looking for work?

“We are just not gaining jobs at a rate fast enough to replace those lost during the recession or to keep pace with population growth...”

Donald W. Patterson

"Smithfield fires town manager over raises" . "...he had spent down the city's savings."

"...Three town hall employees, including the town clerk and finance director, got raises of up to $20,000 last year after Williams told the council there would be no merit or cost-of-living raises in a tight budget year.

The investigation into pay practices also revealed that employees were able to trade in vacation time for cash under a "hardship" practice, and several town hall employees received a monthly allowance for driving while others had to document their mileage for reimbursement.

...The move Thursday marks the third time Williams has been fired in the past six years.

He was fired in 2008 after two years as Yadkin County's manager and in 2005 after 22 years as city manager in Henderson.

In Henderson, officials had been concerned that he had spent down the city's savings."

N&O

WGHP: Rolled like a doughnut?

"The White Oak Amphitheatre is expected to operate with a $197,000 surplus next fiscal year,
but the Greensboro Aquatic Center is projected to lose twice as much money.

According to the budget projection released on Friday,
the aquatic center is expected to generate $534,000 in total revenue.

However, the budget estimates that $935,000 will be spent on maintenance, operations and personnel.

That leads to a net loss of $401,000.

Except for the Principal and Interest on abourt $19 million in debt

plus another $600,000?

In comparison, the amphitheatre is expected to operate with a $197,000 net surplus.

Minus how much it cost to build the amphitheatre?

Not counting all the actual expenses are we?

However, the surplus can happen only
if it sells a certain amount of food, beverages and merchandise,
as well as generate enough parking revenue.

Super.

WGHP

Welcome to Multinational Corptocracy: If non-American based corporations reimburse American employees for campaign donations...?

"In a ruling issued late Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris
tossed out part of the indictment against two men
accused of illegally reimbursing donors to Hillary Clinton's Senate and presidential campaigns.

Cacheris says that under last year's Citizens United Supreme Court case,
corporations enjoy the same right as people to contribute to campaigns.

...The Citizens United case had applied only to independent corporate expenditures,
not to actual campaign contributions.

In court papers, prosecutors defending the law said overturning the ban on corporate contributions
would ignore a century of legal precedent."

AP

Newsbusted is New, Please Enjoy the Embedded Video Compliments of Newsbusters

Newsbusted is new for the week of 5-24-2011 please enjoy the embedded video compliments of newsbusters


Topics in today's show:

-- Rapture?

-- Obama's fundraising troubles

-- Obama wants Israel to return to 1967 borders

-- Speaking at CIA, Obama uses 35 first person pronouns

-- Frisco to vote on circumcision ban

-- Arnold's illegitimate child

-- Stephen Hawking doesn't believe in Heaven or Hell

Starring: Jodi Miller
Director: Bruce Roundtower
Production: Dialog New Media

Feeling generous? Text 'NewsBusters' to 85944 to make a $10 contribution to keep 'Busted going strong.

NewsBusted is a comedy webcast about the news of the day, uploaded every Tuesday and every Friday.

RUCO with Stacked Deck on Board from Lobbyist Group Wants State Law To Help Their Cause

In the past few days we have one post each from both Yes! Weekly and The Greensboro News and Record in regards to a state law that will probably do away with the Residential Unit Certificate of Occupancy for the City of Greensboro.

Yes! Weekly post titled "Some on Greensboro Council Lukewarm to RUCO" CLICKHERE
Greensboro News and Record Inside Scoop titled "Will City Council Back RUCO" CLICKHERE


 The RUCO board which is  stacked with members of the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition which is the local non registered lobbyist group headed by Marlene Sanford. In a post from yes weekly in past here is what she had to say about RUCO in Greensboro:

"“It’s no secret that my constituency would like to see this program go away,” said Marlene Sanford, president of the TREBIC, which hosted the meeting."

Then this past week during a work session Jordan Green from Yes! Weekly does a great job of tweeting from the Greensboro City Council chambers and had this as a twitter post:

"Perkins says the RUCO board voted 6 to 5 against sending a letter to the mayor urging the city to oppose the legislation"
Perkins: "The majority said we don’t need RUCO


Now we see that the RUCO board voted against sending a letter to mayor in regards to what is going on in the state house in regards to legislation that will probably do away with RUCO in Greensboro if the state passes a bill.

Who are the members of the RUCO board? and who stacked the deck on the RUCO board with Marlene Sanfords constituencies?

Jordan Green also reported this on 7-21-2010,

"Early in the meeting, Newton caused distress among some of her fellow task force members by expressing the view that the makeup of the RUCO Advisory Board, which hears and determines appeals from decisions of the building inspector, should include more “representation from people who do not profit from rental property.”

Reynolds added that he receives questions about the board makeup “quite often,” and handed out a roster of members to delineate the various members' ties and affiliations. The roster shows that, not counting city council liaison Robbie Perkins and two staff members, six out of 11 members are either agents or owners of rental properties, including Dellinger; Sims; District 3 appointee Peter Placentino, who works for Brown Investment Properties; Bobby Akin of the Greensboro Landlords Association; Bryon Nelson of the Triad Apartment Association; and Todd Rotruck, the representative for the neighborhood congress"

The whole RUCO Board needs a complete overhaul if a majority of the members want to do away with what they are there to do for the citizens of Greensboro. This is a clear indication of what is a real problem with boards and commissions , where a lobbyist group has a stacked deck on a local board and votes the way they did on this issue of RUCO in Greensboro.

Rashad Young on City of Greensboro Coliseum Accounting

"...there have been several news reports that compare the General Fund Budget reductions
to the All Funds Budget
and confuse how $13 million in budgetary solutions [cuts?]
can yield an increase to the budget of $8 million.

...The All Funds Recommended Budget shows an increase from the FY 10-11

...This change is exclusively due to an accounting change
that requires the City to report the revenue and expense
for events at the War Memorial Coliseum.

Who required it?

Why did who require it?

Historically, the City only accounted for the Net Revenue.

Why?

For instance, if a Concert cost $100,000
but brought in $110,000 in revenue,
the City only accounted for the net of those two figures or $10,000.

Going forward, the City is required to account
for the Revenue of $110,000 and the Expenditure of $100,000.

If $110,000 - $100,000 = $10,000,

how did $13 million turn into $25 million?

How can revenues be higher than expenses,

if the Greensboro Coliseum runs an annual deficit?

How much is the Coliseum actually losing?

This change does not provide more funds for the Coliseum to operate,
it just accounts the receipt of the total revenue and the total expense
for events and our budget has to reflect this change."

Why?

Rashad M. Young
City of Greensboro Manager
May 20, 2011, to the Mayor and City Council

City of Greensboro Information Request

What % of expected White Street Landfill refuse
is to come from Guilford County?
.
Please provide a detailed explanation of how the Coliseum accounting went from $13 to $25 million,

which accounts for all of the $12 million increase.

Where is North Carolina's NAACP on HB 554, that would overturn RUCO in Greensboro?

http://www.news-record.com/blog/2011/05/24/entry/naacp_president_arrested_after_protest_in_house_gallery

Why does North Carolina's Black Leadership seem unable to stand up for North Carolina's renters?

What exactly are the NAACP 's demands?

If the North Carolina NAACP understands the budget math,

what are their suggestions?

Is Greensboro's City Council feeling pretty good budget wise, knowing they have about a $300 million cash cushion as Guilford County runs out of savings?

http://www.news-record.com/blog/2011/05/24/entry/mind_bending_city_budget_math

Should media outlets let the public know

how much savings the City of Greensboro has

relative to Guilford County?

Have anyone ever seen it reported anywhere?

Ever wonder why Matt Brown can spend unlimited sums?

Remember the $200,000 for more parking,

on top of about $400,000 for the Ampitheatre

on top of getting out of the Canada Dry Leases,

on top of shifting maintenace to the City's budget

so the Coliseum could tell everybody all is well?

Ever wonder where the money came from for the Ice Rink?

Or loose leaf collection?

Or crossing guards?

Or libraries?

Or non-profits?

Or TREBIC and Downtown Greensboro and the Greensboro Partnership?

Or tax breaks for favored donors?

Or swimming pools?

How is Greensboro's City Council not treating their constituents

like a bunch of chumps?

Did Kee and Bellamy-Small sell out?

"District 2 Councilman Jim Kee told residents that the Greensboro City Council appears to have made the decision to reopen the White Street Landfill, and that he thinks it's important to make sure that people who live nearby don't suffer from noise pollution, heavy truck traffic and rodents as a result.

Did Jim ask about accepting City of Greensboro trash only?

That didn't sit well with many constituents.

..."I think it has been established that the council the council has decided to go forward with the landfill," Wells said. "And our councilman has decided to make concessions on our behalf."

Then she asked if residents were willing to compromise. The answer was a resounding no.

...Dianne Bellamy-Small...said she is pressuring the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce to take a stand against the landfill.

With what leverage?

"I just got a phone call from them saying they want us to save their 10 percent in the budget," Bellamy-Small said. "I ain't hearing them because they ain't hearing me."

Extortion?

How about proposing turning thier 10% cut to 50%?

If Dianne barely lifted a finger on RUCO,

why is who expecting her to actually go to bat for Land Fill folks?

Kee said in defense of the Greensboro Partnership, which closely coordinates with the chamber, that he met with them twice and at the time they were interested in vetting a number of alternative technology approaches.

Bullsitht.

Where was Jim Kee on RUCO?

Now that the council has narrowed the options to two companies proposing to reopen the landfill, Kee said it would be good to get the partnership and the chamber to take a stand.

Does Jim not know where they stand?

Why didn't Skip Alston, whose district is in Greensboro City limits,

not lift a finger for his constituents for RUCO?

ADDENDUM: One thing the landfill opponents would like to accomplish with an ad buy is to challenge the notion that the landfill was there before the resident were, and with it notion that the siting of the landfill was and is about race.

That perspective gained currency with a 2009 opinion column by the News & Record's Allen Johnson describing how he moved into neighboring Woodmere Park as a child with his family in 1968 when it was still predominantly white.

"notion" "perspective"

Is it true or not?

Supporting the assertion that the people came before the landfill, Wells said tonight that the Neal family, which is black, lived in the area as far back as the 1880s, and that some members of the family sold off some of their property to the city for the landfill. The Neals, one of whom spoke at a rally held recently at the landfill, are the namesake of Nealtown Road and the Nealtown Farms community."

Jordan

If the Neal family sold property for the landfill,

who made how much when,

and who approved it?

If the Neal's made money on the creation of the landfill,

why would they be in favor of keeping it closed?

How much more real estate do they own in the area?

Do they own any rental properties?

JIM KEE 10/27/09 Robbie Perkins NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Robbie Perkins NAI Piedmont Triad Commercial real estate TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Alvin C. Leonard Jr. Carroll Companies Developer TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Wesley Scott Wallace Keystone Group Developer TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 09/17/09 William M. Kotis III Kotis Properties Developer TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Cornelious D. Lamberth Lamberth & Associates Developer ???
JIM KEE 10/13/09 Greensboro Landlords Association Political action committee TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/01/09 NC Realtors PAC Political action committee
JIM KEE 09/29/09 F. Cooper Brantley Brantley Properties Property management ???
JIM KEE 08/28/09 Henry Carrison NAI Piedmont Triad Real estate TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 08/22/09 Lynn Reddeck Real estate
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Roy E. Carroll Carroll Companies Real estate development TREBIC MEMBER
JIM KEE 10/27/09 Vanessa Y. Carroll Carroll Companies Real estate development TREBIC MEMBER

Should any of the Board of Directors or their employers of the Piedmont Triad Partnership directly benefit from solicited taxpayer money?

Notables

Jon Bell
Bell Partners Inc.

Graham Bennett
Quality Oil Company

Dianne K. Blackwood
Time Warner Cable

Spence H. Broadhurst
SunTrust Bank

Jerry Camp
C&D Industrial Tools & Supply

David Congdon
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc.

Charles C. Cornelio
Lincoln Financial Group

Steven J. Frost
US Trust / Bank of America

Allen E. Gant Jr.
Glen Raven Inc.

Henry H. Isaacson
Isaacson Isaacson Sheridan & Fountain

Susan Ivey
Reynolds American Inc.

Kelly King
BB&T Corporation

David King
LabCorp of America

J. Edward Kitchen
Joseph M. Bryan Foundation

Robert E. Long Jr.
Granville Capital Inc.

Lee McAllister
Weaver Investment Company

Jim S. Melvin
Joseph M. Bryan Foundation

Phillip Morgan
Piedmont Natural Gas Inc.

Jim F. Morgan
Morgan Herring Morgan Green & Rosenblutt LLC

Timothy Rice
Moses Cone Health System

Arthur L. Samet
Samet Corporation

Martin F. Schlaeppi
Dixon Hughes PLLC

Ronald G. Taylor
Duke Energy

Keith Vaughan
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC

Edwin Welch
I.L. Long Construction Co. Inc.

http://www.piedmonttriadnc.com/directors/default.aspx

Greensboro Taxpayers Get Ready for a Shovel Ready Your Money To a Secret Developer , Can I Guess Our Local Crony Capitalist?

In the local section of Greensboro News and Record which is behind the pay wall so no links to article that on May 22, 2011  Donald Patterson has a article with a title " City Weighs shovel-ready site".

We learn from the article that in the next few weeks the Greensboro Ecomonic Development Alliance with chairman Dan Lynch with the help from Andy Scott assistant City Manager are wanting to have a shovel ready 100 acre site available to prospect for future tenants. Some of the proposal could be paid for with money from the economic bond approved in 2006.

Here is the kicker from the article:

Under the proposal a developer would provide the land and the city would get water and sewer in place in addition to clearing, rough grading and erosion control. The developer also would have to agree to certain restrictions on the property, such as not sub dividing it.

Local officials would not identify any potential developers or sites. "All that will be known when we go to council"Lynch said. That will be part of detailed proposal.


Can anyone guess who this proposal is geared toward? Could it be our local Crony Capitalist Roy Carroll?  or Maybe the Crony Capitalist partner out in Rock Creek Center  in Dick Beard who is Greensboro Coliseum Director Matt Brown's Head Cheerleader.

This whole idea smells like the American Express Data Center and Roy Carroll wants some back door incentives to pay for water and sewer to the development. I could be wrong on this one but i smell a rat in the making. We will see what the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance proposal is to the Greensboro City Council but hopefully we will not be hearing Roy Carroll's name on this one.

We heard for the longest time that American Expess was not wanting incentives to open up this data center but then we really know why they did not want the incentives because 6 months later they are in the process of closing a major customer service center out near the airport where more than 1,500 jobs would be moving out of the state to other centers occupied by American Express.How would it look for American Express to shut down and leave 1,500 workers out of a job but then have millions in economic incentive money coming to a data center that will employ at best 60 people.

It is always BS to hear these blowhards spewing out these no name companies that were going to locate in guilford county but the site wasn't available.

Hey Dan Lynch you would have more credibility if you didn't get quoted in paper with this:

"Lynch said one company recently came looking for a 200 acre site." They are still looking" he said when asked for details " That's all I can say"

Can't wait for this dog and pony show in front of the Greensboro City Council, with the head cheerleaders in the Greensboro News and Record  following in tow.

Who does the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board think its kidding?

"...David Powell, CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership,
...contends that there simply isn’t enough tenant-ready room here
to accommodate such lucrative new industries as auto manufacturers.

...A 2010 study revealed that the region
has only 7,250 acres of “prime, vacant, developable land”
with industrial or corporate park zoning.

How many 100 acre plus tracts are there?

Doesn't 7,250 acres seems like a lot?

Compared to what?

...The land most suitable for industrial uses fits only some of the undeveloped sites in the area
because it has to meet certain requirements,
such as being located at least within a mile of an interstate.

Is the Editorial Board suggesting taxpayers give "a developer"

$25,000 per acre to create a sell able property?

Why don't they do it themselves?

If taxpayers flip to get the ground ready,

what is the payback after the property sells?

...common sense says landing the big one will require enough shovel-ready land."

Why do taxpayers have to pony up money

for unnamed "developers"?

Who decides what developer wins the prize?

How transparent will the decision making process be?

The Editorial Board

Will big City Council Campaign Contributors

get preferential treatment in the decision making process?

How did Roy and Dick get the Amex deal?

How many properties were shown to Amex?

Who showed the properties?

Isn't the City building an $8 million water pumping station for Amex and others?

Greensboro Coliseum: User Fees/Charges/Licenses 2010-11: $155,072,337 2011-12: $170,272,007

"Budgeted revenues for FY 11-12 are $170.3 million,
about $15.2 million more than budgeted revenues for FY 10-11.

The majority of this increase is due to revised accounting practices
for Coliseum events that are deemed to be “co-promoted,”
an arrangement in which the Coliseum shared in both event revenues and potential event losses.

How much in potential losses?

Who did Greensboro take risk with?

How does one qualify for "co-promotion"?

Previously, the net impacts, (either net revenue gain or net expense loss) of these events
had been posted to the budget.

Where?

Both gross revenue and gross expenses will now be recorded.

Why wern't gross expenses recorded before,

and who told Greensboro to report them now?

This causes a significant increase both in recorded revenue and recorded expense
for the Coliseum Fund.

Controlling for this accounting change,
user fee revenue would be increasing by $5.2 million, or 3.4%.

Where is the other $10 million coming from?

If the user fees are refering to parking fees,
how was parking income counted before?

Does this mean the Coliseum has been paying out
a lot more than anyone thought?

FY 2011-12 Proposed Greensboro Budget

Why didn't Rashad cover this in the presentation to City Council?

Does the new accounting show something it used to not reveal?

On what events has the Coliseum won or lost how much?

Should Allen Johnson issue a retraction?

I suggested to the commissioners
that every single budgetary line item in the health department budget
that does not involve the above five functions or activities
represents a potential reduction.


In total, these reductions would represent a savings of $12.2 million [of a $37 million budget]
from the current fiscal year budget,
or $9.3 million from the budget submitted by County Manager Brenda Jones-Fox.


Guarino

Is Doug Clark recommending Accounting Fraud?

"...In regard to nonprofits receiving state funds:
"No more than $120,000 in state funds shall be used for the annual salary of any one employee."

...I wouldn't worry. This looks like a bookkeeping issue.

Use other funds to pay the big salary and apply the state money to other purposes.

This budget provision probably won't have any practical effect on any agency
— unless there are some that operate almost entirely with state funds
— although it sends a good message.

If your organization is taking state dollars,
don't rub taxpayers' noses in it by overpaying your staff."

Doug

Was Greensboro's $19,588,000 Aquatic Center $18,300,000, before $19,588,000? Are the $130,000 operating costs now more than $400,000?

"You might say it's 18.3 million dollars, but it might.. between operating costs,
it might cost you 40 or 50 million dollars to run the thing for ten years
and you need to think about those questions,"
...says Neal Cooksey, Mecklenberg County Commissioner.

"We've got a contract to build it, and we've got bonds set aside to pay for it.

So we're going to build it as part of an overall strategy
and we're not going to second guess that strategy based on what Charlotte's doing
to close their 95 million dollar budget gap,"
says ...Robbie Perkins, Greensboro City Council member.

The projected operating cost of Greensboro's larger 58-thousand square foot facility
is $130,000 next year.

But, not everyone's convinced it's a bill the Gate City can handle.

"It makes me nervous when I don't see the money in the bank to pay for it,"
says Mary Rakestraw, Greensboro City Council member.

She doesn't want to make waves, but thinks the projected costs to run it are too low.

..."It's easy to build things and it's easy to spend money when times are good,
you just gotta be prepared for when times are bad," says Cooksey

...The Mecklenberg commissioner added Charlotte's mistake
was building more than the city could afford to maintain."

WFMY News 2
May 11, 2010

Does someone need to fix Wikipedia's Greensboro factoid on the Aquatic Center?

A new ACC Hall of Fame

and an $18.3 million aquatics center

are planned to be built on site starting in 2010.

Wikipedia

Summery of project expenditures


FY 2010-11 (through August 2011)
Cumulative amount......................$19,588,000


Items for Your Information from City Manager Rashad Young
5 20 11

[High Point] "City budget calls for property tax increase, higher utility rates"

"High Point City Manager Strib Boynton’s proposed 2011-12 budget calls for a property tax increase, as well as utility rate increases, as the city tries to address continued erosion in its tax base and revenue sources.

At $317.7 million, the proposed budget represents an increase of $8.6 million, or 2.7 percent, from the city’s current spending plan.

...The budget would raise the property tax rate 2.9 cents – from 63.3 cents to 66.2 cents per $100 of assessed value.

...Boynton said it’s necessary to sustain existing services and recover $831,000 in revenues lost as the city’s taxable values have dropped and to prevent the anticipated loss of $400,000 to $600,000 in sales tax dollars.

The budget also calls for a 5 percent electric rate increase to cover the city’s cost to buy wholesale power through ElectriCities, along with 4.9 percent water and sewer rate increases largely related to continuing improvements associated with the Westside Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The estimated impact of the rate increases for the typical owner of a $150,000 home is an increase of $146 per year, or $12.16 per month...

Boynton said the city has cut costs by $13.8 million in the past two years and is continuing to suspend salary increases for city workers and is freezing 53 vacancies.

The city also will shift more of the cost for health insurance to employees.

...Boynton said the city will have to tap fund balances next year."

High Point Enterprise

How can an appropriation for $10,711,142 and 50.5 employees turn into $23,051,391 for 52.75 employees?

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/B7734B94-E963-4389-9DCC-956FB5659341/0/13_warmemcoliseum.pdf

Brandon Burgess: "...imagine if Mayor Knight talked to landfill opponents like that."

http://guarino.typepad.com/guarino/2011/05/skip-alstons-morality.html

Historical Maps from Past in Regards to Redistricting in Guilford County N.C.

Below you will see maps of the Guilford County Commissioners from 1990 to the present one in 2001  and if you would like some explanation on what went on back in the 90's please read this blog post from Guarino's blog CLICKHERE  with a title "How the county commissioners board was stacked to favor democrats".
1990 Guilford County N.C. Commissioners Map



1991 Guilford County Commissioners Districts




2001 Guilford County Redistricting Maps

Newsbusted is New for 5-20-2011 Please Enjoy the Embedded Video Compliments of Newsbusters

Newsbusters is new for 5-20-2011 please enjoy the embedded video compliments of newsbusters. CLICKHERE

Topics in today's show:

-- Recovery will take 'several years,' Obama says

-- Ron Paul running for president

-- WH wants cell phones to accept 'presidential updates'

-- Lehrer stepping down from PBS 'News Hour'

-- Omar bin Laden to sue US over father's burial

-- Porn found in Osama's hideout

-- Sen. Inhofe: dead Osama pictures are gruesome

-- Hotels offering Barbie-themed suites

Starring: Jodi Miller
Director: Bruce Roundtower
Production: Dialog New Media

Profound thought by William Heasley: Is this why Greensboro and Guilford County could do well by holding debt and taxes down?

All capital and all human capital is mobile.

Most capital and most human capital, over time,

migrates to the lowest tax environment.

William Heasley

John Hammer on Rashad Young's proposed budget: "Where else can you cut $13 million from a budget and wind up with a higher budget than the year before?"

"City Manager Rashad Young['s] ...proposed 2011-2012 budget
ends up spending $17 million more than the current budget,
or $8 million more than the current budget,
depending on whether you want to use the budget that the City Council approved last year
or the new 2010-2011 budget that appears in the proposed 2011-2012 budget document.

...the budget that the City Council passed for 2010-2011 was $423 million
and the projected budget for 2011-2012 was $425 million.

But in the new 2011-2012 proposed budget book,
the 2010-2011 budget is listed as $432 million.

...How can there be a reduction in spending of $9.5 million and a revenue increase of $3.3 million
if the budget spends $8 million more than the revised current budget,
which is $9 million more than the budget that the council passed?

Young...recommends a raise for city employees.

...The benefit package for city employees in the private sector
would not be considered a Cadillac plan but a Rolls Royce plan.

...he is increasing spending by $8 million,
but cutting a theoretical $13 million that includes more revenue

...The city borrows a little less money,
reduces the funding by 10 percent to some of the nonprofits,
cuts some unfilled positions and a few that might as well be unfilled,
collects a little more in parking fees and, voila,
you have the $13 million in theoretical cuts and enhancements.

...Young recommends the kind of draconian reductions in spending
that managers are known for across the country.

...The key is to cut whatever will cause the most public outcry.

...the Benjamin Branch Library will have to be closed.

This historically has been the most popular branch library in the system.

It reopened after extensive renovation in January 2010.

It is in the heart of northwest Greensboro and has a vocal, powerful clientele.

Other than closing the Central Library downtown,
this is the branch that would likely cause the most ruckus to close.

Councilmembers Nancy Vaughan, Robbie Perkins and Zack Matheny won't be able to go for walk,
go to the grocery store or eat at the country club without getting an earful about this branch,
if the city were to close it, and for that reason the city won't.

...By far the best cut is to close all the public swimming pools in the city
except the indoor pool at Grimsley High School.

The city right now is in the process of building a $20 million aquatic center at the Coliseum,
which is billed as a facility where swimmers are going to come from all over the country,
if not the world, to compete,
and at the same time the city is going to close all but one of the public pools, including Lindley.

...no one on the City Council challenged his budget cuts,
which increase the budget by $17 million, or $8 million, depending on which figure you like,
but if there were any doubts about the true direction the budget was headed
it can be found in the number of city employees.

The number of city employees increases in the proposed 2011-2012 budget from 3078.652 to 3081.076.

...the city cuts 20 positions but then at midyear adds back 22.

The budget projects increasing the number of employees by 17 in the 2012-2013 budget.

...one employee is being cut from the city manager's office

...two are being added.

One way the city plans to improve its revenue stream
is by making $315,000 more on parking enforcement.

This is just another tax on downtown residents and businesses.

It is hard enough to do business downtown without increasing the parking enforcement.

Also the city wants to start charging for parking downtown at night
and is counting on making $200,000 on tickets for parking in fire lanes, and inspections.

Despite what the city thinks, people do not come downtown in hopes of getting a parking ticket,
and more people will not come downtown if parking fees increase, as does the chance of getting a ticket.

The City Council can eliminate the raise for city employees,
cut the nonprofits out of the budget instead of reducing the spending by 10 percent,
combine some more departments and actually reduce the number of employees,
which keeps going up year after year despite all the talk about cuts."

John

Matt Brown: “We have never asked an additional dime of city dollars.”

"By the time the outdoor theater opens June 5, it will cost city residents $451,000.

In the last push to complete construction, problems have increased the price by $26,000, according to the city.

...The total cost of the amphitheater will be $946,000 — $495,000 of which will be covered by business sponsorships. The rest will be paid by the coliseum, which has brought in more revenue this year than expected.

If Matt Brown underestimated the costs of the Coliseum amphitheater

to begin construction without having to get permission…?

“It came out of the additional coliseum savings or surplus,” Brown said.

Does the City of Greensboro cover about 19% of the Coliseum's budget,

even after Rashad Young let Matt Brown off the hook for the Canada Dry leases?

“We have never asked an additional dime of city dollars.”

VIP Room, Amphitheater and Hotel:

Socialistic and/or Crony Capitalistic Wealth Redistribution

in Greensboro and Guilford County?

...When completed, it will be able to hold about 7,690 people.

Construction began on the amphitheater in fall 2009, to the surprise of City Council members and area residents who had not been consulted.

The council eventually approved the project and awarded a $360,000 construction contract in April to build the stage, loading dock and sound barrier."

Amanda

If it will cost taxpayers $451,000,

which "started" at $360,000,

is Matt Brown being a little wrong on the $91,000?

Is Allen Johnson’s cranial appendage

lodged within Matt Brown’s sphincter/rectum?

Are Matt Brown, the City Budget Director and the City Manager

cooking the Coliseum’s books?

Did City of Greensboro officials intentionally mislead

the Greensboro News and Record’s Amanda Lehmert?

Have Matt Brown and Rashad Young “how that expense is going to get addressed.,"

manipulated the Coliseum budget before?

FREE SCREENING of Gerrymandering The Movie on May 25th in Cary N.C.

HT: Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Above is a youtube trailer


Gerrymandering--Free Film Screening

Join the North Carolina Center for Voter Education and North Carolinians for Redistricting reform for a free screening of the critically acclaimed documentary. Gerrymandering and an inside look on the significant flaws in our current redistricting process. This film looks at the abuse of power that too often occurs when you have politicians redrawing their own districts lines and choosing their own voters.



Wednesday, May 25 at 7:00 P.M. at the Galaxy Cinema, 770 Cary Towne Blvd., Cary.(919)463-9989

$218,775.13 is Amount Guilford County Taxpayers Waste on Public Notices in Greensboro News and Record

Guilford County Public Notice Invoices 2011 From Local Print Media



Triadwatch did a public records request for information on just how much taxpayers money is spent in the past year and a half on having to put public notices in the local paid print media.



There has been 3 previous post in regards to this wasteful spending on this blog:



#1 CLICKHERE 



$86,740.29 is the Amount Guilford County Taxpayers  Paid for Tax Delinquency in Greensboro News and Record on March 23, 2011



#2 CLICKHERE



$31,665.96 City of Greensboro Wasteful Spending on Public Notices in Carolina Peacemaker



#3 CLICKHERE



$96,288.47 City of Greensboro on Wasteful Spending on Public Notices in Greensboro News and Record





Now you can see with the above scribd document that was provided from Guilford County to what has been paid out in taxpayers money to the Greensboro News and Record from 3-1-2010 through 4-30-2011 below is the break down of 5 different vendor numbers that pertains to a different department who put public notices in the paper.



Greensboro News and Record Public Notice Billing by Vendor # from 3-1-2010 through 4-30-2011



Vendor # 65763  = $1,811.03

Vendor # 65767  = $175,385.68

Vendor # 65777  = $1,605.83

Vendor # 65787  = $4,317.69

Vendor # 65778  = $35,654.90



TOTAL = $218,775.13



So if you are a  City of Greensboro taxpayer adding this post and the previous post you are spending $314,963.60 in your tax dollars to place public notices in the Greensboro News and Record.Do you think this is a good use of taxpayer money? NO



Is it time to let our state lawmakers know that you would support a bill to have these public notices available on the local governments web site for all to see on a daily basis not just on one day of showing it in the local papers or putting public notices in papers not available to every part of the city like Greensboro's Carolina Peacemaker.



Right now we are seeing the local paid newspapers all over this state write editorials and also ads in their papers wanting to stop house bill #472 and senate bill #773 from going forward.



If you agree with saving taxpayers money all over this state then now is the time to let your state lawmakers know you support  House Bill #472 and Senate Bill #773. If you need a link to find your representative in the North Carolina Legislature CLICKHERE



We will have one final post that will add up all the taxpayers money up to this point from the public records request from Guilford County, City of Greensboro and also got the numbers from the City of High Point to add to the final tally on public notices in local paid newspapers. After seeing the tax delinquency in the Greensboro News and Record a few months ago it got me thinking how much this cost the taxpayers. Then seeing the Greensboro News and Record editorial  "Help Public see Notices" CLICKHERE , they never once said how much money they made off the taxpayers in the past year in this editorial or even that they were on the government trough. Now we know that the Greensboro News and Record is making $314,963.60. It is time for this expense to go away .



There is one question that i want to do more research on in regards to this matter is if the foreclosure notices in the paper are a function of the county or is this a state issue to pay for those notices. The reason i ask is because those are very lengthly and if the state pays for these than this $300,000 plus taxpayer money towards these bills would make this number a lot higher. If anyone knows the answer please inform in the comment section of this post.



Citizens Against Government Waste , triad edition.

White Street Landfill: If I were certain of the existence of an omnipotent God…

…I would pray for the White Street Landfill contract

to specify that only Greensboro’s refuse is deposited.

What's up with this?

ENTERPRISE FUNDS

....................................2010/11 Budget.............2011/12 Recommended Budget


War Memorial Coliseum.........13,254,994..................25,378,329



http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/51444B88-3886-40A0-B8B7-1E0ED7C37E11/0/2_fundsummarytotalbudget.pdf

On municipal finances

"Next month will be pivotal for most states, as it marks the fiscal year end and is when balanced budgets are due. The states have racked up over $1.8 trillion in taxpayer-supported obligations in large part by underfunding their pension and other post-employment benefits.

Yet over the past three years, there still has been a cumulative excess of $400 billion in state budget shortfalls.

…Next month will also mark the end of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's $480 billion in federal stimulus, which has subsidized states through the economic downturn. States have grown more dependent on federal subsidies, relying on them for almost 30% of their budgets.

The condition of state finances threatens the economic recovery. States employ over 19 million Americans, or 15% of the U.S. work force, and state spending accounts for 12% of U.S. gross domestic product.

…while state revenues have improved, they have done so in part from tax hikes.

Expenses are near the highest they have ever been due to built-in annual cost escalators that have no correlation to revenue growth (or decline, as has been the case recently). Even as states have made deep cuts in some social programs, their fixed expenses of debt service and the actuarially recommended minimum pension and other retirement payments have skyrocketed. While over the past 10 years state and local government spending has grown by 65%, tax receipts have grown only by 32%.

…off balance sheet debt totals over $1.3 trillion, as measured by current accounting standards, and it accounts for almost 75% of taxpayer-supported state debt obligations. Only recently have states been under pressure to disclose more information about these liabilities, because it is clear that their debt burdens are grossly understated.

…some of my colleagues focused exclusively on finding the most up-to-date information on ballooning tax-supported state obligations. This meant going to each state and local government's website for current data, which we found was truly opaque and without uniform standards.
What concerned us the most was the fact that fixed debt-service costs are increasingly crowding out state monies for essential services. For example, New Jersey's ratio of total tax-supported state obligations to gross state product is over 30%, and the fixed costs to service those obligations eat up 16% of the total budget. Even these numbers are skewed, because they represent only the bare minimum paid into funding pension and retirement plans. We calculate that if New Jersey were to pay the actuarially recommended contribution, fixed costs would absorb 37% of the budget. New Jersey is not alone.

The real issue here is the enormous over-leveraging of taxpayer-supported obligations at a time when taxpayers are already paying more and receiving less. …Corporations are relocating, or at a minimum moving large portions of their businesses to more tax-friendly states.

Boeing is in the political cross-hairs as it is trying to set up a facility in the more business-friendly state of South Carolina, away from its current hub of Washington. California legislators recently went to Texas to learn best practices as a result of a rising tide of businesses that are building operations outside of their state. Over time, individuals will migrate to more tax-friendly states as well, and job seekers will follow corporations.

…there is a lack of collective appreciation for how painful this process will be. Defaults in a variety of forms by states and municipalities are already happening and more are inevitable. Taxpayers have borne the initial brunt of these defaults by paying higher taxes in exchange for lower social services. And state and local government employees are having to renegotiate labor contracts that they once believed were sacrosanct.

These are just the facts. The sooner we accept them, the sooner we can get state finances back on track, and a real U.S. economic recovery underway."

Meredith Whitney