North Carolina

UPDATE!!! (June 5, 2007 @ 18:00 EST): Shuler updated his blog this evening, but has chosen to talk about Pfc. Charles George... a young man who died in Korea in 1952.

Very disappointing.

-0-

Congressman Heath Shuler hasn't updated his blog in over 13 days.

This is the longest he's gone without a post since he started blogging... and I'm starting to get worried about him.

Is the good Congressman okay?

What could possibly be keeping him from writing about why he voted to continue funding the occupation of Iraq without timetables or accountability? (HR 2206)

I want answers! Especially since just about every thinking mammal in NC District 11 was expecting some kind of benchmark; to witness Democrats like Shuler surrender over the issue came as a shock.

I'm not alone in my anticipation for an answer. Every Democratic/Progressive WNC blogger I've read over the past few weeks is looking forward to an explanation from Shuler as to why the Democratic party refused to hold the executive branch accountable for it's actions.

It's doubtful the Congressman is avoiding controversy. In the past, he's met his critics head-on; for example, when Shuler voted against stem cell research funding he promptly posted his reasons why on his blog.

My guess for the extended absence is that, unlike the stem-cell funding, his support for HR 2206 may well be racking his soul with guilt.

Hey, it's possible!

Unlike his his predesessor, Shuler has a soul to lose. I'm not being sarcastic when I say he's a good man... and as such, it may be difficult for him to come to grips about what he did.

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From WNCNN's episode four, a musical tribute to the end of the Taylor era.

This is, by far, my favorite WNCNN episode. It made me laugh, it made me cry.

And by the way, according to my sitestats it appears that Taylor's people have been hitting this site fairly regularly these past few days.

Thanks for the traffic Taylorpeeps! This video is for y'all.

Enjoy:

To see all the WNCNN videos, check out their YouTube page. 

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Recently, the North Carolina state legislature raised the minimum wage from from $5.15 to 6.15 an hour.

I do not share my fellow Democrats enthusiasm for the rate increase. All it succeeds in doing is to remove from the table an important election-year issue, and does nothing for the hardest-working members of our society: The working poor.

An extra dollar-an-hour wage increase means that a worker slaving her life away for a chain-store, will now make a whole extra eight bucks a day.

Before taxes.

Coincidentally, this is about the same cost for three 7.5oz jars of Vaseline.

So now, when a NC laborer goes to work for McDonald's, Wal-Mart or the corner convenience store - he can afford to smear some Vaseline on his rear before his employer exploits him for another day.

Do you think the language I'm using is too harsh?

Consider: At $6.15 an hour, that is about $12,792 a year.

Assume a hypothetical worker only pays $600 a month for rent, electric, water, heating and doesn't pay taxes. (Yes, I know this is unrealistically low, and that's what makes this scenario so poignantly sad.)

That leaves less than $466 a month for food, phone, child-care, transportation and Vaseline to ease the pain.

So excuse me if the comparison today is rather harsh. In my defense: 1) I don't usually use such graphic analogies. 2) If comparing minimum wage to getting exploited daily by your employer isn't an accurate analogy, I don't know what is.

Sometimes the truth transcends polite language.

$6.15 an hour does nothing to stimulate local economies, encourage savings or raise living standards.

Nothing.

If Democrats are serious about re-building the middle-class in North Carolina, they have to stop short-changing the working poor with "minimum" wages, and start working toward a "living" wage.

There is a significant difference.

Think of it this way: The human body needs a minimum of 1 liter of water a day to survive. You'll live, but how would you bathe, cook and clean the house?

If someone "raised" the minimum of water you get to 1.5 liters... does that improve your life much?

To thrive, you need at least 10 liters a day. Anything close to the "minimum" and you are living in a constant state of emergency.

Similarly, at $6.15 an hour, a worker might also survive day-to-day. But forget about healthcare, rearing children properly and helping the community. The employer has most of the power in such a relationship, and the worker is little more than a slave; with the primary difference being that the modern slave gets to choose which plantation to work at for minimum wage.

Lest anyone bring up the straw-man argument that I'm one of those liberals calling for workers to get paid more than they are worth. I say: No, no no!

If that was a solution, then why not pay everyone $100 dollars an hour?

I'm talking about making sure businesses pay the actual cost to maintain a productive employee that will not be a burden on the taxpayer. This is not a radical idea. To do anything less harms society.

A worker who is forced to sell her labor for less than a living wage needs to turn to alternative means of support in the form of public assistance, loans from friends, prostitution and drug sales.

Raising the minimum wage a measly dollar is a slap in the face to the exploited. If that's all our legislators are willing to do for the working class, then they should have just sent underpaid employees a bottle of lubricant directly. At least that way, it would have been less disingenuous.

If the politicians in Raleigh want to be helpful, they should allow cities and counties to set their own wage standards. A de-centralized policy allows communities to have a say in how much they are willing to shoulder the burden for employers who under-pay their employees.

For more information on living wages, and for the raw data behind why they are a good idea see the Living Wage crib sheet.

Read counterpoint here.

Tags: Living Wage - Minimum Wage - slave wage - North Carolina - labor - working poor - corporate subsidy

Note:

• The second image is titled: "A Mortally Wounded Brigand Quenches his Thirst"
  c. 1825
  Oil on canvas, 32,5 x 40,7 cm
  Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel

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Hi everybody! And welcome to the gameshow: "Who's More Conservative?"

"Who's More Conservative" is the internet game where we take quotes from congressional races, and then try to guess which congressional candidate is more conservative: The Republican, or the Democrat. (Thus demonstrating how much choice Americans are allowed to have in our national elections.)

Today our candidates are from North Carolina, District 11: Republican congressman Charles "Chainsaw" Taylor VS Democratic challenger Heath "Beefcake" Shuler.

Charles Taylor is the incumbent. He likes banking, cutting down forests, corruption and using old pictures of himself on campaign literature.

Heath Shuler is challenging Mr. Taylor. He's a former NFL player and enjoys real estate sales, environmental protection and campaigning for Republicans.

Here's how we play: I'll take a quote from either of these candidates - and then YOU, the reader, try to guess which person said it: The Republican Taylor, or the Democrat Shuler!

Here we go!

Quote #1:

"I am pro-life, with exemptions when the life of the mother is at risk and in cases of rape and incest."

Answer: Shuler (Both candidates are pro-life.)

Quote #2

"Because the Tennessee Vally Authority is a quasi-governmental entity, I introduced legislation to mandate emissions reductions from its coal-fueled power plants."

Answer: Taylor (Both candidates favor legislation to get the Tennessee Valley Authority to reduce air pollution.)

Quote #3

"First, we must stop allowing unfair trade agreements like CAFTA to take jobs we already have. We must make job creation a priority, with a focus on developing industries."

Answer: Shuler (Both candidates claim to be against CAFTA, however when the vote came to the floor Taylor's vote mysteriously disappeared.)

Quote #4

"I support a clear plan of action in Iraq, but regardless of mistakes made thus far, we cannot afford to leave a political void."

Answer: Shuler. (Both candidates support the continued occupation of Iraq.)

Thanks for playing! Remember to vote this November because it will make a difference!

Notes:

• If you'd like to comment on this post, or conservative Democrats in general, go to the Unofficial Shuler Forum.
• All quotes were taken from the June 25, 2006 edition of the Asheville Citizen Times.
• The cartoon game-show host image above is something I photoshoped from the program "Game Show Presenter ©". Copyright 2000-2005, Bodine Training Games LLC.

Read counterpoint here.

Tags: Shuler - Taylor - DINO - District 11 - North Carolina - 2006 election - congress - gameshow

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This post is to announce the opening of the Unofficial Shuler Forum. (SF) You can access the forum by following this link: www.brainshrub.com/shuler

Heath Shuler is the Democratic candidate running for congress in District 11 against Republican incumbent Charles Taylor.

The purpose for this forum is very simple:

Progressives in District 11 need to start talking about Heath Shuler. Let's face it: He's no Liberal.

Shuler is a pro-life, conservative Democrat who admits to voting for Republicans in the past.

On the other hand, there are lots of fine Democrats who do like him. For example, the North Carolina AFL-CIO and the Western North Carolina Central Labor Council have endorsed him.

Clearly, Shuler is a mixed bag. Should Progressives support him?

I don't know.

Rather than sit around and complain about Shuler's lack of Liberal credentials, myself and several other activists are opening the unofficial Shuler forum.

Let's talk about Shuler. What do we like about him? What do we not like? What does Shuler need to say or do to put us at ease?

More importantly: What does Shuler need to say or do so that Progressives will donate money, time, money, time and money to his campaign?

Here are the ground-rules for the forum:

1) This is a forum created by, and for, Democrats. People of all political persuasions are welcome to post their opinions, but understand that smearing Shuler will lead to your post getting deleted and your account banned.

2) Godwin's Law will be enforced. First person to compare a candidate to a Nazi loses, even when referring to Charles Taylor.

Other things you should keep in mind:

• The forum will be under almost constant construction. In fact, as I make this announcement, the forum is still getting built. Please be patient as the bugs get worked out of the system.
• This forum has no connection with the official Shuler campaign. None. Nil. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Once again, the link to the unofficual Shuler forum is:

http://www.brainshrub.com/shuler

Tags: Heath Shuler - NC - District 11 - Asheville - North Carolina - 2006 election - Congress - Taylor - Politics - Democrat

ON EDIT 07/04/2006 @ 10:15 EST: If you'd like to reply to this post, please do so in the Unofficial Shuler Forum.

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