Raleigh To Expand Council Terms To Four Years?

The Raleigh Public Record reports Raleigh’s city attorney will report back to the council in a few days about the possibility of expanding city council terms to four years.

Councilors are considering extending term limits from two years to four years, but the exact details of those terms haven’t been ironed out. Councilor Bonner Gaylord said he would prefer if the terms were staggered rather than all seats being up for election at the same time.

But Councilor Mary-Ann Baldwin said that a problem with staggering the elections is that the mayor’s race is the big driver to the polls. It’s possible that the off-year councilors won’t have a large voter turnout.

We’re Footing The Bill, But We Can’t Know Where The Money Is Being Spent?

The food stamp program — now known as SNAP — clocks in at $80 billion a year, funded by those of us who actually pay federal income tax. Despite this fact, the federal Agriculture Department will not reveal where/how the money is spent. 

As a result, fraud is hard to track and the efficacy of the massive program is impossible to evaluate.

As the House debates the once-every-five-years farm bill, the majority of which goes to food stamps, there is a renewed and fervent call from a broad spectrum of camps that the information – some of the most high-dollar, frequently requested and closely held secrets of the government – be set free.

Welcome to the Recovery

From Triangle Business Journal.

The Triangle’s jobless rate rose last month, reversing its gradual fall since 2010. TheNorth Carolina Department of Commerce   on Friday reported an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent for the local eight-county area, up from 7.5 percent in April.

If it isn’t yet clear that the economy is teetering, I’m not sure what other indicators are necessary.

Federal Agency Gave Bonuses To 87% Of Workforce

More deplorable actions from the GSA, the free-spending, and now infamous, federal agency that spent $823,000 on the Las Vegas conference. Now we learn that GSA management believes that nearly every employee deserves a bonus — courtesy of those of us who pay federal taxes of course.

And lawmakers have repeatedly expressed outrage that GSA gave Jeff Neely — the former Public Buildings Service commissioner for Region 9 who was responsible for a lavish $823,000 Las Vegas conference — a $9,460 bonus last year, even though officials knew the IG was preparing a devastating report on the conference. In all, five top officials, including Neely, who were later placed on leave over the Las Vegas conference received between $9,100 and $11,690 in bonuses last year.

GSA is also the most generous federal agency when it comes to awarding bonuses. The agency handed out bonuses to 87 percent of its workforce last year.

Remember this when Leftists start their predictable moaning and crying about how federal agencies are lean and mean and can’t possibly sustain any cutbacks to address the astronomical deficit and debt. Yeah, right.

Will He Or Won’t He?

North Carolina Congressman Mike McIntyre, the Democratic incumbent in the 7th district congressional race, continues to avoid directly answering a local TV station’s question about whether or not he will endorse President Obama. Here’s the latest video, which has now made national news.

McIntyre faces Republican state senator David Rouzer of Johnston County in the race for the 7th district seat.

The candidates’ websites can be found at:

Rep. Mike McIntyre, Democrat

Sen. David Rouzer, Republican