Shut down or pay up
Small businesses. It has been said that they're the engines that drive the United States economy. As we've all sadly witnessed, it has become even tougher now in today's struggling economy. Yet it seems that some individuals who make up government agencies stay up nights just dreaming up ways either to keep a small business from succeeding or to put up bizarre roadblocks to make small-business ownership a nightmare.
Scott Sexton's June 10 column, "Licensing board discovers the Web," seems to prove that.
Apparently the North Carolina Auctioneer Licensing Board wants Diane Pearce to either shut down or pay to continue her small business, Consigning Women, an Internet business in which she lists and sells goods for others on such sites as Craigslist, Amazon and eBay.
Where I come from (let's just say it's a large, Midwest city on a well-known windy lakefront), if someone confronts a small-business owner and says you either shut down or pay up, their middle name is usually "the" (as in Vinnie the Nose or Nicky the Knuckles).
This just shows how power goes to a politician's head. When are our government bureaucracies ever going to learn how to make things better for their business citizens, rather than making things worse?
JEANNINE AULL
Winston-Salem
A larger company
The proposed merger of Duke Energy and Progress Energy now has approval of federal regulators and awaits approval of regulators in North Carolina and South Carolina ("Duke Energy, Progress Energy review conditions for merger," June 10). As a customer and stockholder of Duke, I hope the states decline to approve the merger.
Including the homes of my childhood, my family has been customers of Duke for more than 68 years. Of all the utilities with which I have dealt, Duke was for many years the best for customer service. For the last two years, Duke has been the worst company I have ever encountered. It has been impossible to resolve multiple problems, problems created solely by Duke and/or its contractors, with multiple calls to Duke about each problem. The telephone representatives, with the exception of one rotten example, may be doing the best they can with an unworkable system. Management is either unaware of, or is blessing and approving, the mess that exists.
That suggests negligence, incompetence or dishonesty, or a possible combination of the three, on the part of management.
This same management will do a better job with a larger company? I don't think so.
MICHAEL P. DIXON
East Bend
Very clear
John Hood's column "Politics and the Big Sort" (June 9) was very good, and explains why some Republicans, like Rep. Virginia Foxx, can claim their party deserves the title of civil-rights defender without dying of embarrassment. But when you take away the party affiliation and look at the ideology of "liberal" and "conservative," as Hood does, it becomes very clear that liberals, whether Republican or Democrat, have always favored civil rights while conservatives have always stood in opposition to them.
Whatever the differences, I still wish there were more understanding, more cooperation, more discussion that didn't start with claims of the other's inferior philosophy.
WENDY MARSHALL
Winston-Salem
Yet another step
And so government takes yet another step to enter our lives and tell us how we should live ("NYC seeks ban on super-size sodas," June 1). As your article states, "opponents again accused the three-term mayor of creating a nanny state and robbing New Yorkers of the right to choose for themselves." Not only New Yorkers, but the millions who visit NYC every year. I thought that Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a "pro-choice" supporter. Apparently he is pro-choice only where abortion is concerned.
Does the mayor know that when you buy a soda beverage in a fast-food joint that about 60 percent of the contents are ice? Will he also put limits on the amount of ice that can be in each drink?
Personal liberty can be destroyed only in small steps. To paraphrase a saying around during World War II, when they came for the cigarette smokers, well, I didn't smoke so I did nothing; when they came for the 32-ounce sodas, well, I don't drink those so I didn't do anything; and when they came for my favorite things, well, no one came to help me.
Government, local, state and federal, can take away our liberty only one small step at a time.
R. BRUCE HEYE
Lewisville
Finish the Thought
Briefly complete the sentence below and send it to us atletters@wsjournal.com. We'll print some of the results in a few days. Only signed entries, please, no anonymous ones.
"The 2012 presidential race is shaping up to be one that will come down to the wire because ..."
"But when you take away the party affiliation and look at the ideology of "liberal" and "conservative," as Hood does, it becomes very clear that liberals, whether Republican or Democrat, have always favored civil rights while conservatives have always stood in opposition to them."
ReplyDeleteWendy Marshall
___________
More liberal hogwash...........! Then why are liberals always trying to take away the gun rights of individuals Wendy? Why do they want to pass laws concerning what people can eat without penalty Wendy? Why do they pass laws on what people can do with their private property Wendy?
And finally-Wendy, and most important, why do they ALWAYS look to take away a person's freedom of choice through more and MORE TAXES?
Okay Wendy, it's clear that you have attended Rush's liberal school of how to make a fool of yourself in 500 words or less. Try attending another writing school with a sane instructor. Afterwards, you can try to make a lucid, and 'valid' point on another date.
"The 2012 presidential race is shaping up to be one that will come down to the wire because ..."
ReplyDeleteObama and AG Holder have corrupted the electoral process.
"...why do they ALWAYS look to take away a person's freedom of choice through more and MORE TAXES?"
ReplyDeleteIncome taxes are at or near all-time lows and have not risen in years.
The payroll tax is half of what it was 5 years ago.
The NC sales tax is .75¢ less than it was two years ago.
The property tax rate for residents of Winston-Salem is 1.25¢ less than it was 15 years ago.
As always, stupid is as stupid does.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn 2009, Perdue proposed and the legislature approved a package of temporary taxes that included an income tax surcharge on high wage earners and a 1-cent sales tax increase.
DeleteRead more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/17/2934651/perdue-to-propose-restoring-sales.html#storylink=cpy
________
Rush is obviously used to feeding a bunch of 'hogwash' to his liberals friends, and they eat it.
The newly elected Republican members of the N.C. General Assemby 'forced' her to lower the tax rate or it would have stayed the same. Plus, she is currenly proposing to return to the higher tax rate.
Once a liberal nitwit, always a liberal nitwit.
Worrying about matters that have no effect on you is a waste of time and a sign of idiocy.
DeleteI'm a bit puzzled by the size comparison. The village of Timble in North Yorkshire has only about 100 residents. The town of Timble in India is a little bit larger. Winston-Salem has about 300,000 residents, so does not really compare with either Timble...unless you're using "New Math" or something.
I removed that post because I knew how you'd worry about how I spelled 'thimble', you thimble headed liberal.
DeleteMisspelled several other words in that post as well...hey, we're used to it.
DeleteCall Forsyth Tech at 723-0371 and ask about these courses:
ACA 090 Study Skills
ENG 080 Writing Foundations
RED 070 Essential Reading Skills
You might want to throw in this one, PSY 281 Abnormal Psychology...it always helps to try to understand oneself.
You probably teach at Forsyth Tech. You strike me as being on that level. A do nothing, done nothing liberal.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVH1mCc5EvU
DeleteWhat on earth could be wrong with teaching at FTCC?
DeleteI didn't, but my best friend did, for quite a few years.
DeleteFTCC is one of our local jewels. It provides a steady flow of top nurses, police officers, firemen, mechanics, carpenters, computer techs, paralegals, etc, and offers thousands of people a cheap alternative for the 1st two years of college.
And its most important role right now is producing technicians for our best shot at a future in the fields of medical and biotechnology.
And I think that Buck boy taught there...not a very good teacher...his students say that he talked about sex all the time...fancy that!
The U.S. has never before had a President who thinks so little of the American people that he imagines he can win re-election running on the opposite of reality. But that is the reality of President Obama today.
DeleteForbes Magazine
LTE #1 – If Ms. Pearce is auctioning items on the internet, as she admits that she does, then she is subject to the state licensing requirements for auctioneers. There are good reasons for requiring auctioneers of any type to be licensed. So quit bitching and pay up.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if she is paying NC sales tax as well. One reason that all states are hurting financially is the huge drop in sales tax revenue caused by online sales. Maybe the state revenuers ought to look into her case as well.
LTE #2 – If you are going to complain, be specific. What “mess”? Sounds like one of Buck boy’s incoherent rants.
It certainly has nothing to do with the merger.
LTE #3 – Mr. Heye was doing kind of OK until he got to the ice bit. The he skewed into the world of hysteria, joining airheads who equate gay marriage with marrying your goat.
And personal liberty can be snuffed out in a moment. In just a few days in 2001, W. signed documents allowing the government to listen to your phone calls, read your e-mail and otherwisespy on you, then more documents to allow the government to arrest you without cause, hold you indefinitely without charges and to prevent you from consulting an attorney...
Just wait until I become dictator…you’ll have to get permission each time you go to the bathroom, just like in 2nd grade, and if you want to go outside, you’ll have to have a passport. We will have zero unemployment, because everyone who can work will be required to, most of them spying on each other and everyone else.
As to the nanny state, we’ve all been living there all our lives.
O.T., I thought you and Mr. Heye might have crossed paths before. He is a very interesting gentleman. He teaches the wine tasting courses for Salem College's courses for the community. His son Doug Heye is House majority leader Eric Cantor's communications director. Bruce Heye's lady friend had an Elizabeth Motsigner sign in her yard this past primary season, so that should make for interesting family discussions.
DeleteBruce also recommends Tsingtao instead of wine when dining at the Sampan on Peters Creek Parkway which is a wonderful local restaurant we started patronizing recently.
Have never met the gentleman, but now that you remind me, I know who he is.
DeleteHe is certainly right about Tsingtao and Sampan.
He is a very interesting and entertaining instructor. Here is his bio: younghttp://www.bruceheyethewineguy.com/bruces_bio.htm.
DeleteComfort level?
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all comfortable with many things in the LGBT world? I guess J.C. Penny is. We'll see what happens.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/bestoftv/2012/06/15/nr-pkg-costello-gay-ads.cnn
After a six month hiatus, the Ardmore Groper struck again Wednesday night by sneaking up behind a woman, grabbing her boobylicious, then running off. It was his 11th grope since May, 2011.
ReplyDeleteI have given the W-S police Buck boy's real name and address. An arrest is expected soon.
My Mom said Irving St. had a peeping Tom when she was growing up. Maybe they're related.
DeleteWhen I was a kid we had the Ardmore Peeper.
DeleteTurned out to be the older brother of one of my friends. He was about 6-10, so could almost peep the 2nd floor windows.
Their much older brother was a State Senator at the time.
That's the one.
DeleteSmall world and growing smaller every day.
DeleteWinston's full of interesting stories. One of these days I want to write a book about Madge Roberts.
DeleteNow that would be fun. Apparently there were many prominent citizens who fought desperately to keep her case out of open court lest the clerk stand up and read the roll from her "little black book".
DeleteMy friend who is the historian in the NC Room at the library recently discovered a big scandal that occurred in Ardmore in, I think, 1925.
Seems there was a woman whose husband was a conductor on the railroad, so was gone most of the time, so she and her sister started a high class speakeasy/brothel on Elizabeth Avenue, overlooking Lockland Park.
Santford Martin, the editor of the Journal, was a rabid prohibitionist, so when the story broke he put it on the front page for many days, with many pics. The rival Sentinel buried the story in small paragraphs in the back pages.
The whole town was at war. At one point the founder of a prominent menswear shop, still in existence today, stood outside the Journal offices and cursed Martin publicly.
Apparently some of the major clients were members of the W-S Police's detective bureau. The first person to get fired was a detective sergeant whose family had had, and would continue for decades to have, at least one family member on the police force. Martin ran his picture on the front page, right next to his father, who was a police captain.
As the scandal spread, those implicated tried to find a way out, so began ratting out other illegal enterprises. One was the Westwood Club, the clubhouse of the Ardmore golf course, which was selling illegal booze. But when the name of Forsyth Country Club came up, the story began to die. Nothing like a little money and power to calm things down.
Arthur, you need to get writing on that Madge Roberts book before all the good sources die. My father ran around with Harold Wilson if that name rings a bell (long dead) in the sixties and early seventies. I remember hearing references to Madge and someone named Shelia and very wild parties. I think they owned the DA's office and probably most of the judges.
DeleteReally? Harold Wilson? Oh, boy!
DeleteDid Madge own the DA and certain judges? Does the sun rise in the east? You know the answer to both questions.
At one point, city manager Orville Powell and police chief Thomas Suratt begged state Attorney General Rufus Edmiston to take over the investigation of the case. Edmiston agreed to do so, but ran into way too much local power.
Once Madge came under scrutiny, several of her gals started their own biz, knowing that they would be protected.
I see no problem with prostitution. It is essentially a victimless "crime", especially when the women, rather than pimps, are in charge. But you have to enjoy the panic among the clients, who were high up and thinking, like John Edwards and many others, that they were invulnerable.
The Obama Administration is denying Florida officials access to and illegal immigrant data base. Wonder why? They gotta keep the corruption going, otherwise, they might lose the election.
ReplyDeleteThis is outrageous!
Healthcare costs to rise 7.4% in 2014 when the 'Affordable Healthcare Act' kicks in. Remember when Obama and the Democrats said healthcare costs would go down when Obamacare was implemented? Yes, just add that lie to the long list of many others that the foolish liberals have tried to pass on to the few remaining 'thinking' Americans.
ReplyDeletehttp://video.foxnews.com/v/1692134087001/
Chicken Little is the classic American idiot. One day a piece of crap fell on his head, and rather than looking to see what it was, he concluded that it was a piece of the sky, so went into a frenzy, dashing around screaming to everyone that the sky was falling, which, of course, it was not.
DeleteSort of like Sarah Palin's version of American history in which Paul Revere races to warn the Brits that we are getting ready to kick their asses.
We hear the same sort of hysterical nonsense around here, mostly from our most reliable little chicken, Buck boy. The above is a perfect example, carefully gathered from his always dependable sources, Limbaugh, Beck, FoxLies, seriously insane fascist websites, etc.
Meanwhile, here is what is actually happening, as reported by the despicable liberal Los Angeles Times, from an actual study done by actual independent scholars who know what the eff they are talking about:
Health spending likely to keep rising with or without Obama's plan
President Obama's healthcare law will have little effect on the nation's total healthcare bill, a new report says.
June 13, 2012|By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Even as President Obama's healthcare law expands health coverage and transforms the way millions of Americans get medical care, it will have little effect on the nation's total healthcare bill, according to a new government report on national healthcare spending.
Total U.S. spending on healthcare is expected to continue to surge over the next decade, hitting about $4.8 trillion in 2021, independent economists at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimate.
That is up from $2.8 trillion this year and will push healthcare spending to nearly 20% of the U.S. economy by the beginning of the next decade.
The new estimates — the latest in a series of annual projections from the federal government — undermine claims by some critics that the law will dramatically drive up healthcare spending. At the same time, they also underscore some of the law's limitations.
"The growth rate of national health spending is projected to be fairly similar with or without the Affordable Care Act," said Sean Keehan, lead author of the report.
Total spending on healthcare over the next decade will be approximately 1% higher — or about $478 billion — as a result of the new law, even with the federal government spending hundreds of millions of dollars to guarantee nearly all Americans health coverage for the first time.
After the law is fully implemented in 2014, total healthcare spending is expected to grow slightly more slowly than it would without the law, the report said.
As always, stupid is as stupid does.
"...the foolish liberals have tried to pass on to the few remaining 'thinking' Americans."
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Over time, Buck boy has made many outrageous statements, but this one is the topper.
Is he claiming to be a "thinking American"? I "think" so.
It is getting mighty deep in here.
Congress didn't want to pass the 'Dream Act', but the dictator wanted it. So, he passed his 'own' law through an executive order.
ReplyDeleteWhat did he say just a year ago to 'Univision'?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/politics/immigration/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
“There’s no fooling around in Japan. They have a 99.9 [percent] conviction rate,” legal analyst Dana Cole told ABC News. “So normally when you’re arrested for a serious crime, you’re going nowhere.”
ReplyDelete__________
We used to have a good criminal justice system too. But the liberals destroyed it with their catch and release policies.
More seriously stupid stuff from Buck world.
DeleteThe Japanese have a ridiculous conviction rate because they have a ridiculous criminal justice system. First the police can hold a person and interrogate them, without a lawyer present, for as long as they like, often months of ten+ hour days. No Miranda, no nothing.
Second, Japanese prosecutors are seriously understaffed, so bring only the slam dunk cases to trial. In fact, most convictions are by confession, whether true or not. If there is even a slight chance that a person might beat the rap, he walks.
Third, until recently, there was no such thing as a jury trial. All cases were heard by a single judge. They are in the process of implementing a "jury" system, but it bears no resemblance to ours. Conviction is by majority vote and there is no such thing a "beyond a reasonable doubt".
Japan has some good company. Other places with high 90s conviction rates include China, Russia, iran and Saudi Arabia, all places where "citizens" are expected to be craven butt lickers.
Speaking of butt lickers, I'm sure that Buck boy would love to live in a police state. His idea of heaven would be to be ordered around by a couple of jackbooted banging bucks.