Marsh Smith, I respect you.  You are no hypocrite.  You're an outspoken Statist and make no bones about it.  I appreciate your candor and your willingness to engage in public debate about ideas rather than hurl mud ball attacks from afar.  That is a sign of integrity and you are always welcome at Moore Tea Citizens where encourage the respectful debate of ideas.

That said, there is very little on which we agree with you.  Once again you want taxpayers, regardless of their financial circumstances or personal opinions, to fit the bill for a project you want.  Instead, why don't you simply make the case to the community?  If it's such a great idea, citizens who can afford it will donate the money!  It happens often in Moore County.  The State can take the citizens' money from them under threat of force, but that doesn't mean it magically, ethically becomes a slush fund for you to fill your desires.  Quite to the contrary!

In this same The Pilot article, Lowell Simon, another man with many uncamouflaged Marxist ideas, presented his own pet project to the Southern Pines Town Council, but apparently he has garnered private donations to pay for it.  I have no doubt that you two men are well acquainted.  Marsh, why don't you talk to Lowell and find out how do it without raiding the purses of citizens who live on the verge of loosing their property?

THIS is one of the reasons you are wrong if you are simply an "R-voter" (or a "D-voter"). This guy is an out-and-out, vile bigot. A year or so ago, Moore Tea Citizens was the object of his ignorant, stupid, white supremacist  hatred.

NC House District 42 is Democrat-heavy, so this loon is unlikely to be elected, but you are one of those "I could never vote for a Democrat (or Republican)" people, this should serve as a cautionary note. Every decent person in the 24th, regardless of voter registration, should vote for the Democrat in November.

Technically, The Pilot is calling for the Board of Commissioners approve new bonds to increase the budget of the Moore County School District, but since bonds are paid for with taxes, our blog title is accurate. As there is little or no increase in student enrollment (depending on the data examined) and the school district has not been forthcoming with the information concerned activists have requested (is it hiding something?) the "need" for more of the citizens' private property is anything but clear.

Further, Sheriff candidate Steve Adams* is proposing a plan to save millions of dollars from new schools construction projects. He asserts that Moore Co. should create a general contractor "company" within the county's government, rather than contracting one in perpetuity. Rather than be bound by the details of a contract, a city employee could flex plan details on-the-spot (ex., if the plan calls for 500 walnut doors but a supplier finds oak doors at $200 less, a contractor must pass on the opportunity so as not to breach the contract, thus loosing $100K). Additionally, he is proposing a plan to earn millions of dollars for the county, as part of his bid for sheriff. Both proposals are sound objectively enough to deserve serious study, and those studies can be done quickly.

Whenever you hear the call for immediate spending of the citizens' money, you should be skeptical. So The Pilot's editors asked the seemly rhetorical question, "If not now, then when?" Our answer is, only if the school district stops stonewalling requests for information and proves the need for more money, and only if the county studies Mr. Adam's proposals and finds they are not feasible.

*this is not an endorsement

I like the idea of little English-speakers (K~4) becoming bilingual in the normal course of going to school. Why not? And since Spanish is the predominant language in this hemisphere it is a logical choice. I'm also a proponent for making English the official language of the US and restricting all federal documents/Websites to English, teaching logic and critical thinking to elementary and high school children—such as is part of the ciriculum of Sandhills Classical Christian School, and teaching them solid, market-based, basic economics.

So I like the foreign language immersion idea, but "intelligence guided by experience" with the U.S. education system has generated two questions:

   —What does this program cost relative to the rest of the county? There is something inherently wrong about demanding that citizens with no children pay (or lose their property) to educate the children the rest of us made. That is a debate for another time but the moral obligation of the school board and the county commissioners to exercise severe frugality with the taxpayers' property is most certainly germane to this discussion.

   —Who are the "native Spanish speaking teachers" and from whence did they come to West End Elementary? That is, do they come with a political message? Are they part of an organization with a much larger, anti-American agenda (ex., La Raza)? I'm not suggesting or implying they are because I have no information one way or the other. I'm simply very familiar with the tactics of the Left and am firmly asserting that we must examine cost and agenda before we leap on the Good Idea Fairy's train.

What if the program is not more expensive and the teachers are great, America-loving immigrants? Then I ask, why not make this an option for parents? What do you think? What do you know about this West End Elementary's program?

Read The Pilot's article: Elementary to End Spanish Immersion Program

Submitted by Skeptical Thinker

What are you thoughts? From the story:

This isn't a rhetorical question. This a real (non-theoretical) dilemma currently facing our Board of Commissioners that gives us the opportunity to have a philosophical discussion about the role the local government, then to act on our individual decisions by contacting the commissioners.

Read the story: Nonprofit Makes Case to County for Continued Assistance

There is no question that Friend to Friend does truly great things in Moore Co. Many of us have donated to it, personally, but does that mean we can obligate our neighbors to (partially) fund it? Well, it may! They have to pay for law enforcement, roads, etc. Are the services offered by F2F those that are proper functions of government?

Point: This expenditure is a rightful public safety role of the county and F2F is a more efficient way of providing it than county bureaucracy would be.
Counter Point: I don't have the right to obligate my neighbors—who may have serious financial challenges (sick child, disability, caring for a parent, leaky roof, etc.) and can barely pay the property taxes on to the house they outright own—to pay for part of Friend to Friend's operating costs.

​What do you think?

Part of what maintains the civil society is the paying of debts. Where are the residents? Have they brought pressure to bear on Woodlake CC Corp?