Today's Moore County Schools (MCS) crisis is a shortage of bus drivers. To paraphrase the author of this The Pilot piece, "Funding is not the reason there is a bus driver shortage. Rather, it is caused by a lack of teaching assistants due to state funding cuts."  That is, MCS needs more money.

School board member Betty Wells-Brown noted that other school districts have, for many years, successfully managed their bus driver shortages by requiring support and maintenance staff members to drive, when needed.  We support this remedy as it solves the problem without adding more bodies to the payroll.  However, we are highly skeptical that we will not soon see a budget increase request with multiple reasons for why it is "so badly needed," pushed by the usual torch 'n pitchfork brigade (most/all turned out by Superintendent Grimesey) demanding action "for the children."

Read: Moore Co. Schools will require support staff to obtain bus licenses because of driver shortage

NBC News: Congresswomen Say Sexual Harassers Are Still in Congress
CNN: Lawmakers say sexual harassers serving in Congress
NY Times: Past Sexual Misconduct Cases Show McConnell Is Willing to Take a Tough Line

​So we ask these "brave" congresswomen, why haven't you named the perpetrators? Rep. Brave Speier claims she knows one from each party but tell us who they are (we assume that is a bipartisan example, not an absolute number). Rep. Brave Comstock can't find out who exposed himself to his staffer? Please. And Mitch McConnell doesn't mess around with those guilty of sexual conduct? We've all know known—for decades—what's been happening in DC. In some cases we've known whom, like Kennedy, and we're supposed to believe McConnell wields an iron fist on the matter? They truly do think us idiots and fools.

Members of the U.S. Congress need to be educated that it might be less than good to expose their genitals or grab others' genitals? We're going out on a limb, here, but is it possible that if you don't know that you shouldn't be making laws to dictate life to 320 million other Americans; you shouldn't be on Capital Hill?

Members of Congress, their staffers, media types and lobbyists have been living the highlife of drunken debauchery for a long time. They don't need education and certainly don't "training." They need to hammered by Congress and outed to their constituents.

The NCGA just created a new welfare program and Bob Luebke is promoting it on the Civitas Website. The program uses the NC tax system to take money from North Carolinians with their own financial struggles and family heartache, and gives it to the selected group of families with "special needs."

From the program's online brochure:

Civitas' public mission statement: "The Civitas Institute fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life," so it seems Civitas has adopted the Progressive definition of "freedom."

Is the GOP ​really, truly incompetent, or there something much more sinister and corrupt about its consistent failure to shrink government and its tyranny (or is it both)? Read: The empty majority

BOTTOM LINE: If you have knowledge of specific departments, agencies or offices in the U.S. Government that you think need to be eliminated or closed, click into this Website and submit your ideas.

Technical note: To choose more than one option in a list, you will have to hold a function key (on my Mac it is the "command" key) as click offices. I recommend you test it on the first few options so you don't waste your time.

DETAILS: The Trump Administration is soliciting input from citizens about what parts of the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government we want it to close or restructure. Is it just a gimmick? We don't know*, but assume it's legitimate. At the very least, it will provide the President with a survey of public opinion.

Scrolling through the lists may stagger you. With the breadth and depth of the federal (too often national) government it is no mystery why every aspect of our lives is (or is subject to) manipulation by unelected, national bureaucrats. The vastness of the structure is literally beyond the capacity of any one person to comprehend.

What are your targets? The Department of Education (aptly abbreviated "ED")? The National Labor Relations Board?  The JFK Center for the Performing Arts (yes, it's there!)? The EPA? Make your comments!

From your personal experience, do you have personal insight you can share with the White House? Then comment!

The dissolution of the United States of America is a frightening thing to contemplate.

Is this what we're destined for? Are other alternatives not realistic? Read this short blog and tell us what you think.

This Wall Street Journal article recommends that Mitch McConnell, the despicable Senate Majority Leader, dispense with the Senate "Filibuster Law" in order to save the republic: The Filibuster Is Not a Suicide Pact

What: Demand that Burr, Tillis and Hudson (or your rep if you're not in the 8th NC District)* immediately become visibly active in the fight against the daily, relentless, unfounded attempts to neutralize the Trump Administration* via death by 1000 cuts.

Why: The Democrats (incl. the media) and the Establishment Republicans are attempting to destroy the President and his "drain the Swamp" agenda. You decide whether your Congressional politicians are part of the GOP Establishment, but the 8th District's (Burr, Tillis, Hudson) are certainly not helping the President with the good and vital parts of his agenda such as slaying Obamacare and funding the wall.**

Why is it important: The Establishment (both parties) is unified in its mission to protect its power (i.e., the "DC Swamp"). Some are shouting in our faces while others work more passively. However, like a stack of wood, the mutual support network will collapse if it looses some blocks. We can't impact the Democrats, but we have three squishy Republicans who do depend on our votes. Force just a few of these swamp rats to pull out of the "Get Trump" network and the strain on the remaining blocks will collapse the effort.

How: Convince your elected Establishmentarians (Burr, Tillis and Hudson) that whether or not the Swamp drowns the President, you will make them pay for being part of if. Call 2-3 times each week to demand to know what your Senators and Representatives are doing to actively fight back against the smear-and-obfuscation campaign under way against the President. They are using Alinsky's Rules #8 and #11.

What to say and how to say it: Be yourself and speak your own thoughts. It's good to have a list of points that are important to you. Be candid. Don't say anything you don't mean. Don't attack the person on the phone. Address behavior, not motivation (after all, you're not psychic). Be direct and straight to your point. Passion is great but be civil; don't curse or insult. The person answering the phone doesn't make policy (even if s/he does try to argue with you). Just ask your questions (if you have any) and state the action you want the politician to take. A few examples:

• I want to see Richard on television demanding the Speaker introduce wall-funding bill.
• I want Sen Burr to stop using of his committee as platform for repeating rumors and defaming the President.
• Why isn't ("Swampwater") on WRAL condemning the fake news-based attacks on the White House?
• What makes him think that that by protecting the Swamp we'll let him stay in it?
• What is he doing to actively fund the recovery of the military?
• Why haven't I heard him on TV and radio shouting support for the regulatory rollbacks the President has and is making?
• Why is he not killing Obamacare so the Free Market can rescue medicine in America?
• Introducing bills that go nowhere feels a lot like Swampmud is patting me on the head. When am I going to see results??

Richard Burr
   Wilmington: (910) 251-1058 or (888) 848-1833
   Winston-Salem: (336) 631-5125 or (800) 685-8916
   Washington DC: (202) 224-3154

Thom Tillis
   Raleigh: (919) 856-4630
   High Point: (336) 885-0685
   Washington DC: (202) 224-6342

Richard Hudson
   Rockingham: (910) 997-2070
   Concord: (704) 786-1612
   Washington DC: (202) 225-3715

*click HERE to find your representative
​
​**Anyone who regularly visits the MTC Website or attends meetings knows that we are not "fanboys" of the President. As constitutionalists and conservatarians, we oppose policies such as protectionism (anti-free market) and the titan "infrastructure" spending scheme (centralized, national debt-growing spending). We do not blindly follow or advocate for any politician.

Trump slaps first tariffs on Canadian lumber

We can argue about the relative benefit/harms of specific tariffs (taxes on American consumers for foreign goods), but we know from the Laws of Economics—repeatedly proven by history—that tariffs are generally bad for the consumer and bad for the county. Canada is now retaliating against our tariff on soft woods. CANADA! ​