We all remember the brouhaha at the end of the last legislative session over HB373 and the Lewis amendment, which created Affiliated Political Committees. We also remember being told that they would never, ever be used. Well how quickly things change! The new legislative session has not even begun and already they are coming to life! (See article by Brant Clifton: #ncga: It’s Getting’ All Affiliated Up In Here, Yo.)

Down here in Moore County we were saying, "So, you're going to just keep holding that loaded gun to our heads and you never, ever intend to pull the trigger? Really?? Yeah, right!.”

The leadership in Raleigh has been calling this an "insurance policy.” As this unwraps, taking out an insurance policy is one thing, but I would now more seriously equate this "insurance policy" to a man who is uncertain that his marriage will work out, going out and getting a girlfriend, "just in case,” thereby pretty much assuring the destruction of his marital relationship.

This is a massive incumbent protection racket, and involvement by these Affiliated Political Committees in primary races is now assured. The House and Senate Caucuses will determine who is worthy of receiving financial help during the primaries, promising the continuation of the Good Old Boy, Establishment, In-Crowd, Ruling Class in Raleigh.

Be certain to learn where your Senator and Congressman stand on this issue and make your campaign donations and vote accordingly. We have been marginalized again and it is way past time for mandatory term limits.

Contributed by Miriam Chu

We all remember the brouhaha at the end of the last legislative session over HB373 and the Lewis amendment, which created Affiliated Political Committees. We also remember being told that they would never, ever be used. Well how quickly things change! The new legislative session has not even begun and already they are coming to life! (See article by Brant Clifton: #ncga: It’s Getting’ All Affiliated Up In Here, Yo.)

Down here in Moore County we were saying, "So, you're going to just keep holding that loaded gun to our heads and you never, ever intend to pull the trigger? Really?? Yeah, right!.”

The leadership in Raleigh has been calling this an "insurance policy.” As this unwraps, taking out an insurance policy is one thing, but I would now more seriously equate this "insurance policy" to a man who is uncertain that his marriage will work out, going out and getting a girlfriend, "just in case,” thereby pretty much assuring the destruction of his marital relationship.

This is a massive incumbent protection racket, and involvement by these Affiliated Political Committees in primary races is now assured. The House and Senate Caucuses will determine who is worthy of receiving financial help during the primaries, promising the continuation of the Good Old Boy, Establishment, In-Crowd, Ruling Class in Raleigh.

Be certain to learn where your Senator and Congressman stand on this issue and make your campaign donations and vote accordingly. We have been marginalized again and it is way past time for mandatory term limits.

Contributed by Miriam Chu

Talking of last-minute bills, how about the Omnibus Spending Bill!? What a flurry of activity to propose and pass it in one week! The Republicans claimed that, again, they were caught by the year-end deadline. You know, that deadline that never seemed to hamper the Democrats? That deadline that comes every year at the same time? We the People are supposed to ignore that and pity the poor "leaders" of the country. Year after the year that pesky deadline jumps up out of nowhere? Of course not, and don't forget the only reason the Republicans "had" to pass a bill was because they ruled out "shutting the government down." That is, when we gave them the majority in the Senate, they announce their abdication of their constitutional obligation to protect us from tyranny by sending the president a bill he might veto.
 
Officially known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, it is a $1.149 trillion, 2,009 page bill. It should have been an opportunity for conservatives to include key conservative measures. However, the Act lacks provisions for defunding executive action amnesties or defunding Planned Parenthood. It does not address sanctuary cities. It does not defund the Syrian refugee program. Instead it includes an ineffective rider tweaking the visa waiver program.
 
Liberals and the unions got a victory in a 2-year delay in the Obamacare Cadillac tax. The Cadillac tax is a tax on the most expensive employer-sponsored health care plans. Many union contracts include these plans. The act also permanently weakens the tax by making future payments of the Cadillac tax deductible as a business expense.
 
Many conservative riders were proposed but not adopted, such as a funding prohibition on the FCC from implementing net neutrality. Many conservative riders touted by the Appropriations Committee as concessions to conservatives are pre-existing riders which have survived thoughout Republican and Democrat control. Another rider, the lifting of the 4-decade ban on the export of unrefined crude oil, is good policy. However, it does not outweigh the bad riders.
 
To read more about this bill, see http://heritageaction.com/key-votes/no-on-1-1-trillion-year-end-omnibus-spending-bill/
 
Senator Tillis voted for the bill. Senator Burr voted against the bill. However, Senator Burr is up for re-election in 2016 and needs conservative votes. The bill passed in the Senate 65 to 33. His vote was not needed for passage.
 
Representative Ellmers voted for the bill, which passed 316 to 113.