WNC Citizens Blog
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Rep. Bruce Goforth ALLOWS Property Transfer Tax To TRIPLE!

6/19/2008 12:16:00 PM
Press Release from Committee to Elect Paul Purdue:


Background: The state now it seems wants a .6% commission on every home sale in this state. This will devastate the average homeowner, the retiring homeowner, families forced to relocate, and many others.

When asked about this attempt to override the voter's desires Candidate for NC State House Paul Purdue commented, "This should come as no surprise to those of us following the daily antics of our elected representatives. Usually a person would get the message when the voter's reject a transfer tax in so many counties, yet, here we are again facing another vote on an even HIGHER tax. 75% to 92% opposition across the board is very clear. The public rejects this tax. It must go. I just don't know WHAT they are thinking in Raleigh but it is obviously time for a change."

Representative Bruce Goforth (D-Buncombe) joined forces with Speaker Hackney (D-Orange) last Thursday to force rejection of a proposal to eliminate the property transfer tax. He has completely ignored the voting results in 20 counties in the past year! All the counties already rejected a .4% tax by an overwhelming margin in November 2007 and again this past spring 2008. In fact, most counties rejected the property transfer tax with votes against of over 75%, and some as high as 92% opposed.

During the roll call vote to suspend the rules so repeal of the land transfer tax could move forward, only five Democrats in the entire State House voted with the Republicans to eliminate the tax from the budget through consideration of the Stam amendment.

This clearly demonstrates that Rep. Goforth intends to raise taxes continuously, even when faced with clear and solid voter opposition.

It is time for Goforth to go home. Elect Paul Purdue. He'll LISTEN to you!

- The Committee To Elect Paul Purdue - NC State House District 115.

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Candidate Website

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Eric Gorny Speaks for Bill Graham at The Action Club

4/20/2008 05:21:00 AM
Eric Gorny spoke on behalf of Bill Graham, candidate for NC Governor, at The Action Club April meeting, and these are his remarks:

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Paul Purde Speaks at The Action Club

4/20/2008 05:17:00 AM
Paul Purdue, candidate for NC House District #115, spoke at the April meeting of The Action Club, and here is what he had to say:


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Joe Dunn Speaks at The Action Club

4/20/2008 04:37:00 AM
Joe Dunn, candidate for Buncombe County commissioner, sopke at the April meeting of The Action Club:


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Don Yelton Speaks at The Action Club

4/19/2008 10:31:00 AM
Don Yelton, of Citizens Speak, and a candidate for Buncombe County Commissioner spoke at the April meeting of The Action Club. Richard Bernier, co-host of Sound Off Buncombe (on URTV), was there to capture the event:



Here is an audio clip of what Don refers to:

It took place in the second hour of Take A Stand on April 11th.

Personally, it very gratifying to hear the professor say what I have tried to tell Matt for years on the radio, and that his dearly held positions are wrong, and play into the hands of forces that will destroy this great Republic if it continues. That is why I have taken to calling his brand of libertarianism Progressitarian, because they have become useful idiots for the Progressives.

Here are links to that entire show:

Hour One

Hour Two

Hour Three
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Mike Fryar Speaks at Action Club Meeting

4/19/2008 10:18:00 AM
Richard Bernier is busy as a bee editing video he took of the April Meeting of the Action Club in Asheville. Richard is co-host of Sound Off Buncombe, which airs on URTV.



Mike Fryar Campaign Website

I will be posting more as Richard posts...
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Joe Dunn Speaks to Citizens for Change

4/09/2008 04:20:00 AM


Joe Dunn is a candidate for the Buncombe County Commission, and he spoke at Monday's Citizens for Change monthly meeting. Richard Bernier of Sound Off Buncombe, which airs on URTV was there to record his talk.
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Paul Purdue for NC House #115 (part one)

4/06/2008 06:50:00 PM

Richard Bernier, of URTV's Sound Off Buncombe, has scored another candidate interview, this time with Paul Perdue, who is running for NC House #115. The second part will be released shortly.
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Paul Perdue Campaign Website Online

4/05/2008 07:00:00 AM
Paul Purdue is running for NC House #115, and has the beginnings of a website up and running, and will be adding more as time goes on.

I look forward to visiting his website to find out what is going on in his run for office. His opponent is Bruce Goforth.


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Bill Graham on Sound Off Buncombe

3/29/2008 08:26:00 AM
Here is the latest from Richard Bernier of the URTV program, Sound Off Buncombe:

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“Send Lawyers, Guns and Money....”
by John Armor

3/20/2008 07:36:00 AM
Guest Commentary

Send Lawyers, Guns and Money...
by John Armor

The title is from a song by Warren Zevon, I’d always heard the line as a telegram from a banana republic in crisis, and that the whole line was, “Send lawyers, guns and money; all Hell has broken loose.” Still, this is a column about lawyers that is favorable, and kind.

This morning, a lawyer I’ve known all my life invited me to go to the beginning of the session of the Superior Court in Sylva, the seat of Jackson County. (For those unfamiliar with that town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, many of the late scenes in “My Fellow Americans” with Jack Lemon and James Garner, were filmed there, including the legendary “All-Dorothy Marching Band” and the bathroom toe-tapper, “Macarena” scene.)

Richard wanted to introduce me around to some of his friends and colleagues who’d be gathered at that Court House for the start of the session. While we were there, I visited with about a dozen lawyers, and an equal number of court personnel. And I experienced something I’d almost forgotten, something I very much miss by being a semi-retired lawyer.

Sylva is a small town. Most of the lawyers who handle cases in that court know each other well. They’ve been up against each other before, and know they will be up against each other many times in the future if they stay in practice in this small community, As a result, the lawyers in that courtroom this morning were unfailingly polite and soft-spoken with each other and with the judge.

Do I suggest in any way that they fight less for the side they represent in a case than in the “big city” courtrooms? Not in the least. I watched a lawyer this morning give a one-hour argument which he will almost certainly lose, trying to get summary judgment for the defendant “women’s shelter” where an angry husband got in, dragged his wife out, and shot her dead on the front lawn in front of shelter personnel, and where her son found her body minutes later.

I know exactly why the lawyer was fighting for summary judgment for the defense, If that case goes to the jury, they will vote to drive up a money truck and throw money out the back with a pitch folk, to pay the damages on the horrendous facts of that case.

But this is not about who will, or should, win any of the issues presented in court this morning, Instead, it is about the highly civil way that lawyers behave in a small town, with a small trial bar who are always encountering each other. And that basic decency grabbed hold of the visiting lawyers who were there, some from elsewhere in North Carolina, others from out of state.

The visiting lawyers were probably experienced in trial work like I remember from the courtrooms of Baltimore City, a quarter century ago. There I found many lawyers who would cheerfully cut the throats of opposing counsel if it would give them a slight advantage in the pending case. I’m being metaphorical here, by a slight margin. However, the Gordon Gekko line from “Wall Street” does come to mind, when he said of an opponent, “I want him bleeding from all orifices.”

Yes, there were some lawyers whose word was good in the Baltimore courts. There were a few lawyers who, even as opponents in a case, could be relied upon to keep a commitment, and do something they said they would do. But that was not the norm.

This morning in Sylva, that was not only the norm, it was universal. And it made me nostalgic, just a bit, for the profession I have largely set aside and will not return to. But it is not the lawyers, but their environment, that is different here.

In a small town, all people in all professions and lines of work tend to be more personal, more courteous, in their dealings with others. There are exceptions, of course. But in a small environment, the Golden Rule becomes a long term survival technique. You do unto others as you would have them do unto you, because you know that they will almost certainly get the opportunity to do unto you.

There could be no better proof that the Golden Rule actually works as a mode of conduct than that it works among a random selection of actual lawyers. It’s like training put bulls to be lap dogs. I saw it succeed, this very day.

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About the Author: John Armor practiced in the US Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu He is running for the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina.

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Campaign Website



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Fred Smith in Madison County

3/18/2008 09:25:00 AM
Here is a video shot by Richard Bernier of Fred Smith taking a few questions from people at the Madison County Lincoln-Reagan Dinner:

Richard Bernier has a TV Show on URTV called Sound Off Buncombe.
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Government is Abusing Secrecy Protections by Carl Mumpower

3/17/2008 08:29:00 AM
Government is Abusing Secrecy Protections


"Bad things grow in the dark and government at all levels is trying to turn out the lights," says 11th District Republican Congressional Candidate Carl Mumpower. Recent Senate and House debates on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) have generated widespread debate on the necessity of government actions shrouded in secrecy.

"The more liberties we grant government agencies, the less liberty we find in the hands of people," said Mumpower. "I am not in favor of the immunity found in recent FISA legislation for telecoms or anyone else and continue to believe that the pervasive bureaucratic dysfunction of America's intelligence agencies offer few incentives for more hidden powers. Terror threats are real, but there are many productive things we can do to protect America from those threats before we surrender the rule of law and personal freedoms."

According to Mumpower, "Securing our borders, enforcing existing laws, and financial and productivity audits of our intelligence agencies," will do more than allowing the government to expand its veil of secrecy. "Under current protocols, information that should see the early light of day languishes for decades in the name of 'national security'. More often than not, the deeper agenda is to evade accountability and competency challenges through the timely attentions of citizen observers and the media. Transparency is one of the most crucial components of our constitutional Republic - I will be no part of exchanging the light of our tomorrows for a placebo of questionable security today."

Carl Mumpower
11th District Republican Congressional Candidate

Saying it-meaning it-doing it.
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Mumpower Express #64
Gold Shines as America Falters

3/14/2008 10:31:00 AM

Press Release

-From the desk of the Candidate-

Friday, March 14, 2008

Gold Shines as America Falters

The spot price of Gold crossed one thousand dollars per ounce on Thursday. Inflation concerns, a sharp fall in the dollar, and other economic clouds are insuring that gold glitters while the broader economy falters.

"When gold goes up, the rest of us are going down," shared 11th District Republican Congressional candidate Carl Mumpower. "We are witnessing a perfect storm of economic missteps involving government and the business community. Greed and self-service have driven both to evade responsible action and treat our economy like a rigged lottery. The bill is coming due, and I am concerned that the average guy and our grandchildren are going to be handed the check," said Mumpower.

"Congress and the President should be demonstrating restraint, leadership, and accountability," noted Mumpower. "Instead we are getting economic stimulation packages crafted out of more borrowed money, budgets filled with pork, inflationary monetary policy, and big tax increases. The recent borrow and spend polices of my Republican colleagues, persistent tax and spend policies of the Democrats, and obsession by both on trivia over real issues have brought America to a dangerous place."

"The promise of something for nothing has been driving our economy for a long time," said Mumpower. "That is not how the real world works and we are about to have a major test of our national character. I like that place of reason somewhere between denial and pessimism. That place says that, short of a miracle, there are some real bumps up ahead with high gas and food prices being a small tip on a much bigger iceberg. There is a little known word, 'derivative', that is about to catch everyone's attention."

#64

Saying it-meaning it-doing it.

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Les Merritt Speaks in Madison County

3/12/2008 03:31:00 PM
Cross-Posted on Thunder Pig:



Another fine video brought to you by Richard Bernier of Sound Off Buncombe, which airs on URTV in Buncombe County!

Les Merritt Campaign Website.
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Don Yelton Interviews Fred Smith,
Candidate for NC Governor

3/09/2008 07:34:00 PM


Don Yelton interviews NC Governor Candidate Fred Smith for 30 minutes. The show will air on URTV at a later date.
I'd like to thank Richard Bernier, Don Yelton, and Fred Smith for their time involved in this video.
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This used to be one of several political commentary blogs I ran until I got tired of updating several blogs, and consolidated them on Thunder Pig, and moved the group blogs to a Ning network.

These photos are a reflection of where I am throughout the day, and a celebration of life west of the Balsam mountain range in western North Carolina.

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