The Dope on Art Pope: “It’s never about making things better. It’s all about tearing the other side down.”

Out-of-towners may want to ignore this political post.

For the Tar Heel residents in the crowd, please see this enlightening New Yorker article, State for Sale, about Raleigh Republican Art Pope and the negative influence he and the various groups he funds are having on North Carolina politics. From the New Yorker article:

Of the forty million dollars that his network has spent in the past decade, thirty-five million has gone to half a dozen ostensibly nonpartisan policy groups, which he has been instrumental in creating and directing. Pope claims that these organizations are independent of his control, but, on average, the Pope family foundation supplies them with more than eighty-five per cent of their funds. Though these groups are officially defined as philanthropic, almost all parts of the Pope enterprise push the same aggressively pro-business, anti-government message.

The groups include the John Locke Foundation, the Civitas Institute, Americans for Prosperity North Carolina. When you see those groups quoted in the press, be aware that Pope is behind the message. 

Pope's influence reaches all the way down to our local school board. You'll recall the school board controversy made it on to the Colbert Report:

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But back to the New Yorker article. Here's my favorite passage:

Even some North Carolinians associated with Jesse Helms think that Pope has gone too far. Jim Goodmon, the president and C.E.O. of Capitol Broadcasting Company, which owns the CBS and Fox television affiliates in Raleigh, says, “I was a Republican, but I’m embarrassed to be one in North Carolina because of Art Pope.” Goodmon’s grandfather A. J. Fletcher was among Helms’s biggest backers, having launched him as a radio and television commentator. Goodmon describes Pope’s forces as “anti-community,” adding, “The way they’ve come to power is to say that government is bad. Their only answer is to cut taxes.” Goodmon believes that Pope’s agenda is not even good for business, because the education cuts he’s helped bring about will undermine the workforce. “If you want to create good jobs, you need good schools,” he says. “We’re close to the bottom out of the fifty states in education spending, and if they could take it down further they would.” He says of Pope, “It’s never about making things better. It’s all about tearing the other side down.”

Also on the Art Pope front: a tip of the hat to grads of my law school, NCCU Central, for getting the school to reject a chunk of money from an Art Pope group for a constitutional law center. 



We have important elections coming up next week. Please show up and vote. Here are the Democratic candidates for Wake County. And don't forget to vote YES for the Transportation and Housing bonds.

Drill Baby Drill

We interrupt this cycling blog for a brief political message. At the Republican National Convention, the crowd began to chant "Drill Baby Drill" in the middle of a speech or two. Offshore drilling is a real hot-button issue this political season. Presumably, off-shore drilling would have a big effect on North Carolina, which has lots of coastline. My opinion? It's a stupid idea, but the public is so lathered up about high gas prices that every politician has caved in like an unshored ditch. Shame on all of them. We're looking for solutions, not more pollution.

Here's a chart, reprinted with the permission of Peter Chapman at Architecture 2030, that shows how offshore drilling will figure into our oil supply.

 

And from that same site:

According to the US Energy Information Administration, oil production from drilling offshore in the outer continental shelf wouldn't begin until around the year 2017. Once begun, it wouldn't reach peak production until about 2030 when it would produce only 200,000 barrels of oil per day (in yellow above). This would supply a meager 1.2% of total US annual oil consumption (just 0.6% of total US energy consumption). And, the offshore oil would be sold back to the US at the international rate, which today is $106 a barrel. So, the oil produced by offshore drilling would not only be a "drop in the bucket", it would be expensive, which translates to "no relief at the pump".

The real beneficiaries of off-shore drilling? Have a look at this article.

We now return you to the cycling program already in progress.

Josh Stein for N.C. Senate

Pardon this political announcement. Josh Stein is running for the N.C. Senate and I believe he deserves the vote of every cyclist -- and non-cyclist -- in District 16. If you're wondering whether you're in his district, here's the map:


I like Josh Stein for a lot of reasons, and his support of bicycling and mass transit in the Triangle are two of those reasons. Here's what he said in response to an email from our friend Yo Adrian.

I believe that biking is an important transportation option. I personally enjoy riding my bike a great deal and believe that the state should invest in bikeways and bike safety. Reducing the number of cars on the road is a public benefit.

Here's his Web site if you want more information on where he stands.

UPDATE

A note from the Josh Stein headquarters:

We Won!

Josh Stein - 19,036 - 48.67%

Jack Nichols - 15,692 - 40.12%

Mike Shea - 4,386 - 11.21%

Thanks for everything!!

Coffee & Cake & Schools & Politics

An interesting evening.

On the promise of coffee and cake, I went with Kelly to a book reading/political rally in the neighborhood that flanks Cameron Village.

The cake was fantastic. The rest of the program wasn’t too shabby either.

First up: a talk by Linda Perlstein, a former Washington Post education reporter who’s just written her second book, “Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade.” The book is a case study of a Maryland elementary school “once deemed a chaotic failure but now held up as an example of reform done right.”

Perlstein had nothing good to say about the standardized testing that is the current rage among American public schools. She said the emphasis on measurable progress has created a “culture of fear” among teachers and administrators, and that positive tests results are masking a wide chasm between the poorer and more affluent schools. Oh, yeah. She said the kids are learning how to pass the test, but they ain’t learning some basic stuff. Like how a poem works.

Not a very encouraging assessment.

Next up was Josh Stein, who is running for election next year to the state Senate in the 16th Senate District, which includes our neighborhood. He is running for the seat of Janet Cowell, who in turn is running for state treasurer. I’ll miss Janet as my senator. She won my heart forever when she inserted a provision in the Senate budget to get rid of reserved spots for most state employees in downtown Raleigh. For a brief moment, I envisioned a fleet of state employees astride bikes and heading to downtown. Not surprisingly, the state employees went ballistic. They mailed lots of nasty letters about the idea to the local newspapers. They called Janet some ugly words. I wish her the best in her treasurer campaign.

But back to Josh. Tonight was his first campaign talk and there were a few flashes of nervousness, but the guy is the real deal. And he locked up my vote when the words “we need more alternative transportation” rolled off his tongue.