Category: Economy

Two Years Later: American Rescue Plan Still Delivering – No Thanks to GOP

3/11/2023

Kate Frauenfelder
NCDP Communications Director

On the two-year anniversary of President Biden signing the American Rescue Plan into law, North Carolinians are still benefiting from the relief President Biden and Democrats delivered – with no help from a single Republican.

Thanks to President Biden and Democrats, the American Rescue Plan has created the strongest jobs recovery on record, provided tax relief for working families, brought child poverty to a record low, led a small business boom, bolstered public safety and crime prevention in our communities, and more – with no help from a single Republican.

“Despite Republicans’ attempts to stop them, President Biden and Democrats came into office and worked immediately to provide relief for working Americans. Two years later, North Carolinians are seeing the results in their communities: record low unemployment, tax relief for working families, small businesses are on the rise, and that’s just the beginning.

While MAGA Republicans continue to prioritize their extreme agenda over the needs of working families, President Biden and Democrats remain focused on finishing the job,” said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton.

Here’s a reminder about just some of the critical relief Republicans opposed:

A strong economic recovery, with North Carolina unemployment falling to 3.8 percent, as compared to 5.6 percent when President Biden took office, and 353,000 new jobs.
Helping foster 336,000 new small business applications in North Carolina.
Direct pandemic relief to all 647 North Carolina towns, cities, and counties.
Vital education funding for over 110 school districts in North Carolina to support academic recovery post-pandemic.
Help for 4,200 child care programs in North Carolina to keep their doors open, impacting up to 371,000 children.
Working family tax relief for 1.3 million families in North Carolina and an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit for 601,000 works in North Carolina.
Affordable, high-speed internet for 78,000 homes and businesses in North Carolina.
Vital relief for 2,576 North Carolina restaurants through the American Rescue Plan’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

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David Wilson Brown holds Town Hall in Wilkes

2/23/2020

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David Wilson Brown is a candidate running to represent Wilkes County and others in the 5th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives. This is the office that Virginia Foxx has held for the past 15 years, and that has recently been redistricted into a new district that reaches from Gaston and Rutherford Counties, to Ashe and Alleghany, with Wilkes remaining within.

Brown is from Gaston County, and ran 2 years ago against Patrick McHenry in what was then the 10th District. He lost narrowly then, and had already filed to take on McHenry again, but then redistricting happened so he had to refile in his new district.

In the town hall, held on February 14th at the Wilkes Agricultural Center, Brown shared some of his platform and listened to the needs and suggestions of the Wilkes County Democrats in the room.

Brown spoke of a new WPA-type of program to encourage infrastructure building, school improvements, broadband expansion into rural areas, and clean energy initiatives,...all while adding jobs to our areas. This was music to our Wilkes ears. It would have a big impact in the short term and build up our schools, highways, bridges, and parks into the North Carolina that we can be proud of again.

"Public Education is the great equalizer," stated Brown. "We MUST protect it." He spoke about his idea to make public school teachers a federal tax exempt position.

Brown spoke of his recent health scare, where he had a heart attack on Christmas Eve and underwent triple bypass surgery. His recovering is going well and he attributes it to his great medical care and young age. However, the event has made him truly empathize with the fear of huge hospital bills or the lack of quality care. Healthcare for all is a no-brainer for his platform. Think about how many people you know who are staying in a job they hate solely because they need healthcare. These are people that could be entrepreneurs, or in jobs they are passionate about, going back to school or building new economies,...but they're frozen because our health system is broken. He is committed to fixing that.

He talked of "guardrails" for capitalism and greed that seem to have taken over our economy and Washington. "Corporations have strip-mined our small towns, and local farms have been crushed by these tariffs," he stated, stressing the importance of bridging the gap for corporations to pay living wages.

He described himself as a "realistic progressive" that understands rural areas' needs.

The discussions that followed featured a former Gardner Mirror employee who recalled how Donald Trump bought mirrors for his now bankrupt casinos,...but failed pay the last 25% of his invoices. This was when the Gardner family still owned the plant and the furniture industry as a whole was shifting overseas, so the mirror factories were already struggling,...but Trump didn't care, and contributed to the struggles in Wilkes.

Brown is facing a primary against Eric Nathan Hughes, another Gaston county resident who is new to politics. You can learn more about David Wilson Brown and his campaign at https://dwb4congress.com/

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A Message From our New Chair - Kathryn Charles

4/9/2019

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Greetings to my friends and fellow citizens of Wilkes County!

To introduce myself, let me share that I spent my early years here in Wilkes County, attending Wilkesboro and C.C. Wright Elementary Schools, then attending Wilkes Central High School. After graduation, I was off to study Art, Psychology and later Accounting at the Universities of North Carolina at Greensboro and Chapel Hill, graduating with a Bachelor of Science Cum Laude in Accounting from the University of Charleston in Charleston, W.Va.

My 40 year career included Office Management, Public Accounting, Finance and Information Systems (primarily in Surgery) at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and Beaufort Memorial Hospital in Beaufort, S.C. I am an enthusiastic supporter of education, social justice, a healthy environment, nature, art and animal welfare. I have recently returned to Wilkes County, where I have realized that “retirement” for me must include making a positive contribution to my community and this world we all share.

I would like to express my gratitude to fellow Wilkes Democrats who have placed their confidence in me to chair the Wilkes County Democratic Party for the 2019-2021 term.

Over the next two years, one of my goals is to continue the work of growing our Democratic base in Wilkes, increasing and developing our Democratic precincts, which represent the bedrock of our party. We know we cannot win elections without strong, organized Precincts!

We must increase our outreach efforts to all of our Democrats and unaffiliated citizens who may feel forgotten or unrepresented in our county, including but not limited to, our Hispanic, African American and LGBTQ citizens.

We must bring attention to the need for increased support for our public education system and our teachers, especially in light of the current administration’s attempt to divert funding to private and charter schools.

We must shed light on the serious issues of poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness in our county.

We must continue to seek opportunities for the economic development of our municipalities and county.

We must continue to find, support and elect qualified individuals who will represent us all, including women and minorities, at every level of elected office in this county.

We must preserve and protect our air, land and water, so that future Wilkes citizens will be able to thrive here.

We must do all that we can to protect the voting rights of all individuals and to advocate for fair and non-partisan redistricting.

We must support comprehensive healthcare for all, for seniors, women and persons with disabilities, as well as those who have fallen into the Medicaid Gap and cannot get affordable insurance coverage.

We must demonstrate our support for the rights of all working men and women to be compensated equally for the same work.

It is critical that we hold our elected officials accountable for their actions, and make sure ALL of the people of Wilkes County are represented.

Under the current administration, we have seen an alarming rise in hate and division that tears at the fabric of our society. We must continue to stand in unity against these destructive forces. I will continue to remind myself and others of the pledge we have repeated throughout our lives, “allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Voting is critical, but “just voting” is no longer enough! Like anything worth having, a strong democracy requires work, rolling up our sleeves, going to meetings, making phone calls, knocking on doors, writing letters, working for good candidates, putting up signs, planning, collaborating, and earning some sweat equity! Participation in whatever way we can is absolutely necessary! I am looking forward to participating with and working with my fellow concerned citizens on these and other important issues that touch our lives!

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” - Barack Obama

So now, my friends, let’s Get to Work!

Best regards to all,
Kathryn D. Charles
Chair, Wilkes County Democratic Party

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Higher Ground - Rev WAtts At tHe 2019 County Convention

3/23/2019

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"Let us take the high ground," Rev Richard Watts began as he spoke to the Wilkes Democratic Party at the annual County Convention on March 23rd, 2019. His talk focused on how useless it is to waste time with negativity. It detracts from the things we stand for, like education, a sensible foreign policy, and welcoming and lifting all people up.

"Let's think about who WE are as a country. What makes our country great and our Democracy stronger? WE lift up people. Cooperation is better than conflict. Bridges are better than walls."

He referenced former President Jimmy Carter, who is now our longest living president, as a wonderful example of of compassion and love for community, to which we can all aspire.

Watts, a former teacher and current coordinator for Crosby Scholars in Forsyth County, in addition to pastoring at Rickard's Chapel AME Zion Church in North WIlkesboro, stressed the importance of public education in his speech as the single most important way to help the future of our country. "Good education is key," he claimed. "We have allowed the media and the current administration to tell us that public school and public education is bad," he elaborated, adding that an education with the same opportunity for every child is vital to a healthy community.

"When people are just trying to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and clothes on their backs, they don't have time to read to their kids," Watts said, stressing the importance of economic stability along with programs like Head Start to helping him and so many others to get the positive start on their education. Referencing that neither of his parents held a high school diploma, he urged us to protect public education.

"We want EVERY child to have a free, quality education."

Realizing that each student is different, Watts said "some of the quietest students have the best solutions." He referenced his early recollections of his 1st grade teacher Mrs. Pollack, a kind and powerful woman in his life. "We ALL must work together to make ALL students ready for college."

He lamented that in 1982-84 when he was at Wake Forest, he and his fellow black students were protesting and fighting to stop "Old South" dress up parties and displaying the Confederate flag on campus. The same protests are occurring across college campuses today. The same battles have to be fought again and again. "We can not stop. They energize their base, and we must energize OUR base."

"This country is in a terrible spot," Rev Watts concluded. "But we can take it back again,...to reach greatness."

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CoOPER on UNC-Tv's "FIRST IN FUTURE"

7/9/2018

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3rd Vice Chair of the Wilkes Democratic Party, Michael Cooper, went on UNC-TV's "First In Future" to speak on small town politics and how to keep young people engaged in the towns in which they grew up.

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Redeeming Ourselves

7/9/2017

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This article was written by Wilkes Democrats 3rd Vice Chair Michael Cooper, Jr. and was originally printed online at 'National Affairs'. The full article is found HERE.

If there are winners and losers in 21st-century America, I come from the losing side. Hit hard by the Great Recession and by deindustrialization, my hometown of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, has suffered one of the worst declines in the country since the new millennium.

In 2000, when I enrolled as a freshman at Wilkes Central High School, the median income in the county was $47,992 a year. In 2014, when I came home to Wilkes to practice law, the median income was $33,398. In a county with a population of 69,000, there were 4,451 fewer jobs in manufacturing, 46 fewer retail stores, and a net loss of over $60 million in payroll. The face of the losing side of globalization, Wilkes was featured during the 2016 election on PBS NewsHour, Morning Joe, and the cover of the New York Times as a home to Americans "living among the ruins of a lapsed golden age."

But behind all the statistics and concerned news reports were real people, whose savings and way of life had been wiped out. Working-class Americans have been left behind by the brain drain, the Big Sort, the Age of Acceleration, and the Metropolitan Revolution. Worse, disconnected from each other, atomized by the internet, and ignored by the political establishment, they are now dying younger from alcoholism and addiction. The system has failed them.

So white working-class Americans in the Rust Belt and rural America sought revenge against incumbent politicians, the media, government bureaucrats, dynasties, and the ascendant coalition of minorities, single women, and college-educated millennials stealing their place in society. Their economic anxiety and cultural despair caused racial resentment and the return of illiberalism, and Donald Trump was their revenge. He won the presidency by encouraging their anger and channeling their grief into tribalism, scapegoating immigrants and refugees as the cause of complex problems beyond their control: the drug epidemic, lack of mobility, and a culture in decay.

But protectionism, xenophobia, and isolationism will not save the working class from robots and smart phones and self-driving cars. Economies built on manufacturing were destined to suffer when America transitioned to the service sector and high tech, and there were always going to be growing pains. But policymakers and elected officials underestimated the costs, and so did the Americans who experienced them.

It is well past time to address this failure, and it's going to take more than electing someone who channels people's frustrations. Progress will require new thinking and an all-hands-on-deck approach. Working-class Americans need honesty and realistic, concrete plans for the future.

I have had more luck than most, and, while I love my hometown, I don't pretend to know and understand everything that motivates my neighbors. But I do know that, in Wilkes County, in the hollows of West Virginia, in the steel towns, the bonds of community came apart, and we were powerless against the forces of globalization. The time has come to reconnect those bonds, to restore economic and political power to those who feel helpless, and to find paths forward for those who deserve new victories. We can make all of America great again if we start from the bottom up.

DECLINE AND FALL
In the 1980s and '90s, when I was growing up, Wilkes County was the very image of rural America, full of family farms on rolling countryside. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, my home of North Wilkesboro began as a railroad town in the 1890s, and by mid-century was full of factories that built a thriving middle class. It was home to the nation's largest mirror factory, and the American Furniture Company employed thousands. North Wilkesboro Hardware, founded by L. S. Lowe in 1921, ultimately became a Fortune 500 company. Apart from Lowe's, the town's claim to fame is being one of the birthplaces of NASCAR.

My family lived in a quiet suburban neighborhood. My mom taught at an elementary school, and my dad worked in the corporate headquarters of Lowe's. He read The Art of the Deal, sold Amway on the side, and dreamed of being rich. My parents were a success story. The first in their families to go to college, they were descended from farmers who settled in the mountains of North Carolina two centuries earlier. They were able to use their savings to open a small used bookstore on Main Street in North Wilkesboro, where flower stores and sandwich shops lined the streets. I grew up in the store reading Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and P. J. O'Rourke, and books about the Civil War, daydreaming of life outside of a town that seemed overly peaceful. I graduated high school in the spring of 2004, when the Iraq War was in its infancy. If there were signs of wage stagnation and declining mobility, we didn't notice, as we turned our attention to distant threats of terror.

The collapse happened so slowly that no one noticed the crisis coming. [MORE]

Read the full article at the National Affairs site:
https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/redeeming-ourselves

National Affairs is a quarterly journal of essays about domestic policy, political economy, society, culture, and political thought. It aims to help Americans think a little more clearly about our public life, and rise a little more ably to the challenge of self-government.

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Killer New Healthcare Bill Revealed By The Senate

6/23/2017

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GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is having fun, and THAT'S what's important.

....aaaaand it’s pretty much as bad as we thought.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally subjected the Senate’s Healthcare plan to the bright light of day, and one wonders what they were wrestling over during its weeks hidden behind closed doors. It’s very, very similar in most ways to the House version of an ACA replacement plan,…and those that would likely benefit or suffer are basically the same as well.

Some ways it mimics the GOP's House Bill:
• Removes the ACA’s mandates on people to sign up for coverage.
• Allows states to opt out of offering essential benefits altogether.

Some ways in which it differs from the House bill slightly:
• Ends Medicaid expansion,…although, to be fair, at a slightly slower pace than the House bill - in 6 years rather than 2.
• Keeps ACAs subsidies in place more or less, but uses a different formula that takes into account age and income level.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally subjected the Senate’s Healthcare plan to the bright light of day, and one wonders what they were wrestling over during its weeks hidden behind closed doors. It’s very, very similar in most ways to the House version of an ACA replacement plan,…and those that would likely benefit or suffer are basically the same as well. It still likes the “block grant” idea to states, although it would more gradually reduce the size of the grants starting in 2025. So, budget gaps are in our future!

So far, 4 Republican Senators have come out in opposition to the Senate Bill: Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah. Although it will remain to be seen if they’ll cave to the company line after using this for ‘outlier’ cred (yes I’m looking at you Ted), or seeing who will scratch their backs and for how long. Deals will be made undoubtedly. But with flat 50 votes needed, 4 is too many for R’s to lose, and so one begins to wonder if they’re really even TRYING to create healthcare that is beneficial for Americans.

Let’s face it, the ACA (Obamacare) took years to craft, and while it may not have been perfect (and states like NC that chose to deny Medicaid expansion further hurt it), this House and Senate exercise has definitely proved that crafting quality healthcare legislations is really, really difficult to do. In the meantime, they've destabilized the market, causing insurers to panic over the uncertainty. The ACA was trending positively, when the GOP undercut it to cause it to bleed out.

The GOP versions (both House and Senate) push a lot of the decisions back to states on how to divvy up their federal funds (block grants), or what waivers they’d honor for items being cut, and even allows states to opt out of offering coverage for some groups, pre-existing conditions or even maternity care; which is never a good thing to hear when the NC General Assembly has a veto-proof majority. They’ve proven empathy and compassion is not their strong suit.

So, who is likely to be hurt the most by the latest stab at Trumpcare?

1) DISABLED: As Medicaid gets defunded, it hurts this group the most. Keep in mind that the majority of Medicaid dollars go towards serving those with disabilities. The cuts to Medicaid are even larger in this bill than the House version.
2) WOMEN: 1 in 5 women in this country depend on Medicaid for their basic healthcare, and gutting it would be detrimental to their health. Reproductive healthcare, specifically access to birth control without copay, will be demolished through this plan. If aren’t a fan of abortions, you need to give women ways to prevent pregnancies from happening in the first place.
3) MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: While the ACA covered mental healthcare as the real-world medical issue it is, the Senate bill would not cover it after 2019. Waivers could be provided by states,…but again, does that seem like something Berger and Moore would do?
4) THE ELDERLY: Gutting Medicaid will greatly effect 2/3 of the people residing in nursing homes today. Where will they go? Who will take care of them? How will THAT impact our economy?
5) MOST EVERYONE ELSE: Plans are stripped of only the barest of care to keep costs down for insurers. So while many will pay the same for a plan, they’ll likely get far less actual coverage.
6) ECONOMY: The healthcare sector is 1/6 of America’s overall economy. With fewer people being able to afford preventative care and early intervention, the emergency room and trauma centers will be busier than ever,…but they’re likely the only ones. This is nationwide folks, and it could be huge. But by all means, let’s get those 1,200 coal mining jobs back. And what will the increase in emergency room visits by people without coverage mean to hospitals like Wilkes Regional Medical Center? Trust us, you’ll be subsidizing care for those uncovered one way or another.

US Capitol Police arrest a protestor against the Senate Republican's draft healthcare bill outside the office

And who wins with Trumpcare 2.0?

1) CORPORATIONS: They would no longer pay any payroll taxes towards supporting healthcare for all, so they’d get a big tax break even before it was even scheduled to start to help the ACA.
2) THE WEALTHY: This is likely the only group that will still be able to afford healthcare with adequate coverage for any pre-existing conditions.
3) KIDS UNDER 26: Parents can still cover them on their insurance, just like the ACA (Obamacare) allowed. So way to go, kids! (BTW, 27 is going to really suck.)

AARP, the American Hospital Association, the American Cancer Society and the Association of American Medical Colleges have all already expressed their dislike for this piece of legislation, which is planned to be voted on next week before the July 4th break. The GOP plans to use a special budget rule that would prohibit a Democratic filibuster opportunity and could pass this legislations with only 50 votes in support with VP Pence breaking a tie. So it’s important that all Democrats stand strong against it, but also to convince reasonable Republicans that this is not the solution we need. Senators Burr and Tillis need to hear your opinion. Call them now.

Senator Thom Tillis (R) - US Senate (term up 2020)
185 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
phone: (202) 224-6342
Contact form: www.tillis.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-me
twitter: @SenThomTillis

Senator Richard Burr (R) - US Senate (term up 2022)
Contact: 217 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
phone: (202) 224-3154
Contact form: https://www.burr.senate.gov/contact/email
twitter: @SenatorBurr

For more info to review and compare the plans for yourself, visit:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/22/533942041/who-wins-who-loses-with-senate-health-care-bill

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/22/us/senate-health-care-bill.html

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Berger The Schoolyard Bully

5/31/2017

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NC's Senate President Pro Tem and his GOP Senate is coming for a lot more than our children's lunch money.

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Furio: GOP Sideshow Attraction Distraction

4/24/2017

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Be Ready

12/1/2016

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"Never be surprised by what they do. Be ready."

It's a phrase I heard often from my Dad while growing up. It's pessimistic and dark, sure,…but that's what being a 4th generation Democrat in Wilkes County breeds within you.

Times when you have the thought, "Nah, even the GOP wouldn't do something so crazy, reckless, or self-serving," and you are tempted to give them the benefit of the doubt, is when it most applies. We should be applying it to everything happening right now, because we're about to see a power grab that is unprecedented in our lifetimes.

It is also why organizing is so important right now. Democrats must identify as such in Wilkes. There are many more of us than most people realize, and we tend to isolate ourselves with little formal contact under that heading. But Wilkes County has only 1/2 of its Democrat precincts organized in this county. All it takes is 4 registered Dems to do it, and it can mean gaining a voice during these difficult days ahead. We won't be shouting into the void.

Watauga County turned blue this election. If they can do it, we can too,...but it'll take every Democrat's participation with the party. We simply don't have enough dedicated Dems in this county that are willing to do the work right now. We go back to the same handful of volunteers to do so much, that they're getting burned out and tired. The same few people did all the calling, canvassing, e-mailing and sign planting in this last election. We need fresh bodies with energy and passion.

We have outlets for our voice that we've never had before. We have this blog, we have Facebook, we have Twitter,...we have platforms from which to shout and share. But we need you. We need you to go to Board of Education meetings and speak out when our students aren't put first, we need you to go to town meetings, and planning board meetings and County Commissioner meetings to keep track of the dealings happening under our noses. We need people to help Dems fundraise so we can have an HQ year round and visibility for those that move here.

We are not apathetic. I know this. It's just such a daunting task for each us us that we don't know where to start. So just start with something. One thing. Come to the next Wilkes Democrats meeting December 13th at 6pm at Benton Hall in North Wilkesboro. Get organized FIRST. Then, write a piece for this very blog. Like and Share us on Facebook. Volunteer to call our legislators,...again and again. Help be a watchdog at local meetings for abuses of power. And most importantly, don't be afraid to be a Democrat in Wilkes County. Be ready.

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<<Previous

Two Years Later: American Rescue Plan Still Delivering – No Thanks to GOP

David Wilson Brown holds Town Hall in Wilkes

A Message From our New Chair - Kathryn Charles

Higher Ground - Rev WAtts At tHe 2019 County Convention

CoOPER on UNC-Tv's "FIRST IN FUTURE"

Redeeming Ourselves

Killer New Healthcare Bill Revealed By The Senate

Berger The Schoolyard Bully

Furio: GOP Sideshow Attraction Distraction

Be Ready

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