NC General Assembly 06-22-2010 Legislative Calender Audio of NC Senate Passage of H80 Banning Electronic Sweepstakes

Before I get to today's legislative calender, here is the audio of the NC Senate passing a ban on electronic sweepstakes as the State of North Carolina continues to wage war on gambling, except (of course) their own criminal gambling operation they call the North Carolina 'Educational' Lottery. To my eyes, that puts the North Carolina Government in the same league as the Mafia, only they use the apparatus of the state and local law enforcement to provide the muscle to shut down competitors, and the apparatus of the North Carolina court system to deliver punishment to their competitors in the gambling business.





Here is the list of how members voted on this bill...





ROLL CALL
Legislative Session Day 135 (06-21-2010)

1341      HB 80

BAN ELECTRONIC SWEEPSTAKES. 3rd Edition  Sponsor: GOODWIN Second Reading

Outcome: PASSEDTime: Jun 21 2010 7:37PM

         Total Votes: 48   Ayes: 47   Noes: 1   Not: 0   Exc. Absent: 1   Exc. Vote: 1

Ayes:	Senator(s): Albertson; Allran; Apodaca; Atwater; Basnight; Berger, D.; Berger, P.; Bingham; Blue; Brock; Brown; Clary; Clodfelter; Dannelly; Davis; Dickson; Dorsett; East; Foriest; Forrester; Garrou; Goodall; Goss; Graham; Hartsell; Hoyle; Hunt; Jacumin; Jenkins; Jones; Kinnaird; McKissick; Nesbitt; Preston; Purcell; Queen; Rouzer; Rucho; Shaw; Snow; Soles; Stein; Stevens; Swindell; Tillman; Vaughan; Walters
Noes:	Senator(s): Boseman
Exc. Absence:	Senator(s): Blake
Exc. Vote:	Senator(s): Brunstetter

Source: North Carolina General Assembly
Related: Text of H80 [HTML] [Download PDF]




And now that that rant is out of the way, here is the legislative calender for the North Carolina General Assembly for today...

9:30 AM	Sen. Phil Berger	Press Room LB
10:00 AM	Judiciary I (Senate) Pay to Play Regulation. (H961)	1027 LB
10:00 AM	Judiciary II (Senate) Expand Access/Confidential Intermediaries. (H1463) School Bus Railroad Crossing Exception. (H1753)	1124 LB
10:00 AM	Judiciary I (House) Moore County School Board Police. (H1841) Wake Email Address Lists/Electronic Access. (H1921) Remove Damage Cap/Review Offshore Oil Spills. (S836)	1228 LB
10:00 AM	Judiciary III (House) Carolina Beach Harbor. (H2065) Clarification of Nuisance Abatement Laws. (S372)	1425 LB
11:00 AM	Commerce (Senate) Fire Safe Cigarettes. (S1338)	1027 LB
11:00 AM	Education (House) Task Force on Sports Injuries in Schools. (S1141) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (S1151) Study Child Nutrition Program. (S1152) Education Cabinet Est. STEM Priority. (S1198) SBOE Members Ex Officio to Econ. Dev. Comm. (S1244) Four-Year Cohort Graduation Rate. (S1246)	643 LOB
11:00 AM	Press Conference/Rep. Glazier Ref: Senate Bill =-~-=460	Press Room LB
12:00 NOON	State and Local Government (Senate) Brevard Charter Amendment. (H1664) Allow Hamlet to Operate Motorized ATVs . (H1716) Marshville Town Manager. (H1956) Sanford Property Transfer. (H2042) Greensboro/Relocation of Wildlife. (S1345) Kannapolis Subdivision Ordinances. (S1443) Clayton/Electronic Notices. (H710)	1124 LB
12:00 NOON	Health (House) Health Choice Program Review Process (H382) Nurse Aide Training Review. (S1191) Screen For BMI Children CCNC Network. (S1286)	544 LOB
12:00 NOON	Environment and Natural Resources (House) Energy Policy Council Green Energy Study. (H1804) Safe Artificial Slope Construction Act. (H1870) Study Impact Of Toxins On Health. (H2015)	643 LOB
1:00 PM	Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House) Honor Transylvannia County's 150th. (H1790) Honor ADA 20th Anniversary. (H2076)	421 LOB
2:00 PM	State Government/State Personnel (House) Environmental Technical Corrections 2010. (H1801) ENR Reports Consolidation 2010. (H1802) Review NC Programs for Climate Change Impacts (H1803) Special Retirement Allowances. (H2066)	424 LOB
3:00 PM	Session Convenes (House)	House Chamber
3:00 PM	Session Convenes (Senate)	Senate Chamber

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PRESS RELEASE From Henderson County GOP SUBJECT: CHANGING THE NAME OF THE STATE LOTTERY

PRESS RELEASE

Today (04-08-2009) the Henderson County GOP passed the following resolution in support of House 

 Bill 518, co-sponsored by Representatives David Guice (R - Henderson, Polk, Transylvania) and Carolyn Justus (R - Henderson).  

Full text here: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2009/Bills/House/HTML/H518v0.html

"In the short term this bill is about making the Democrats in Raleigh account to the public for the scam they have pulled.  In the long term, we would hope that public support for the lottery will erode once the voters see the baloney behind how this scheme was sold to them", according to Henderson County GOP Chairman Robert Danos.

___________________________________

SUBJECT: H518 - CHANGING THE NAME OF THE NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION LOTTERY TO THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE LOTTERY. 

PRESENTED BY: The Henderson County Republican Party on April 8, 2009 

WHEREAS Gov. Beverly Perdue has raided $88 million from the “Education Lottery” money, a bait-and-switch that lottery opponents predicted when this state-sponsored gambling racket passed amid guarantees that the revenue would pay for education; 

WHEREAS the law clearly states “that no monies from the lottery may be placed into any other funding sources except for school construction and school related construction and education opportunities."; 

WHEREAS as in the case of the “Highway Trust Fund”, the Democratic leadership in Raleigh has made it a practice to seize money intended for one specific purpose that people have trusted you to spend it on and then use it for something else; 

RESOLVED That voters should call Gov. Perdue at (919) 733-4240 to ask her to endorse H518 so as to admit that the people were conned in to a gambling scheme that preys upon those who can least afford it.

###

You can visit the Henderson County Republican Party to find out more about what this vibrant part of the NC-11 Congressional District is doing...

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Report: Bobby Medford To Be Sentenced In October

ASHEVILLE – Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford and other key figures involved in his corruption trial will be sentenced early next month, according to online court records.

Medford and former reserve Capt. Guy Kenneth Penland will be sentenced at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at the federal courthouse in Asheville, records show. Former lieutenants John “Johnny” Harrison and Ronnie Eugene “Butch” Davis will be sentenced at 2 p.m. the same day, records show.

Medford will have until Sept. 12 to file any objections to the presentence investigation report, according to an order signed by Judge T.S. Ellis III. The other defendants have already filed their objections, records show.

Source: Asheville Citizen-Times

Commentary

Another life broken by gambling. When will people ever learn that gambling is an evil activity?

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Three More Indictments in United States vs. Jackie Willis Shepherd and Western Amusement

Local reporter, and recent blogger, Cecil Bothwell reports there have been three more indictments in the case that netted former Buncombe Sheriff Bobby Medford, who lost in 2006 to Van Duncan:

South Carolina residents Joseph Wayne Vinesett, Irvin Keith Comer and Kerry Lee Comer have been indicted in the case of the United States vs. Jackie Willis Shepherd and Western Amusement, Inc. The names of the three had been withheld pending arrest.

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Former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford Arrested Feds Charge Corruption

There are many outlets covering this arrest, but by far the best covergae is to found at The Asheville City Paper:

Democracy NC, a Raleigh-based election watchdog group, documented more than $100,000 in campaign contributions to state legislators from the video poker industry during the 2004 election. The biggest recipient was former House Speaker Jim Black who used his office to block video poker bans repeatedly passed by the state senate. Finally, in 2006, with Black fending off an onslaught of corruption charges, the ban was approved in a 114-1 House vote and signed into law. The machines became illegal on July 1 of this year. Black is now in prison.

In Buncombe County, contributors tied to video poker made generous donations to Medford’s campaigns. He took in $12,300 from machine owners or operators in 2006 and $2,400 for the 2002 election. In addition, the Medford campaign reported dozens of $100 anonymous cash donations, with cash receipts totaling $4,789 in 2006, and an impressive $17,024 in 2002.

To put this in some perspective, Medford reported total receipts of $72,000 in 2006; so known video poker operators pitched in 17 percent of the total while seven percent of proceeds were anonymous cash. Van Duncan, who defeated Medford in that election, took in $120,000, none of which came from anyone visibly linked to video poker, and collected $2260.56 or two percent in cash. Anonymous cash donations up to $100 each were completely legal until Jan. 1, 2007, when a new campaign finance law reduced that figure to $50.

Looking back to 2002, Medford’s challenger Mike Ruby didn’t record a single donation from a video poker interest while his cash donations totaled $9,074.

Source: Asheville City Paper


Cecil Bothwell, despite his lefty leanings, is a very good reporter. You should include his new venture on your reading list. I fully expect him to cover the eventual arrest of DA Ron Moore someday with equal treatment as he has this case. Perhaps Moore will retire "elsewhere" because the noose is tightening.

My personal view is that corruption of public officials is inevitable where gambling is concerned. I fully believe this type of activity has gone on in all the western counties, and that there is corruption involved in the NC "Education" Lottery, as well as at the Casino in Cherokee. The Casino is a very good place to launder money.

Here are other places covering the arrest, many introducing their own spin (and humor) into the mix:

Asheville Citizen-Times

AshVegas

Arratik

Mountain Xpress

Scrutiny Hooligans


Tale A Stand done! (The Audio of the first two hours is mixing down from WAV to MP3 format (still a huge file at 104MB)...will replace with link to WWNC when (or if) they get their copy uploaded to the internet)
Download MP3 if embed doesn't work for you.

Topix Poetry

Where's the Outrage?

Wild West

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