Paul Stam

But first, there is a rhetorical device making the rounds that Republicans are a tribal party of “no”, while Democrats are statesmen who make tough choices and provide solutions. This rhetorical device was first set to rhyme and music by the Beatles:

“You say ‘yes’, I say ‘no’, You say ‘why’, I say ‘I don’t know.’”

But does this rhetoric translate into reality. In 2006 when Speaker Black was in the chair my red light went out. On every vote that day I had to stand up and wave at the Clerk when I wanted to vote no. Speaker Black, probably in jest, told me my quota of “no” votes had been used up. That is one way to encourage others to toe the party line. But whether an answer should be “yes” or “no” depends on the question.

On Page 78 of the Governor’s presentation of the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Recommended Budget prepared by her Office of State Budget and Management is this claim “Budget Highlights” 
“SPENDS 5.0% LESS PER CAPITA THAN FY2008-09”
That sounds like some belt tightening is going on.  But the claim is not true.  From the Office of the Governor we [...]

On April 20th Governor Bev Perdue presented her budget to the General Assembly.  Let’s  recap:
 
In 2009, after a widely advertised budget gap of $4.5 billion, “draconian cuts” and prolonged hand wringing — actual spending went up about 2% from $19.6 billion in2008-2009 to an estimated $20 billion in 2009-2010 ($20.4 billion budget with about $400 [...]

Gov. Beverly Perdue has loudly proclaimed her new initiative to stop Medicaid fraud.  The heart of her claim is the use of new technology by IBM to review claims before they are paid.  This is a great idea.
 
But her press release is highly misleading.  As Lieutenant Governor from 2003-2008 she was culpable in not supporting [...]

 
Raleigh – The Joint Interim House and Senate Finance Committee on Tax Reform has now met four times since November 3.   Unfortunately, there has been little progress reforming North Carolina’s revenue structure. It is time for an accounting.
 
After participating in the first three meetings House and Senate Republicans released their “Proposed Principles for Job Creation [...]

Dell Incentives Repayment Could Have Been Assured By Stam Amendment
 
Raleigh – Representative Paul Stam (R-Wake) offered an amendment to the 2004 legislation which authorized a massive tax incentives package for Dell, Inc.  This amendment would have removed any ambiguity about repayment, with interest, of all incentives paid to the computer manufacturing firm.  The amendment failed [...]

Proposed Principles for Job Creation through Tax and Spending Reform

Raleigh – The Interim Joint Finance Committee convenes today to continue its consideration of proposals to reform North Carolina’s tax structure.  Republican members of the House and Senate Finance Committees released their outline for tax reform proposals to provide renewed vitality to job creation. 
The concept of [...]

Voters Send Clear Message
Focus Is on Issues Affecting Families
Raleigh – The message is clear from Tuesday’s election in Wake County and around the country. Voters are squarely focused on core issues affecting their family and their future more than at any time in recent history. The clean sweep of four seats for the Wake County [...]

How The Democrats Raised Your Taxes Just Because They Could
Raleigh – A recent report by the State Controller provided an accounting for the total spending by North Carolina for the 2008-2009 fiscal years.  In a surprising revelation, the “gap” between the expenditures last year and the anticipated revenues for this year, without tax increases, was [...]

Budget Conferees Refused to Eliminate Golden Parachutes
Raleigh — The practice of the University of North Carolina to pay large salaries to administrators who resign to return to teaching positions survived the budget knife.  According to the News and Observer, this policy has cost NC taxpayers more than $8 million over the past five years.  The [...]