I believe that North Carolina has the potential of becoming the “Why Not” state this year.
You’ve probably heard the story how one person looked at a situation as it was and asked, “Why?”, while another looked at the situation as it could be and asked, “Why Not?”
Let’s look at few Why Not scenarios:
- Why not explore for natural gas? This would bring jobs and revenue to our state, plus help reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
There is little doubt we have an abundance of natural gas and the exploration of it can be done in an environmentally safe manner. We could soon be on our way to energy independence.
- Why not look for better, more productive and less expensive ways to educate our people? Some states, such as Texas and Florida, have challenged our states’ colleges to offer four-year degrees that cost no more than $10,000.
This will obviously force these institutions to operate more efficiently and more creatively. Such a move could also lessen deals as the one at North Carolina State University, which was highlighted in a Free Press editorial on Dec. 12. In the editorial, it was pointed out how N.C. State placed a burden on our state’s retirement plan to the benefit of former gubernatorial first lady Mary Easley.
You may recall that in 2008, Easley received a huge pay hike from approximately $70,000 to $170,000 a year under a five-year contract. Her job ended shortly after the pay increase. Now we discover that for pension calculation purposes, she will get credit for working three years at that huge salary (which she never did) and the result will be an annual state pension of $80,597 for life.
Sadly, situations similar to this one occur with alarming frequency.
Continuing on better ways to educate our young people, since the 100-charter school cap was removed last year, there will be 132 charter schools in the state this year, with 30,000 families on charter school waiting lists.
We are also looking at such innovative measures as an education savings account program, which can lead to tax credits for donors who fund scholarships for low-income K-12 students and even to a substantial credit for parents whose children are going to private schools.
And, still on education, let’s make sure the state stays out of the business of withholding dues from teachers’ paychecks for the NCAE. In short, let’s put education — on all levels — in the marketplace!
- Why not enact a strong voter photo ID law? Most people would agree this will not place any undue burden on any potential voter but will certainly put a damper on any potential fraud.
Our state elections board admits the voting records of tens of thousands of North Carolinians have not been updated for more than 30 years. Charlie Collicutt, deputy director of the Guilford County Board of Elections, recently reported his county alone has 3,500 112-year-old people on its voting rolls, which obviously presents the prospect for voter fraud.
There’s no way of determining if that type of fraud is happening or how frequently, but there is an easy way to prevent it: enact a voter photo ID law and update the voting rolls.
- These are just a few of the “Why nots;” but there are many more, such as Obamacare (which Gov. Pat McCrory and the N.C. General Assembly will likely refuse to assist implementing here in North Carolina) and the medical field in general, which we will cover in future columns.
I am convinced our state is going to act on all these in rapid fashion and that we soon can say with certainty that “All roads lead to North Carolina.”
Reece Gardner is the host of “The Reece Gardner Hour,” which airs on TACC-9 on Mondays at 9 p.m., Tuesdays at 8 p.m., Thursdays at 11 p.m., Sundays at 10:30 p.m.and on-demand anytime at TACC9.com. You can reach Reece at rbgej@aol.com.