Pay after the pump

Submitted by markjohnson on September 24, 2009 – 8:06am.
Tags: campaign finance | Gary Bartlett | State Board of Elections | Steve Goss | Under the Dome

Sen. Steve Goss racked up $19,000 worth of mileage on his car over three years, but his campaign paid him for it over the course of four months.

That’s not how campaign finance is supposed to work, according to State Board of Elections officials.

Goss, a Democrat from Boone, received three payments for mileage between October of last year and January of this year that totaled about $19,000. At the current federal reimbursement rate of 55 cents a mile, that’s about 35,000 miles.

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Goss said this week that during his first campaign, in 2006, he didn’t want to deplete his campaign account by paying mileage.

“That goes all the way back to 2006, when I started this,” Goss said. “I never had enough money to pay myself travel.”

Instead, he kept a log of the mileage, including driving around his district on official business after he was elected. By late last year, when he ran for re-election, that mileage had added up.

In October 2008, Goss paid himself $4,000 in campaign money for mileage and another $5,800 in November. He paid himself another $9,000 in January of this year.

State elections officials, however, said mileage should be paid during the reporting period in which it is accrued. Candidates file quarterly reports during election years and semi-annually in non-election years. Goss could have recorded the mileage in each report as a loan to his campaign and then paid himself after building up enough in the campaign account, said Gary Bartlett, the elections board’s executive director. Bartlett said Goss will have to amend his reports to correct the information.

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/pay_after_the_pump#comment-26442

H1101 – Letter to Cullie Tarleton

Representative Cullie Tarleton
1109 Legislative Building
Raleigh, NC 27601-1096
(919) 733-7727

Dear Representative Tarleton:

Please protect the private property water rights of property owners. Remove your support for H1101 the Water Resources Policy Act of 2009. This appears to be another effort of the government to control our lives. I ask you to fight expansion of government, of any kind.

Signed:
Name:
Address:
City: Zip:
Phone:
Email:

Principles Matter.

By Aaron Whitener
Watauga Chairman

Reality is that the Republican Party in Watauga County and across the United States has suffered some set backs in recent elections. Some in our party lost their way and have paid the price at the ballot box. Others were victims of the tsunami caused by the Obama campaign. These set backs have led some in our party to question the direction of the party.

This weekend I attended the North Carolina Republican Convention in Raleigh along with 12 other delegates from Watauga County. The race to become NCGOP Chairman had become a heated one and the convention center was packed with passionate Republicans from across the state. While I do not like to see negative campaigns within the party, it was exciting to see the enthusiasm with those in attendance.

Democrats’ Must End Pay-to-Play Politics, Cancel Fundraiser

NCGOP Press Release

RALEIGH — A June 23^rd North Carolina Democrat Party fundraiser sponsored by Governor Bev Perdue and the Democrat members of the Council of State “honoring” Democrat Legislative leaders gives the appearance of a violation of state laws written in the aftermath of the corruption scandal surrounding disgraced former Democrat House Speaker Jim Black.

“While our citizens look to elected officials for leadership, a lobbyist & PAC fundraiser during the heat of budget negotiations raises serious ethical questions” said Tom Fetzer, Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. Fetzer went on to say “At the very least this creates the appearance of pay-to-play politics. Given recent revelations involving former Governor Mike Easley and many current Democrat members of Governor Perdue’s administration, a reasonable person could assume much worse.”

NCGOP Elects New Chairman and Vice-Chairman

Chairman Tom Fetzer
Vice Chairman Dr. Timothy Johnson

Lincoln Day Dinner Success

Special thanks to all of the volunteer’s and attendee’s that made this Lincoln Day Dinner one of the best.  We had nearly 250+ in attendance including many Democrats!  Mayor Pat McCrory gave a roaring great speach as did Congresswoman Virginia Foxx.  George Beverly Shae was a special bit of entertainment for all who attended.  Thank you again!

BOONE’S “SEVEN HORSEPERSONS” OF THE APOCALYPSE

Watauga Democrat
by G. Olver Parsons

At the 19 March Boone Town Council meeting, the six-member all-Democratic Council—Loretta Clawson, Liz Aycock, Rennie Brantz, Lynne Mason, Janet Pepin and Stephan Phillips—opposed the Defense of Marriage Amendment to the NC State Constitution. State Representative Cullie Tarleton had already opposed the Amendment, which would define marriage as existing exclusively between one man and one woman.

Please go to www.nc4marriage.org/endorsers-organizations for a short list of backers for the Amendment. The list reads like a “Who’s Who” in religious and social organizations.

A recent statewide poll shows overwhelming support for the Amendment, with 71 percent for, 17 percent against and 11 percent undecided. Watauga County’s support is greater still.

BARACK OBAMA: BITING THE HANDS THAT FEED THE POOR

Watauga Democrat
By G. Oliver Parsons

The Obama Administration’s $3.6 trillion 2010 Federal tax-and-spend budget is stingy with generous charity donors. In fact, it contains a tax penalty for those donors who give 44 percent–$81 billion–of all annual charitable contributions.

Under the planned budget the top five percent of taxpayers, who currently get a $350 tax saving for each $1000 they donate to charity, will see their savings reduced by 20 percent, to $280. Consequently, tax preparers will be advising clients who give the most to charities to contribute less to offset this tax increase. It is estimated that the draft budget will result in a 10 percent drop–$8 billion–in annual charitable giving by these individuals.