Sunday, October 13, 2024

THE CASH COMMENTARY FOR MONDAY, OCT. 14, 2024


                                                                  CASH MICHAELS


                              WHEN BLOODSUCKERS DEMAND THE RIGHT

by Cash Michaels


Last week, right before monster storm Hurricane Milton crushed parts of Florida like a thin potato chip, my youngest daughter sent me a link to a Tik Tok video she was reposting.  In the video was a frustrated young man, a Floridian, who was talking to the camera, very upset by the fact that he, and many others like him, were unable to comply with evacuation orders from Florida state government.

Apparently, by the time the evacuation orders came down, the young Floridian alleged, the gas stations had run out of fuel. And if he wanted to fly out of where he lived in Florida, the airlines had jacked the prices up so much, a regular $217.00 ticket to fly to a safer city in Florida suddenly cost over $1,700.00.

“People like me can’t evacuate a killer storm because we can’t afford too,” he said. 

I pray that young man did find a way out of harm’s way in time, and that he’s alright today. But the fact remains his is the perfect case for how price gouging hurts the average person where they’re suddenly trapped by an immediate, unforeseen spike in pricing, and are held hostage by their unforeseen circumstance, as long as conditions allow greedy opportunists to get away with fleecing folks in the name of “free market conditions.”

Now this is where my blood pressure medicine is as useless as a diploma from Trump University, because I can’t stand bullies or opportunists, especially after disaster strikes, and innocent people are left helpless.

Now, are there laws on the books in Florida and North Carolina to protect people from calamities like natural disasters? Yes, and what’s supposed to happen is those laws are triggered once the governor or legislature declares a state of emergency.

But as recent reporting discovered, even with that so-called ”protection,” that doesn’t stop predators from getting as much as they can until they either are stopped or get caught.

For instance, in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, Florida officials are investigating 160 allegations of price gouging. Given what the powerful storm did to areas there, there shouldn’t be one.

Same here in North Carolina.

Almost-Democratic-governor Josh Stein, currently state Attorney General, reports that his office had received 308 price gouging complaints by Friday, October 11th in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, particularly in the Buncombe, Henderson and Cleveland counties area.

Businesses monstrously inflating prices on groceries, gasoline and hotel accommodations.

We’re also talking jacked up prices from so-called contractors and tree removal services. Most folks who specialize in these services are honest, professional and can be counted on for fair prices given the circumstances after a storm.

But then you have the bloodsuckers with two legs and no heart who lie, cheat and steal as sure as they breath. If you’re reading this, and feel you’ve been scammed by one of these wolves, take a cellphone picture of the offending price increase, then go to  www.ncdoj.gov/Helene, or call 

1-877-5-NO-SCAM, (that’s 1-877-566-7226).

But this isn’t just about the animals who engage in this routine practice.

This is also about the conservatives who have the nerve and gall to say, “So what’s the problem here?” with a straight face.

Yep, there are folks who actually walk this Earth who believe that making an obscene profit from folks who are on their knees during a personal or natural crisis is a-ok because after all, the business man has rights too.

The excuse for this mafia-like attitude is that when there is an emergency of some sort, where the general availability of supplies are impacted, that naturally forces the price for those items to rise because there are automatically less of them.

After all, we do live in a capitalist, supply-and-demand economic and political system, the argument goes. 

In the case of a natural disaster, demand exceeds supply, or the need has suddenly risen to a level where people will pay the prescribed price.

(Sorry for the instant economic class, but I want to be fair on this before I lower the outrage BOOM!)

But during a crisis, like the recent Covid pandemic, we saw folks panic buying certain items in bulk for fear that they would not be able to get anymore for a while, like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. That was a sudden event that definitely affected supply, but would not have justified inflating the price per unit beyond a reasonable cost. 

So selling toilet paper at $10.00 bucks a roll, but only if you bought five at a time, would have been obscene to say the least. Plus, what happens if the store is able to suddenly get more toilet paper on the shelves without a problem? How long do they continue to fleece folks?

The natural, conservative answer would be, as long as they can get away with it. After all, the conservative argument, as expressed by Doug Reich of Capitalism Magazine in a 2015 article titled “The Moral Case for Price Gouging,” is, “Price controls by definition force individuals to relinquish their property or labor at a lower price than they would agree to voluntarily. Under price controls therefore there is literally no actual ownership of property (or at best nominal ownership) since an individual by definition can not voluntarily choose how to dispose of it. The resulting situation is chaos and economic stagnation….”

Hey Doug, my problem with your so-called “moral’ argument for price gouging is people who have been suddenly thrown into sink-or-swim status have to decide whether to spend their limited resources on food, shelter, or whatever other life-sustaining needs required to see their way through ordeals that may be hourly, if not by the minute. And they are in no position to “agree” to anything because they’re forced to say alive.

So now comes someone who offers access to those life-sustaining limited resources who, because they feel they’re both empowered and entitled to profit from an opportunity of which the rules are life or death, charges, say ten bucks for a bottle, NOT a case, of water, primarily because clean, drinkable water in the aftermath of a natural disaster is scarce.

That scenario turns the word “agreement” on its head, because the folks needing the water are “agreeing” with a gun to their head.

“Here’s my water. Here’s my price - $10.00 a bottle. Take it or leave it!”

There’s no “moral’ compass anywhere near that scenario, Dougie!

Ahhh, but these conservative economists won’t quit. They’ll come back and say, if business folks can’t price gouge, how are they going to control supply to the marketplace, and get those limited supplies to the people who need them the most in times of need?

First of all, please spare me this, “we’re looking out for the folks with the most need” bull, ‘cause when there’s obscene coin to be made, you could care less.

Secondly, when it comes to a natural disaster that clearly impacts how much anybody can get of anything, have you ever heard of “rationing,” the art (if not science) of making sure that vital resources are spread as widely as possible so that as many people as possible can access them and survive?

Let me put this another way - no one has the entitlement to be in business. It is a risk, like so many other things in life. If you provide a vital service service to the community, and do so at a fair market price during the normal course of commerce, you are allowed to do so as part of your ongoing contract with your customers and the community.

Unless there’s a clear reason for supply shortages (like when shipments were delayed at our ports recently and no one knew when they would be resumed), that contract with your consumers should ensure a reasonableness to any price hikes you institute in order to cover your losses.

That’s NOT socialism. That’s common sense!

Bottomline is that, in my mind at least, there is no justification for fleecing folks of their hard-earned money just because you feel they have to come to you in moments of stress or crisis! Always treat folks fairly, especially when they’re at their lowest, and that promotes a loyalty that pays off in the long-term.

Such an uncouth tactic as price gouging tells me you really don’t want my business ever again, and trust me, I would make sure you NEVER so much as get a whiff of it along as I live and breath!

So in times of crisis, work with the community as best as you can. That short-term profit is not worth it in the long run.

UPDATE ON MY NEWSOBSERVER SUBSCRIPTION RIPOFF DRAMA - About two weeks ago in my commentary titled “The Great (almost) Newspaper Robbery,” I shared with you how on Sept. 23rd, I noticed that my credit card balance was at least $500.00 too much, and I didn’t know why. 

So I checked my statement and determined that $514.79 had been mysteriously taken from my account for “N&O SUBSCRIPTION” on Sept. 17th without either my knowledge or permission.

In fact, I hadn’t had a subscription to The News and Observer newspaper since I had cancelled it several months earlier. So I called the customer care number listed, and was told I would have to prove exactly when I cancelled my subscription, or else the best they could do is give me half my money back, which was nuts!

To cut to the chase, I was able to find an email from March 7, 2022 where  N&O Subscription confirmed cancellation of my account. Once I forwarded that to customer care (which I later found out was in Colombia, South America), they promised in writing to refund the $514.79 within 7 to 10 business days back to my card they had no right to touch. So I’m a happy camper now.

But only because when I didn’t see my money by the end of the promised refund period, I called customer care back and sternly asked, “What’s up?!!!

A courteous young lady said they didn’t have my address, but once they got that, I should see my money. They could have told me that days earlier instead of waiting for me to call back.

The lesson here again - when you cancel a service, have a written record of that cancellation that you keep for at least two to five years.

Work hard to earn your money? Work just as hard to protect it! Trust me, you’ll be glad you did!

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THE CASH STUFF FOR OCT. 17, 2024

                                         VP KAMALA HARRIS APPEARS ON "UNFILTERED"

HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN TARGET

EASTERN NC BLACK VOTERS TO 

WIN IN NOVEMBER

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer


With less than 20 days before the Nov. 5th general elections, and early voting/same day registration starting today across North Carolina, ending Saturday, Nov. 2nd, the Harris -Walz presidential campaign strategy has now turned to Eastern North Carolina to deliver the crucial African-American support needed to secure the state’s 16 Electoral College votes.

Vice Pres. Kamala Harris flew into RDU International Saturday and traveled by motorcade to a Raleigh barbecue restaurant where she met with some of the state's Democratic Black elected officials, as well as faith leaders and community activists, before helping to pack care packages of supplies for survivors of Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina. 

On Sunday, VP Harris, a Baptist, went to Greenville to attend Black church services and then hold a packed rally for 7, 000 supporters at East Carolina University.

“I will always put the middle-class and working people first,” Harris vowed during her remarks there.

While in Greenville, the vice president also took time to tape an interview with Black journalist Roland Martin for his Black Star Network “Unfiltered’ streaming show, where she talked about her agenda for Black America, and her "Opportunity Agenda for Black male voters."

        "I'm going to go everywhere," Harris explained to Martin about why her campaign is targeting rural parts of North Carolina and Georgia. "Folks say, 'Aww, your votes aren't there.' But my people are there!"

This was Harris’ 19th visit to the state during this election cycle. Her previous campaign visit was Sept 12th to Charlotte and Greensboro. 

“It’s close here in North Carolina. It always is,” Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat and Harris supporter, recently told CBS’s Face the Nation.”This was Biden-Harris’s closest loss in 2020, only 1.3 percent. So the fact that Kamala Harris, as Vice President of the United States, has been to North Carolina [19 times] shows that she cares about our state. She knows that we are in play.”

Current Republican nominee, former Pres. Donald Trump, only won North Carolina in 2020 over Joe Biden by just 75,000 votes, even though Biden-Harris won nationally.

Many political analysts agree with Cooper that with the race between V.P. Harris and Trump so razor close across the nation, and particularly in the seven crucial battleground states which will decide the next president, winning North Carolina is critical for the Harris-Walz campaign.

Securing Eastern North Carolina’s African-American and rural voter rich region is seen as a must, political observers say.

“No Democratic candidate for president has ever won this state unless they campaigned east of I-95," Bishop William Barber, former president of the NC NAACP, and current president of Repairers of the Breach, said in his “private capacity as a lifelong citizen of North Carolina.”

“The east is critical,” Bishop Barber, who led the Rise Up and Revival GOTV (get out the vote ) Tour from Raleigh to Greenville last Saturday, continued. “North Carolina had over 1 million poor and low wage voters who didn’t vote in the last election, many of whom live in the poorer communities east of 95. Most of them want to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour.”

“The highest percentages of working poor people in North Carolina are in the east,” Bishop Barber continued.

By definition, “Eastern North Carolina” is defined as any of the 41 counties east of Wake County and Central North Carolina geographically, taking in parts of the Sandhills, Southeast, Northeast and Coastal Plain. Key cities in Eastern North Carolina include Greenville in Pitt County; Rocky Mount in Wilson County; and Wilmington in New Hanover County.

In rural North Carolina, more than 3 million citizens are speaking up this election with a strong voice,” wrote retired First Congressional District Rep. Eva Clayton, who once represented parts of Eastern North Carolina, in a Sept. 25th “Letter to the Editor” in the Daily Reflector newspaper. “It is imperative that Democrats not only hear but actively engage with issues essential to our communities — from access to health care, access to healthy food and quality education to sustainable economics through small businesses and farming.”

“This election offers a great opportunity for Democratic candidates for U.S. president, Congress, governor, lieutenant governor, General Assembly and state superintendent to engage and champion the needs and opportunities of rural citizens,” Clayton, who lives in Warren County, concluded.

North Carolina Democrats admit that in 2020, during the Covid pandemic, they allowed Republicans to beat them at the door-to-door ground game, thus losing several winnable races. But under new NCDP Chairwoman Anderson Clayton, they promise that rural outreach in particular, with canvassing, phone banks, and special trainings for volunteers, are much more aggressive now in 2024.

Plus the campaign is employing the use of digital message billboards covering at least 35% of the state.

Per the Harris-Walz campaign, 20 field offices have been operating across North Carolina in counties like Brunswick, Wayne,Wilson, Burke, Alamance, Johnston, Henderson and Lenoir, with over 12,000 volunteers signed up since Harris announced her candidacy in July. 

Former Pres. Bill Clinton has been dispatched to rural counties down east that Trump won in 2020 to speak with smaller groups of voters today during a bus tour, about Harris’ plans to improve the economy if elected.

In addition, Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is scheduled to campaign in Durham and Winston-Salem today as well to help kick off early voting efforts. Walz last attended a NC rally in Asheville just weeks before Helene hit the area.

Dory McMillan, communications director for the Harris-Walz Campaign, told NC Newsline, “While Trump barely has any organization [in North Carolina] and shares a ballot with MAGA extremists like Mark Robinson, we have built a campaign to win close races.” 

McMillan adds that the Trump campaign in North Carolina is “scrambling.”

Sources say expect former Pres. Barack Obama, who campaigned for Harris with a rally in Pittsburgh last week with a special outreach to Black males, to also come to North Carolina on her behalf. He is the last Democrat to win North Carolina for the presidency.

“Large numbers of progressive college students are also at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, East Carolina University, UNC Pembroke and UNC Wilmington,” Bishop Barber notes. It’s conceivable that Obama could hold a rally at one of those schools to corral the youth vote in the eastern region.

“Harris can win North Carolina,” Bishop Barber maintains, adding that the over million poor and low-wage voters who didn’t cast a ballot in 2020, according to the study, “Waking the Sleeping Giant,” didn’t do so because “…nobody talks to them and their area of issues.”

Trump’s vice presidential running mate Sen. J..D. Vance (R-Ohio) held a town hall in Wilmington Wednesday, following up on Trump’s recent rallies in Wilmington, Fayetteville and Greenville.

With recent presidential polling showing the Trump-Vance campaign gaining a second wind in critical battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Arizona, Eastern North Carolina may hold the path to the White House that the Harris-Walz campaign needs to win in November.

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FEDERAL JUDGE TODAY 

TO CONSIDER GOP LAWSUIT

TO DUMP 225,000 VOTERS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer


A federal judge in Wilmington today is expected to hear arguments on a Republican Party lawsuit seeking to remove 225,000 registered voters from North Carolina’s voting rolls, or at least require that those voters cast provisional ballots.

Both the NC Republican Party and the Republican National Committee allege in the suit filed in August that North Carolina violated the Help America Vote Act, a federal law that mandated that prior to December 2023, voters who registered were not required to give either their state driver’s license of social Security number on the forms.

The GOP claims that the NC State Board of Elections allows non-citizens to register and vote, a charge officials with the NCSBE vigorously deny. They are asking the federal court to dismiss the GOP lawsuit.

However, the Republican plaintiffs are also seeking to have their lawsuit moved back to state court where it was originally filed. They hope the GOP dominated state Court of Appeals or state Supreme Court would be likely to hear arguments at some point.

Defendants argue that the issues involving federal voting law, thus the case should remain in federal court.

It is not known when the federal court in Wilmington will issue a decision in the case.

This is one of several lawsuits filed by the GOP in North Carolina challenging the election process of qualifying voters and handling ballots.

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Monday, October 7, 2024

THE CASH STUFF FOR THURSDAY, OCT. 10, 2024

 

                                                               MICHELE MORROW


                                                                  TYLER SWANSON


FORMER SCHOOL BOARD

OPPONENT BLASTS 

MICHELE MORROW

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

With less than thirty days before the North Carolina General Election, the man who defeated MAGA Republican Michele Morrow for a Wake County School Board seat in 2022 has written an open letter to the Black Press, warning that Morrow must be defeated in her current campaign to become state superintendent of Public Instruction.

He says that “…her vision for our public schools was dangerous.”

Tyler Swanson, who currently serves on the Wake County Board of Education, continued that Morrow’s approach to education policy “…threatens to dismantle the community-focused education system that our students, parents, and educators rely on. Her character and lack of commitment to North Carolina’s public schools should disqualify her from any role in governance. How can someone lead an institution they fundamentally do not believe in?”

Morrow, a controversial conservative and strong supporter of former President Donald Trump and Republican gubernatorial nominee Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, is a product of North Carolina public schools, even though she is also a staunch critic of the state public school system, calling it an “indoctrination center.” Currently, Morrow home schools her five children.

A resident of Cary, she shocked the political world last March when she defeated Republican incumbent state Supt. of Public Instruction Cathy Truitt during the GOP primary. Morrow also drew scrutiny when CNN revealed that she attended the January 6th, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, and once called for former President Barack Obama to be executed by firing squad on pay-per-view TV.

A nurse by profession, Morrow’s home schooling is the only educational experience she has, having never taught in a classroom or served as a school administrator. Swanson defeated Morrow in 2022 in their race for the Wake County School Board.

On her website, Morrow claims to be a proponent of safe schools, parent-friendly schools, American unity and patriotism, getting Washington, D.C. out of NC Schools, and an end to wasteful spending in education.

She has tried to tone down her publicly stated controversial conservative views since winning the GOP primary, in order to attract more mainstream support.

Swanson warns that Morrow’s right-wing political allegiances would harm public education in North Carolina if she were to be elected in the fall.

“If she was elected to lead DPI [the Dept. of Public Instruction] she would serve as a pawn for Trump’s Project 2025—a plan that would erode our public institutions—further highlights her unsuitability,” Swanson charges. “Michele Morrow is the wrong choice for North Carolina, and we must reject her at all costs.”

Swanson continued, “The danger doesn’t stop with Morrow. We need to carefully scrutinize others running for local Board of Education seats, NC House and Senate Races who share her views and vision. These individuals will quietly work to push their extreme ideologies, posing just as much of a threat to our public education system as she does. Make no mistake: if we allow people like Morrow and her allies to infiltrate our school boards, NC House and Senate, we will see the dismantling of the values that make public education a cornerstone of our democracy.”

“In contrast, we have a true champion of public education in [former Guilford County Supt.] Mo Green,” Swanson wrote. “As my superintendent in Guilford County Schools, Mo Green set high standards for everyone in the district—students, teachers, and staff alike. His integrity, experience, and unwavering commitment to education are exactly what North Carolina needs. He is a leader who believes in the power of public schools and their role in shaping our future.” 

Maurice “Mo” Green, the Democratic nominee for state Supt. of Public Instruction, calls his race against Morrow “a fight for the soul of public education” in North Carolina. Green also charges that if elected, Morrow would work to defund public schools by sending taxpayer dollars to unaccountable private schools.

Green, 56, on the other hand, has a distinguished record of leadership in education.

He is “known statewide as a champion of public education” and a strong supporter of teachers. Green spent seven years, from 2008 to 2015,  successfully leading the Guilford County Public School System, the state’s third largest public school system, before going to work for the charitable Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.

At the time, Guilford County Schools had 127 schools, over 72,000 students, about 10,000 employees and an over $600 million budget.

Green was the first African-American superintendent of the unified Guilford County School System.

“There is much to celebrate about public education in North Carolina and its transformative power,” Green said when he announced his intention to run for NC superintendent. “However, it is long past time for our state to truly fulfill its promise to each of its students – that no matter who you are, you will receive high-quality educational opportunities that will prepare you to be successful. We can make that happen if we invest fully in public education, ensure safe and secure learning environments for our students, enhance parent and community support, and revere our educators.”

Let’s reject Michele Morrow’s divisive agenda and stand with leaders like Mo Green, who are dedicated to preserving and strengthening our public schools,” Wake School Board member Tyler Swanson said in ending his open letter. “Our students and our state deserve nothing less.”

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WHY CIAA SUSPENSION 

OF SAU MATTERS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer


Yet another troubling episode in the continuing drama that is the survival of St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh has occurred.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), of which SAU has been a member since 1933, has announced the suspension of the small, private HBCU for the rest of the 2024-25 academic year. That means none of SAU’s athletics teams will be allowed to participate in CIAA sanctioned competition from now through next spring, effective immediately.

The ruling of the CIAA Board of Directors, which came last Friday, is yet another blow to SAU, which is trying to recover from mounting lawsuits and debts, a diminished undergraduate student enrollment, fighting to retain its accreditation and dealing with difficult headwinds going forward.

Reportedly, the CIAA suspension is due to SAU not meeting the conference’s compliance requirements, in addition to the school’s problems in meeting NCAA sports sponsorships, and scheduling requirements for the balance of the current academic year.

So if popular sports like basketball or football were going to continue at SAU, they would not count in CIAA standings, nor would they be eligible for championship competition.

“While it is disheartening to make a decision of this magnitude that impacts one of our member institutions, the decision was guided through a fair, deliberate, and thoughtful process in efforts to determine what was best for the conference, while also protecting the wellbeing and holistic experience of the student-athletes,” said CIAA board chair Aminta Breaux in a statement.

As a member, SAU participated in NCAA Division II competition, a step down from Division I and I-A competition at larger institutions. 

Being an historic CIAA Division II school gave SAU exposure and notoriety for all of its past championships won. That, in turn, helped to increase student enrollment and generate much needed revenues for the school.

According to the CIAA, there was concern that SAU would not be able to field at least ten sports teams this year as required by NCAA Division II compliance requirements. Reportedly, SAU was not going to field a softball team for spring 2024, or football and volleyball for fall 2024, leaving the bare minimum of just 10 sports for the 2024-25 season.

And there was concern that of those ten, SAU’s ability to complete men’s and women’s cross-country seasons, along with the compliance standards of other sports, was in serious doubt.

Originally known as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association when first founded in 1912, the CIAA now has 12 member schools (not counting suspended SAU). Headquartered in Charlotte, all of its member institutions are HBCUs.

While the CIAA is a Division II conference of the NCAA, it sponsors 14 annual championships, the most famous being the CIAA Basketball Tournament, considered one of the largest in the nation.

It will be a blow for many alumni of SAU not to participate in the heralded annual basketball event next year.

“Saint Augustine’s University has been a member of this conference for over 80 years,” said CIAA commissioner McWilliams Parker said in a statement. “Their administrators, coaches, students, student-athletes, alumni, and the SAU community are important and valued as part of the CIAA legacy.” Commissioner Parker added, “The CIAA will continue to support and rally around the Falcon family and President [Marcus] Burgess as they prepare to return for the 2025-26 season.”

At presstime, there was no comment from SAU.

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