Remembering Jamestown

From today's Virginian-Pilot:

As Jamestown prepares for its 400th anniversary, to be commemorated by a year's worth of events beginng in January, African American leaders are readying a different perspective: a "State of the Black Union 2007" symposium to be held at nearby Hampton University, an historically black university. The February forum will be hosted by radio commentator Tavis Smiley, who will be joined by the often-controversial figures of Jesse Jackson and Cornel West.

"Jamestown changed the world in many ways, but perhaps it shaped our nation most profoundly the day Africans arrived," Smiley said in a statement. "I can't think of a more relevant place to talk about the issues facing our community today than the place where African culture became American culture."

The symposium represents, to some extent, a attempt from the Jamestown 2007 organizers to ensure that the project of remembering the Commonwealth's history is not whitewashed into generic colonial history. A frank conversation about race in Virginia could be an excellent development from the anniversary celebration.

New story says Dems do need the South

A new story in Salon says Democrats really do need the South. The story is a rebuttal of a piece by Prof. Tom Schaller who said earlier in the month that the party needed to concentrate in areas of strength, not weakness (ThinkSouth, Nov. 14). Notes Ed Kilgore:

"It's no accident that Southern Democratic politicians who run nationally seem to do especially well in presidential primaries among African-American voters.

"This last observation leads me to a fundamental reason Democrats would be foolish to write off the South entirely, much less spurn its voters as contemptible yahoos. The demographic composition of the South, with rapidly rising Hispanic populations in some states supplementing a sizable and loyal African-American base, means that there is a floor to Democratic losses in the region. It also explains residual Democratic strength at the state level, and creates potential opportunities for future gains. Schaller is right that racial polarization characterizes the politics of states like Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina, but that has been true for decades, and it's not at all evident the phenomenon is becoming universal."

For another view, BetterSouth's Andy Brack wrote how the South needs Democrats (and Republicans and independents) in his weekly South Carolina newspaper column.

Immediate benefit from cigarette tax begs the question: Why not sooner?

North Carolina has long been known as the "Tobacco State" for its importance in farming and manufacturing of cigarettes, but with last year's thirty cent hike in the cigarette tax already bringing in over $110 million in revenue this year alone, and an 18% drop in cigarette purchases, many-including the Raleigh News and Observer-are wondering why the increase didn't come sooner. In early 2005, the N.C. General Assembly voted for the thirty cent increase that kicked in last September, and another nickel increase to thirty-five cents that followed in July 2006. Health officials hope to see the numbers of North Carolina smokers continue to decline in the coming years. Currently about twenty-three percent of North Carolinians smoke, the 12th highest percentage in the nation.
Low cigarette taxes seem to be endemic in the South, with nine of eleven Southern states having cigarette taxes of less than forty cents per pack. North Carolina's thirty-five cent tax is still well below the national average of $1 per pack, leaving ample room for growth, experts say. Raising cigarette taxes to the national average could have a significant long-term impact on Southern states' public health expenses, anywhere from $271.4 million in Arkansas to $2.27 billion in Florida.

Still interested? See,
N.C. cigarette tax brings drop in sales, rise in revenue- Raleigh News and Observer, 11/21/06
Doing Better: Progressive tax reform for the American South, Idea 3 (PDF)

The Return of Economic Populism

A news analysis in The New York Times spotlights the disagreements over economic policy that exist within the Democratic Party.

On one side of the debate are those who argue that increased global trade with little government regulation is the best way to bring about economic growth. On the other side, are economic populists who hold that current policies concentrate economic gains among a small segment of the society. Government consequently must play a role in ensuring that prosperity is shared broadly.

This debate is important to Southerners in many ways. First, many Southerners, especially those working in traditional industries like manufacturing and textiles, have suffered from current policies. The decision to put workers in such industries in direct competition with low-wage international counterparts (while actively protecting higher-income workers from trade) has destroyed industries, wrecked communities and knocked thousands of people out of the middle class. Moreover, such people rarely receive the help promised to them and instead are told that their problems are a result of personal failings.

Second, economic populism has strong roots in the South and many Southerners are at least familiar with, if not sympathetic to, the messages. Southerners who have been impacted by change have an opportunity to make their voices heard and help push the country towards policies that will help make the economy work for everyone.

N.C. Lawyer Proposes Death Penalty Panel

A prominent defense lawyer from Raleigh has suggested that the state of North Carolina change the way the death penalty is dispensed.

Joseph B. Cheshire V proposed having the state establish a panel to determine before trial whether a defendant should face the death penalty if convicted.

This process would take the decision over which defendants face the death penalty away from district attorneys.

The suggestion interested legislators on a House committee studying how North Carolina carries out capital punishment. Cheshire said such a panel would help take political considerations out of murder cases.

Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Democrat, said a disproportionate number of death row inmates come from a small group of counties, while 39 counties have no one on death row."A person's chances of being sent to death row seem to depend on the district where the crime was committed," he said.

This suggestion would allow for a more consistent application of the death penalty. Inconsistent application and disproportionate sentences partial to political characteristics such as race and geography have plagued southern legal systems and capital punishment. Short of abolition, a more uniform application of the death penalty should be seriously considered as a means to make the process more just.

Faith and federal funding: Five years later

The Richmond Times Dispatch runs a special report this week on the state of the Bush faith-based funding initiative, or the removal of barriers to federal funding for religious services, five years in.

Its major finding? The share of federal grants to faith based groups keeps getting bigger, increasing by 10% from last year alone. Virginia's religious groups alone received more than $36 million in fiscal year 2005, up 92.63% from 2004. The figure well outpaces our Southern neighbors, but the Dispatch features a "snapshot" of faith-based spending across the Southeast.

These funding increases are, of course, not without their critics, and potentially with good reason.

A June report by the Government Accountability Office, the federal government's independent watchdog, found that agencies were not telling faith-based groups clearly enough not to turn away clients because of their religious beliefs or proselytize using federal funds. It also found that government agencies almost never did checks to make sure these things weren't happening.

The President and his faith-based initiatives White House advisors maintain that these groups provide essential services for their communities, but discomfort with the idea of state funded proselytizing persists, spurred on by the openness of federal money recipients like Janice Doherty, who runs a Bible-based addiction treatment center in North Carolina and told the Times-Dispatch about her work:

"To us, this is a ministry."

N.C. Commission formed to address antiquated tax system

From Thursday's News and Observer of Raleigh:

This year the North Carolina General Assembly approved the formation of the State and Local Fiscal Modernization Study Commission, an council tasked with the evaluation of the N.C. tax system. The commission draws on N.C.'s experiences in the 1920s and 30s when the state completely revamped its fiscal systems. The Commission has identified four specific areas to be addressed:

• Tax base
• Tax rate
• Local government tax options
• Division of state and local functions

The Commission will meet over the next few months to develop recommendations to submit to the Governor and General Assembly. A recommendation for a permanent financing strategy leading to the elimination of county financial participation in Medicaid services is also anticipated.
Want to know what your state can do to modernize its revenue system? See Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South, from the Center for a Better South.

The Ghosts of 1898

Last Friday, The News & Observer of Raleigh published a special 16-page feature on the Wilmington race riot of 1898. The report is entitled "The Ghosts of 1898."

Occurring in what was North Carolina's largest city, the riot was a successful attempt on the part of white supremacists to reverse the gains made by African Americans during Reconstruction. The riot marked the beginning of the "Jim Crow" era in North Carolina, ushered in a period of one-party rule and set the stage for many of the racial struggles that would grip North Carolina during the 20th century.

Written by Duke historian Timothy Tyson, the special report not only traces the history of the actual riots, but also explores the long-lasting impact of an event that has been forgotten by many longtime North Carolinians and is probably unknown to newer residents. Additionally, the report wrestles with the role that The News & Observer played in fostering the riots.

Weekly Southern news roundup

Here's a roundup of news from the past week from each Southern state that you might find interesting:

AL: Fight to restore oyster reefs faces dilemmas in Alabama
Experts argue that oysters' niche as the original filter feeders of Gulf Coast waters and recommend their restoration to the rocky Gulf reefs to maintain a healthy coast and that the cleaner waters are invaluable to the cultivation of sport fish in the area. However, conservation officials are concerned that the expected success of the new reefs may introduce public health issues, with the abundant population of new oysters being a magnet for illegal harvesting from areas not approved for harvest.

AR: Slate conference in Little Rock
After 10 years, online magazine Slate is celebrating with a conference set to kick off from the Clinton Library in Little Rock this week. The conference's featured speakers include many from the magazine's list of elite philanthropists, the "Slate 60."

FL: Everglades employ seven slithery secret agents
In an effort to eradicate giant pythons from Florida's Everglades, officials are sending other pythons-wired for surveillance-into the swamp to seek out the predatory reptiles.

GA: State Superintendent expenditures
In GA, winners of State Superintendent elections were both outspent by their opponents. Take a look at campaign expenditure forms from GA State Superintendent elect Kathy Burgess, who spent about $0.19 per vote after all was said and done. (In SC, winner Jim Rex was outspent 2:1 by challenger Karen Floyd.)

KY: In the name of achievement, we're dumbing down our education
To columnist David Hawpe of the [Louisville] Courier-Journal, the debate over the appointment of a new Jacksonville County school superintendent has exposed many indications that Kentucky schools may be heading down a dark path.

LA: State maps plan for coastal projects
State officials unveiled a sweeping plan Wednesday that they say will protect New Orleans and other south Louisiana communities from major hurricanes while rebuilding coastal wetlands. If implemented, the plan would dramatically change the shape of the state's coastline at a cost estimated to reach the tens of billions of dollars.

MS: Chevron Pascagoula applies for environmental permits
The oil refinery recently submitted paperwork to allow a 15 percent increase in their production of oil off the Mississippi coast. The request would bump up production by about 75,000 gallons a day.

NC: Old, sick, poor
With the life expectancy of Americans growing, the strain of a larger and larger portion of elderly Americans who are dependent on Medicaid grows everyday. The [Raleigh] News & Observer examines the trend and solutions that are circulating to prevent a future Medicaid crisis.

SC: Tax collections give boost to S.C. budget
The S.C. Board of Economic Advisors credits their conservative approach to spending for an additional $180 million in tax revenue added to the state's coffers. State economists expect almost a 5 percent rise in growth this year due.

TN: Tax cap: Some possible pitfalls
A referendum passed on November 7 that requires voters to approve any future increase in property tax may not be all voters hoped. Using California's groundbreaking Proposition 13 (1978) as background, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal examines some of the unintended consequences possible in the Volunteer State.

VA: Cigarette curbs more likely
In the next legislative session, Virginia-based Phillip Morris USA and N.C.'s R.J. Reynolds may see an attempt at tighter FDA regulations on its products. In 2004, the GOP-controlled Congress blocked sweeping FDA controls over tobacco products. While not a lock, Democratic control of Congress certainly makes reform prospects much brighter than in previous sessions.

Unconventional Approach to Poverty Advocacy in Virginia

A coalition of progressive groups in Charlottesville this week resurrects the Virginia Interfaith Alliance’s successful “Poverty Diet” program from two years ago. The experience, inspired by a (failed) piece of legislation in the 2004 General Assembly to force the Commonwealth’s legislators to restrict their food consumption for two weeks to only that which could be purchased on the average food stamp allotment. The author of the ill-fated bill, then-Delegate Mitch Van Yahres (D-57), wrote at the time of his own experiences in the C’ville Weekly:

The nutritional challenges alone are daunting. As I mentioned, I normally eat a heart healthy diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish. This would be difficult if not impossible if I had to rely on food stamps. It takes a lot of time, effort, and creativity to plan cheap nutritious meals. I am reminded again that poverty is a full time job.

At the time of the first Poverty Diet Experience, the average daily allotment was about $2.55; this year, the per-person average is $2.83. The program calls upon community members in Charlottesville city- where 16% of the population lives below the poverty line- to subsist on that amount for three days, and then join tomorrow night in a rice and beans dinner discussion about the causes, consequences, and solutions for poverty.

It’s a unique angle on the issue, certainly, and former Delegate Van Yahres was onto something worth noting in trying to confront fellow legislators with this. It would be interesting to see how a similar approach might work out in other states in the region, where poverty and hunger issues are even more widespread than in Virginia.

Story wonders about Dems in the South

A new story in Salon wonders why the national Democratic Party is fooling with the South. Writer Tom Schaller notes:

For the first time in 50 years, the party that controls both chambers of Congress is a minority party in the South. And in the last four presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has either garnered 270 electoral votes, the minimum needed to win, or has come within one state of doing so before a single Southern vote was tallied. Outside the old Confederacy, the nation is turning blue, and that portends a new map for a future Democratic majority.

While Schaller's observations are interesting, it would be foolish for any party to write off the South. If Democrats had, for example, paid any real attention to the South other than surface posturing, they might have won Tennessee and the presidency in 2000. And because Republicans have been focusing on the South, they've been able to build broad national coalitions that include Southerners.

One of the many outcomes of the recent election is that people are frustrated by a seeming one-party rule. Similarly, leaving out one whole region by any national party would make political debate less robust. And that's what people want -- and deserve.

"Five Questions" interview with Tom Ross

In the Center for a Better's South's new FIVE QUESTIONS interview, North Carolina leader Tom Ross takes a look at major challenges facing the South, including government funding, political participation, the region's explosive growth and more.

Ross, a former North Carolina superior court judge, is executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a private philanthropic grant-making organization with assets exceeding $425 million. Ross also has served as director of the Tarheel State's Administrative Office of the Courts and has served as chief of staff to a United States congressman.

• Read the whole interview

Farewell to Bill Frist

Tuesday's election marked the end of the legislative career of U.S. Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee. Frist, a Republican who became Senate Majority Leader following the 2002 elections, choose not to run for another term, perhaps in the hopes of pursuing the presidency in 2008.

Frist's legislative career is the subject of an assessment in the current issue of The American Prospect. The article traces Frist's rapid rise and fall as a legislative leader and asks how a man who stood at the peak of his party's power structure in 2002 so quickly earned the disdain of liberal and conservative activists alike.

"Whether it was in the service of the White House advisers who adopted him as a dauphin to George W. Bush, or as an ill-plunged lunge for the Republican base in an opportunistic bid for a future presidency, Frist almost always did the wrong thing, both as a legislator and as a politician. And this, it seems, has likely ended his career in Republican politics in Washington."

Proposed Durham, N.C. program to help uninsured

More than 45,000 uninsured residents in Durham County, N.C. may soon receive help from the collaboration of several community groups. Today's Durham Herald-Sun details creation of a partnership-driven program designed to curb the growing problem of citizens without simple health coverage. From 2005 to 2006, Durham's percentage of uninsured citizens grew from 16.8 percent to 26 percent.

Employment is the most common path to insurance, more than 60 percent of families without coverage have paying jobs but no coverage. The problem is steadily climbing the income ladder.

The program seeks to build success in "energetic communities" such as Durham before tackling nationwide healthcare issues. Similar programs have had success in Muskegon, M.I. and Tampa, F.L. Several community groups in Durham have committed resources to develop a successful program.
Nationwide, about 46.6 million Americans are without health coverage.

Southern election results

A review of state-by-state election results across the South, excerpted from The New York Times:

Alabama: Considered vulnerable early this year, Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, made a remarkable comeback and won re-election over Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley. Five of the seven contested House districts were considered safe for Republicans.

Arkansas: In the race for governor, State Attorney General Mike Beebe, a Democrat, defeated former Representative Asa Hutchinson, a Republican and a former under secretary in the Homeland Security Department. In House races, none of the four incumbents, three Democrats and a Republican, faced a close challenge. Voters approved a measure to allow bingo and raffles by charitable groups; Arkansas was one of only four states where that type of gambling was illegal.

Florida: Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, overwhelmed his Republican challenger, Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state best known for her oversight of the presidential recount of 2000, who ran an erratic campaign. In the battle to succeed Gov. Jeb Bush, who had high approval ratings but was unable to run because of term limits, State Attorney General Charlie Crist, a Republican, easily defeated United States Representative Jim Davis, a Democrat. Democrats increased their share of Florida’s 25 Congressional seats to 9 from 7.

Georgia: Gov. Sonny Perdue, Republican, overwhelmed his Democratic opponent, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Only 2 of 13 House races appeared competitive, and both were in districts where the president campaigned against incumbent Democrats: Representative Jim Marshall faced a credible challenge from Mac Collins, a Republican former congressman; and Representative John Barrow was battling another former congressman, Max Burns.

Kentucky: A majority of voters in Kentucky are Democrats, but going into this election, Democrats held only one of the state’s six Congressional seats. This year they increased their share to two.

Louisiana: A 13-way bipartisan brawl for the seat of Representative William J. Jefferson, a Democrat from New Orleans suspected of taking bribes, will require a runoff in December to decide. But the seat will remain Democratic.

Mississippi: Senator Trent Lott, a Republican, comfortably secured his re-election.

North Carolina: Heath Shuler, a Democratic businessman and former National Football League quarterback, defeated the eight-term Republican incumbent, Charles H. Taylor, for the House seat in the 11th District, in western North Carolina. Before the election, Republicans held a seven-to-six advantage over Democrats in the state’s Congressional delegation, but Mr. Shuler’s victory tipped that balance.

South Carolina: Voters approved a constitutional amendment barring legal recognition of same-sex unions and re-elected the Republican governor. Troubles with electronic voting machines resulted in long lines. Mr. Sanford was initially turned away by poll workers because he did not have a voter registration card.

Tennessee: In one of the nation’s most bitterly fought Senate races, Bob Corker, a Republican, narrowly defeated Representative Harold E. Ford Jr., a Democrat from Memphis. Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, easily won a second term, defeating State Senator Jim Bryson.

Virginia: A razor-thin margin separated the candidates in Virginia’s closely watched Senate race. Senator George Allen, a Republican haunted by campaign miscues, traded leads throughout the night with Jim Webb, a Democrat, in a contest that seemed headed for a recount.

NC New Deal Boards Adapt to New Demands

This week, the Independent Weekly writes about a little known, yet long-standing public tradition in central North Carolina. The article highlights the responsibilities of the publicly funded and partially elected Soil & Water Conservation District Boards.

Cox says the 70-year history of the program has had a fairly consistent goal. "The central focus for a long time hasn't changed; it's water quality," Cox says. The methods and the priorities, though, have gone through a transition. They started with helping farmers manage runoff from croplands—changing tilling practices, improving drainage and encouraging implementation of no-till farming. In the 1980s, with the explosion of the state's hog and poultry industry, districts began focusing on projects meant to keep livestock and livestock waste out of streams, such as alternative water supplies, fencing and other infrastructure to reduce nutrient-rich runoff.

The New Deal era program is proving to be a valuable asset to the state as suburban population growth expands into agricultural areas.

If you look at where the majority of land disturbance is happening, Cox says, it's not in agricultural lands, but in the sprawling suburbs. And stormwater runoff is the No. 1 threat to water quality in the state.

The unique program has proven useful in the past and is attempting to adapt and expand its influence as the needs of the State change. Much of the Southeast is experiencing rapid population growth. The Soil and Water Conservation board was not originally set up to deal with growth, but is helping North Carolina adapt.

Urban and suburban projects aren't the only area for expansion of the conservation districts' role. McNaught says Environmental Defense has worked with local soil and water boards to preserve Piedmont prairie habitats in the Uharrie National Forest and improve stream protection along a stretch of the Cape Fear River native to the endangered Cape Fear Shiner.

McNaught says the local ties the districts have with farmers and landholders are important. The key to any program is the implementation, he says, and the districts are at ground level.

NC pursues different way to curb air pollution

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper is trying a new method to try to get coal-fired power plants, particularly those in Tennessee, to curb the amount of pollution they emit - - through a public nuisance suit against the Tennessee Valley Authority.

• Read/hear the story via National Public Radio

"We know that air pollution from the Tennessee Valley Authority is making people sick. It's causing haze across our mountains, it's killing our trees, it's polluting our waters. We want it to stop. We've asked them nicely. We've tried to work with them. They've not responded," Cooper said. "Litigation is the last resort."

Cooper felt that modern pollution laws were not making North Carolina's air clear and healthy quickly enough, so he turned to the same legal tool that property owners have used through the ages to settle disputes with neighbors, a public nuisance suit.

"When you have people being forced to go to the hospital; when you have little children with asthma who can't go outside on particularly hot, stuffy days; when seniors can't take a walk because of breathing problems; when tourism dollars are being lost; that's clearly a public nuisance under the law," Cooper said.

TVA authorities say they've already spent more than $4 billion to upgrade pollution controls on power plants.