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Wednesday: Raining News
posted at 2007-03-21 23:55 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
So this is what it looks like at the Legislature around this time of year - five press conferences on premises, plus one off-site downtown. Here's today's rundown:
- 9am - press conference in support of same-day voter registration (H91) for one-stop (early) voters.
- 10am - presser on raising the age at which teens are tried as adults - at the Leg.
- 10am - presser at NC Justice Center on problems with NC's business incentives. (See report.)
- Noon - Joint Rules Committee on restricting public groups' use of the Leg. building. (More on this Thurs, I promise.)
- 1pm - House Election Law committee passes H91 (see 9am above) on a party line vote.
- 2pm - press conference - human rights groups and lawmakers call on Easley and Cooper to do something about NC-based Aero Contractors (a/k/a CIA airlines). More below.
- 3pm - session, House and Senate. Mrs. USA (a Tarheel) visits each chamber to pay her respects. Legislators scramble over each other to "escort" her to their chambers' wells.
- 4:30 - presser - Wake Dem Grier Martin introduces two bills to protect military members from scams. More on that below, too.
And that doesn't include a dozen other committee meetings I couldn't go to.
Aero Contractors
Durham Dem Paul Luebke and 21 other lawmakers joined forces today with a coalition of human rights groups to call on Governor Mike Easley and Atty. Gen Roy Cooper to "do something" about Aero Contractors. Many believe the Smithfield company has been using its planes at the Global Trans Park in Kinston to transport CIA suspects to other countries for "extraordinary rendition" (i.e. third-party torture). Several Aero employees were indicted last month by a German court for assisting in the kidnapping and torture of a German citizen.
What's not clear is exactly what the state can do. Even if they open an investigation, NC lawmakers don't have Congress's subpoena power, so they can't compel anyone to testify - let alone a bunch of CIA employees (according to the German government) who can always refuse to testify for the sake of national security. Not to mention that the leaders of the nation's most "military-friendly state" are in no hurry to stick their noses into the CIA's anti-terrorism business.
On the other hand, the excuses offered by those leaders are, to put it kindly, disingenuous. A year after his office was asked to look into Aero, AG Cooper sent a letter today saying the state lacks the appropriate jurisdiction for such a probe, but has referred it to the FBI. As for Governor Easley, his office said today that Aero's contract with the Trans Park has expired, and they haven't run flights out of Kinston in four months.
When I pointed out that Aero still had its headquarters in Smithfield, I was told, "Well, that's a private airfield, so we have no control over that." Call me a cynic, but if Aero were accused of running drugs rather than CIA flights, out of Smithfield, I doubt we'd be debating private property rights.
How low can you get?
House lawmakers are considering legislation to protect servicemembers from - believe it or not - life insurance scams.
Salesman are using high pressure tactics to convince soldiers headed overseas to buy extra policies "to protect their families" - but they don't talk about the fine print where it says the policy does not cover death in combat. Most who fall for this scam are young, active-duty soldiers, straight out of high school and lacking financial sophistication.
It's hard to believe this is real, but many military folks say it's a common scam around bases across the country. And so far, military leaders haven't done much to stop it.
Wake Dem Grier Martin is running a bill that would ban the sale of these "predatory policies" to military members. He's also proposing a special consumer advocate to help ripped-off servicemembers stationed overseas. For many, foreign deployment makes it too hard to fight the fraudsters. Martin says this new advocate could help victims and their families on home turf.
Bill of the Day
Wake Sen. Janet Cowell's "Restroom Equity" bill. Based on the premise it takes us women longer than men to "use the facilities," the proposal would require large public venues and new buildings to provide two women's stalls for every men's stall.
All the co-sponsors happen to be women, but some men might like the idea too - after all, it could lead to fewer women using men's bathrooms when their own lines get too long. But even if a short bathroom line should be an inalienable right, it wasn't on the short list last time I checked. It's unlikely the proposal will ever see the light of day in committee. If it does, though, the debate's bound to be very entertaining.
More tomorrow on Rules, John Rhodes Day, and other fun stuff. Stay tuned.
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