WS Chronicle

Shame on GOP leaders in House for missing U.S. budget deadline

To the Editor:

The Republican Leadership in the House have chosen the route of inaction and failed to present a 2017 budget for Congress [by the April 15 budget deadline] to debate and consider. But it is more alarming that Speaker [Paul]Ryan’s ‘Road to Ruin’ proposed cuts that were not deep enough for a majority of his party to agree on. His proposal to end the Medicare guarantee and execute $6.5 trillion in cuts demonstrates Congressional

Republicans’ disdain for the social safety net that so many Americans depend on.

The budget is supposed to provide direction on how we can plan to fund the federal government in the upcoming year, but the missed deadline will make it that much harder for a plan to be vetted, debated, and decided on by Congress. We will continue to fight for a budget that reflects the values of the American people and one that will emphasize our long-standing commitment to eradicating poverty in America by increasing economic opportunities through investments in education, infrastructure, affordable housing, small business, and job training. We must protect and strengthen the social safety net, which will stop millions of families from sinking deeper into poverty.

U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)

Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus

Washington, D.C.

McCrory’s effort to change HB 2 is troubling and a trick

To the Editor:

The Governor’s half-hearted effort to change some pieces of Hate Bill 2 he signed [March 23] is troubling.  And a trick.  He said he wants the same extremists in the legislature who rammed through a law that expressly discriminates against transgendered citizens of North Carolina, and snatches the right to sue in State Courts for all protected classes, to come back to Raleigh and make some changes in the law.

What his executive order tries to restore – it’s unclear how much power the Governor’s order really has – are rights and liberties that should have never been removed. His suggested changes leaves Hate Bill 2 a backward, race-based, class-based homophobic bill that hurts the working poor, racial minorities and the LGBTQ community.

The bill was bad when it was written.  It was bad when the Governor signed it with no conditions.  And it is still bad with the Governor’s new conditions.

We stand on our moral values of justice and love.  We stand on our belief that this

bill, no matter how much lipstick Governor McCrory tries to slap on it, represents the race-class-homophobic politics of Jesse Helms reincarnated.

Hate Bill 2 is about politics not bathrooms.  Repeal it!  That’s the right thing for the Governor to do.

Like his refusal to expand Medicaid.  Like his budget that hurts teachers and public education.  Like his Voter Suppression Bill, which will be overturned in the courts. Like his support for Amendment One.  The Governor should never have signed Hate Bill 2 in the first place.

His troubling actions yesterday mean that local jurisdictions are still barred from requiring contractors to pay employees living wages, sick leave, vacation leave and minority set asides.

We in the NAACP Forward Together Movement call on people and businesses of conscience — keep the pressure on. NO DISCRIMINATION. NO  RACISM. NO CLASSISM.  SAY NO to HATE.  IN FULL OR IN PART.  YESTERDAY. TODAY. TOMORROW!

Pray for the Governor. Protest the Governor and his colleagues who passed Hate Bill 2. Demand they  do the right thing.  Repent, repeal, and resist extremism. Adjusting discrimination is not enough; only abolition is sufficient!

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

President the NC NAACP

Convener of Forward Together

Moral Monday Movement Durham

City website adds ‘cookies’ to better serve visitors to site

To the Editor:

The privacy policy for the city’s website – http://www.cityofws.org/ –has been revised to allow the web-site to place “cookies” on visitors’ computers and mobile devices for future reference.

Placing cookies will allow the city to better serve visitors who accept cookies. For example, the city will be able to send a digital ad about leaf collection to the computer or mobile device of a citizen who has visited the city’s leaf routes page.

“Cookies” are randomly generated tags that remember which pages the visitor viewed. Cookies do not contain personally identifiable information and do not compromise the user’s privacy or security. Cookies can be readily refused or deleted from computers and mobile devices using a number of methods. Web browser “Help” files show how to block or delete cookies.

The complete privacy policy is posted on the city’s website. It can be accessed through the “Privacy Statement” link at the bottom of every page.

City of Winston-Salem Marketing and Communications Department