Triad Today

State legislators, advocacy groups, and the courts are still arguing over Congressional boundaries, but there is little dispute over how to improve quality of life within those boundaries. On March 15, we have an opportunity to vote for the two-billion-dollar “Connect NC” bond, which, if passed, will make our college graduates better prepared to compete and succeed in the 21st century. It will also help to strengthen our state’s overall economy. The Triad in particular will benefit greatly from the bond, which is expected to funnel some 370 million dollars worth of projects into our area.

The architect of “Connect NC” is Governor Pat McCrory, and it is a testament to his leadership that the bond package has received broad support among officials in both political parties. Earlier this month, a number of state and local leaders appeared on Triad Today to talk about why the “Connect NC” bond is crucial to our future. Among those included in the discussion were Governor McCrory, former Lt. Governor Walter Dalton (now President of Isothermal Community College), UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam, Cornelius Graves, Director of External Relations for Winston-Salem State University, Wendy Poteat, Director of Government Affairs for the Winston- Salem Chamber of Commerce, and former Associate State Supreme Court Justice Robert Orr.

Longworth: Why a two-billion-dollar bond, and why now?

McCrory: We haven’t had a bond referendum since the year 2000, and we’ve grown by two million people since that time. We have infrastructure at our universities and community colleges that is totally inadequate. We’re teaching in 20th century science labs which are supposed to train engineers and nurses in the 21st century.

Longworth: Why the name “Connect NC”

Poteat: This bond will connect North Carolina to the 21st century. The investment is important because it keeps the state competitive when you talk about business growth and job creation, and it has a direct impact on quality of life for all citizens of North Carolina.

Longworth: Describe how the bond money will be used?

Orr: Almost half of the two billion dollars will go for capital construction on university campuses, primarily in the science, technology, and health-related fields. About $400 million will go to community college projects, over $75 million will go to help improve National Guard facilities, and there’s $75 million for state parks.

Longworth: How will “Connect NC” impact higher education in particular?

Gilliam: It’s a pretty simple theme. It’s about people and prosperity. It’s about investing in people who we’ll train in careers for tomorrow, especially in the STEM fields. And it’s about being able to build the capacity of that workforce through our universities and community colleges, which will build our economy. So it’s not just about buildings, it’s about people and prosperity.

Longworth: How will the bond impact UNCG specifically?

Gilliam: We’ll receive $105 million for the construction of a new Nursing, Biology and Chemistry building. Right now we don’t have the capacity to handle all of the qualified nursing applicants, so we’re turning away 100 or so nursing students every year because we have no space for them. Secondly we have a bottleneck in the Biology and Chemistry labs because they’re antiquated. So this is retarding our development of fine young people who go into the workforce.

Longworth: A vote FOR the bond means $400 million will go to help community colleges statewide. How will “Connect NC” help Isothermal Community College?

Dalton: It’s going to help us upgrade our facilities. We have beautiful buildings, but most of them are 50 years old and have roofing and HVAC needs. We also need flex space, incubation space where a business can come in, train our students for six months, get them on their feet, then launch them into the economy.

Longworth: How will Winston-Salem State University benefit from the bond?

Graves: We’re looking at about $50 million which will fund a new Sciences building. It will have over 100,000 square feet of learning and research space that will cut across the academic spectrum, so we’re looking at Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Health Sciences. Currently our bio medical research facilities are housed off campus. Having them in this new facility will allow for greater engagement across the sciences, greater research, and all those things that allow us to be more competitive in North Carolina and the nation.

Longworth: Why is bond money being used for our National Guard?

McCrory: When I became Governor I discovered that most of our armories were built in the 1940’s, ‘50’s, and ‘60’s, and they are in horrendous shape. They’re just not adequate for training members of our military, so this bond will let us spend over $78 million on new facilities for the National Guard.

Longworth: Money is also being allocated for new water and sewer lines. Why?

McCrory: Some of our small towns have no water and sewer lines. They’re using septic tanks, which is not good for the environment, plus it’s almost impossible to recruit new industry to those high unemployment areas that have no water and sewer lines. So this is to help those areas get the basic necessities.

Longworth: Will passage of “Connect NC” put us in debt and increase our taxes?

Poteat: It won’t put us in debt. The State of North Carolina has a AAA bond credit rating. In fact we’re one of only ten states that have that bond rating. We’ve also paid down our debt pretty fast, so adding this two-billion-dollar investment won’t increase our debt levels. Also the non-partisan Debt and Affordability Committee says we will not see a tax increase as a result of the “Connect NC” bond.

Longworth: You are a Democrat and even ran against Governor McCrory in the last election, yet you are supporting him on this bond referendum.

Dalton: This is not a partisan issue at all, it’s about having a stronger state and building our future economy. I’m happy the Governor came forward with this initiative, and I’m glad the legislature passed it. Future success of our people should not be a partisan issue, and that’s what this is about.

Longworth: “Connect NC” is going to have a direct impact on 76 counties, but why should I vote for it if I’m living in one of those other 24 counties?

McCrory: I look at regions, and every region of the state is benefitting from the bond. Every region benefits when we’re able to train new scientists, new engineers, new mechanics, new nurses. We’re not building new stadiums, we’re not building swimming pools or student centers. We’re building facilities that address our skills gap, so it’s strategic based upon trying to fill the talent needs of the next generation. Every region of the state is going to benefit from the “Connect NC” bond.
 
 

Let’s begin with a riddle. What’s the difference between the Communist Party and the NCAA?

Answer: One is a dictatorial governing body that punishes innocent people, and the other is the Communist Party.

Don’t get me wrong. The National Collegiate Athletic Association began with lofty ideals and brought much needed reforms to college sports. Credit for that belongs to President Teddy Roosevelt who was concerned by the number of injuries and deaths resulting from college football games. He convened a commission to come up with solutions, and in 1906 what is now the NCAA was formed, mainly to regulate safety standards. But by mid century and the advent of television, the NCAA began to flex its muscles and exercise tighter controls over member institutions. Since then, the Association has become overly intrusive, and arbitrarily punitive in its treatment of athletes, coaches, and schools, so much so as to ruin careers and stymie entire athletic programs. Even worse, most of the sanctions levied by the NCAA have failed to punish those who might be directly guilty of an infraction, and instead punish innocent student athletes and the teams for who they were recruited to play.

Last month, University of Louisville President James Ramsey unilaterally removed his men’s basketball team from any post-season consideration. The reason? According to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”, five former Louisville players and recruits admitted that they had attended dorm parties in which female strippers danced completely nude. The limber ladies, it seems, were paid by the team’s former graduate assistant coach Andre McGee. Louisville head coach Rick Pitino maintains he knew nothing about the parties, nor was he consulted by Ramsey prior to the announcement of a postseason ban. Strangely enough, Pitino has yet to be interviewed by the NCAA, an organization that routinely holds coaches accountable for anything and everything that goes on with or around their program. Nevertheless, ESPN’s Jay Bilas told Mike and Mike that Ramsey had no choice but to hit his round ball squad with a pre-emptive strike because had he not done so, the NCAA would have imposed a much harsher punishment.

Pitino says the NCAA system is broken because it punishes the wrong people. He’s right. In most cases NCAA sanctions have mostly affected players who had nothing to do with the offending infraction. In the early 1990’s, for example, Chris Webber and several members of Michigan’s Fab Five accepted $600,000 from a booster involved in illegal gambling operations. The athletes involved should have been prosecuted, but instead, fearing severe sanctions by the NCAA, Michigan’s President ordered a self-imposed 2 year probation on the entire program. The probation only served to deny incoming players the chance to compete in a national tournament. In 1972, the NCAA placed North Carolina State University’s basketball program on a one year probation. The reason? When David Thompson was being recruited by the Wolfpack, he had played in a pick-up game with an assistant coach, and was allowed to stay in a campus dorm while attending a 1971 basketball camp. Thompson had no idea he was putting his future team in jeopardy.

Over the years, the list of NCAA infractions and sanctions has also involved such power house football programs as Oklahoma (several players found guilty of rape), Minnesota (the coach paid a school counselor to do homework for his players), and Miami (players paid for touchdowns and violent hits). And while the offenses range from benign to criminal, the fact remains that mainly innocent student athletes end up paying for the sins of others.

Increasingly, member institutions and their athletes are beginning to challenge the NCAA’s authority, from football players trying to unionize, to power conferences threatening to form their own national association. If the latter movement builds momentum, the NCAA might have to come down off its high horse rather than risk losing its billion dollar empire. In the meantime, I feel badly for Louisville basketball players, past and present. The former squad just wanted to look at naked ladies, and the current squad just wanted to look at a national championship trophy. Let this be a lesson to young men who want to play college ball—If you watch a girl take off her clothes, someone’s going to get screwed.
 
 

Elaine Riddick, now age 62, told me in an exclusive interview that she had been raped twice in her life. The first rape occurred when she was 13 at the hands of a man who threatened to kill her if she told. The second rape, she said, was performed by the State of North Carolina, which sterilized her because the pregnancy which resulted from her attack, labeled Elaine a promiscuous drain on society. When I asked which rape was worse, she said, “The one by the State.”

As it turns out, Elaine was only one of nearly 8,000 young girls who were systematically sterilized against their will under the auspices of the State Eugenics Board during a shameful era of racial cleansing that took place over a period of five decades. Respected physicians, elected officials, and captains of industry, sat on state and local boards that approved and funded the forced sterilizations that were overseen and implemented by local social service agencies.

In 2002, a series of investigative reports by the Winston-Salem Journal brought to light these racist-motivated procedures, and the lives they destroyed. Activists like former Rep. Larry Womble, began a crusade to have the State compensate surviving victims of forced sterilization, but he was met with arguments and obstacles from lawmakers who wanted the Eugenics saga to stay buried in the past. In order to placate fellow Democrat Womble, then-Governor Mike Easley issued an email apology to the newspaper. But the apology was as hollow as it was impersonal because no action was taken to allocate reparation funds. Easley’s successor, Governor Bev Perdue eventually established an Office for Justice of Sterilization Victims to serve as a clearinghouse for surviving victims to come forward and be identified. The OJSV estimated that some 1,800 sterilization victims were still alive, but less than half of them, about 780, actually registered with the Office.

It had now been nearly 10 years since the Easley apology, and still no reparations in sight. At one point Womble told me he thought some of his fellow legislators were dragging their feet, just hoping for sterilization victims to die off, so that the State wouldn’t have to pay so many survivors. Elaine was beginning to feel like she had been raped for a third time. Finally in 2013, state lawmakers voted to allocate $10 million dollars in reparations to be divided among all of the surviving victims whose sterilization had been authenticated by the State Industrial Commission. By 2014, approximately 220 claims had been approved, and checks began to be processed and mailed to surviving victims. I spoke with Elaine last week, and as of January, she had received compensation totaling $35,000, with another $15,000 promised. Seems like a paltry and insulting sum of money to pay someone for having taken away their ability to reproduce, yet, in some small way, the state payouts represented closure for hundreds of women who had been sterilized against their will. Not so for hundreds more.

Last week the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that anyone who was sterilized by certain county social services agencies was not eligible for compensation because there is no proof that some of those local agencies were working under direct orders from the State Eugenics Board. That means nearly 600 surviving victims who filed claims with the State will receive no reparations. According to the Associated Press, the Appeals Court cited the 2013 state law that requires claimants to show they were “sterilized under state authority.” With all due respect to the Appeals Court, those justices are a bit too blind when it comes to blind justice. Any idiot knows that a local social worker is not going to wake up one morning, go to work, and start sterilizing girls against their will without knowing that their actions were in accordance with and supported by the State Eugenics Board, and by the influential leaders in their own community who helped to fund that Board, and advance the mission of racial cleansing. This insulting, knit-picking decision by the Appeals Court constitutes yet another violation of the women whose bodies had already been violated by agents of the State. Once again these women have become victims. The rape continues.
 
 

For anyone who thinks the Republican Party has the market cornered on exclusion, think again. True, it was the GOP who initiated Voter ID legislation and opposed gay marriage, but when it comes to excluding people from the political process, the Democratic Party wins the prize with their own brand of disenfranchisement.

Let’s begin with Iowa. Several months prior to that state’s caucus, Bernie Sanders was trailing Hillary Clinton by as much as 50 points. Then as Bernie’s message began to spread, he closed the gap in Iowa and pulled dead even with Hillary. After a neck and neck battle all evening, Democratic Party leaders in at least seven precincts had to flip a coin to determine selection of their county delegates, and party officials claim that Bernie won most of those flips. However, they also admitted that many precincts were not able to use the new Microsoft app, and might have conducted coin flips that went unreported. Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, State Democratic Party Chairman Andy McGuire arbitrarily removed one of Bernie’s delegates at the Grinnell College precinct, and awarded it to Clinton. McGuire, by the way, is a long time Clinton supporter who once sported a license plate that read, “HRC 2016”. His unilateral delegate switch didn’t alter the final state tally, but he didn’t know that at the time. It makes you wonder what other help he gave his pal Hillary that wasn’t reported. In the end, Clinton edged out Sanders by less than two-tenths of one percent. Of course we’ll never know exactly how many people voted for either candidate because state Democratic caucus rules prohibit making that information public. And they say Putin runs crooked elections.

The following week in New Hampshire, Bernie won 60 percent of the popular vote to Hillary’s 39 percent, yet Clinton ended up with the same number of delegates from the Granite State. How did that happen? Two words: super delegates. Super delegates are comprised of Democratic congressmen, senators and governors, as well as DNC committee members and other party officials. This elite corps of Dems are automatic delegates to the national convention, and are allowed to go rogue and endorse whichever candidate they choose, regardless of how the popular vote turns out in their state’s primary. There are nearly 800 Democratic super delegates across the nation, 394 of who have already endorsed Hillary. And so, even though Bernie should be leading in number of delegates based on the popular vote, instead, thanks to a rigged system, he now trails Clinton by 352 delegates! And, if Hillary continues to rack up Super Delegates who owe allegiance to her and her husband, she could arrive at the convention with as much as 20 percent of the number of delegates needed for nomination before her legitimate delegates are even counted.

If all of this sounds sleazy and exclusionary to you, rest assured it gets worse.

Last week in what can only be called a shocking move, the Democratic National Committee, led by Hillary’s friend, Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz, lifted its ban on contributions by PACS and federal lobbyists. Guess who stands to gain from that sea change? Hillary Clinton, that’s who. Coincidentally, just days before the DNC’s ruling, Hillary spoke about how her new best friend Barack Obama had once accepted money from PACs and lobbyists, and it hadn’t compromised or influenced his Presidency. Translation? Hillary most certainly knew the DNC announcement was coming, so she was positioning herself to benefit from the rule change. I believe the DNC shocker was orchestrated by Clinton and Wasserman- Shultz because Bernie was becoming too serious a threat to Hillary’s dream. In fact, one recent poll shows Sanders pulling dead even with Clinton nationally.

It would be sad indeed if the DNC, a few hundred party bosses, and a handful of PACs and lobbyists get to supersede the will of the people, but I’m afraid that’s where we’re headed unless Bernie brings in a massive amount of new voters, and wins some major primaries next month. If so, his grass roots delegates could prove to be just the kryptonite needed to neutralize the Super Delegates, and drain the power from their fearless leader.
 
 

Johnny Bench’s hands have served him well. At age 6, he used them to pick cotton so that he could earn enough money to buy a pair of jeans.

As a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, he used his hands to snag every baseball thrown to him, and throw out just about every runner who ever tried to steal on him. It’s no surprise that Johnny acquired the nickname “Hands”, a well-deserved moniker that was memorialized in a now famous photo in which he is holding seven baseballs in one hand at the same time. But since retiring from baseball in 1983, Bench’s hard-working, competitive hands have morphed into helping hands, especially when lending support to those in need.

On February 18, Bench will speak at a members-only dinner for the Guilford Merchants Association. Last week, in advance of his upcoming trip to Greensboro, I spoke with Johnny by phone about a wide variety of topics. We talked for over a half hour, and not once did he mention his 389 lifetime home runs, or being named to 14 All-Star teams, or his induction into the Hall of Fame, or his being named Best Catcher of all time. Instead the boy from Binger Oklahoma talked mainly about his passion for education, and how he and his Foundation help kids who want to go to college. He also spoke of how he and his son Bobby formed a company to help schools and businesses develop multi use apps. Along the way we also talked about diversity, politics, and his “Vowels of Success”.

JL: Tell me about the Johnny Bench Scholarship Fund, how it got started, and who it helps.

JB: I graduated high school at 17 and signed with the Reds. I had wanted to go to college because I thought a college education was important, but I didn’t know I would be drafted and my career turn out the way it did. So when I retired I wanted to give kids an opportunity to go to college, and that’s when we started the Scholarship Fund. We started out with $25,000 that went to help Cincinnati kids who wanted to go to Cincinnati colleges. From there I started hosting golf tournaments to raise money for the Scholarship Fund. I also won $250,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and that went directly into the Scholarship Fund too. Several years ago we expanded the program to include kids from my hometown of Binger who wanted to go to college. All of the kids must maintain a certain grade point average in order for their scholarship to be renewed. Today we average about 84 to 94 scholarship kids each year.

JL: Back when you played ball, it was more common for kids to be drafted straight out of high school. But despite your young age, guys like you, Al Kaline and others had a natural work ethic. Is that something that can be taught?

JB: It’s all about who raised you. Back in 1966 someone asked me what motivates me, and I said, “the fear of failure.” Not failing here, but it’s fear of failing all those people back home who read the paper every day. I also had great mentors to assist me and guide me in a lot of ways.

JL: Well not only did you not fail, you and your teammates on the Reds were highly successful, winning back to back World Championships in ‘75 and ‘76. You also had the most culturally diverse starting line-up in baseball. Did that give you an edge?

JB: I was sitting on a plane with Ted Marchibroda, who was coach of the Baltimore Colts at the time, and he said, “Why are you guys so successful?” And I said, “Because we have black leadership, white leadership, and latin leadership, and we don’t know what color we are.” For example, if the Latin players had a problem, they could go to Tony (Perez). Today you hear about clubs having a team leader. To me, leaders are people who are on time. Leaders are on the field when it’s time to be on the field. They apply themselves. They run their laps the same as anybody else. They don’t ask for special treatment. Those are leaders.

JL: Speaking of leadership, you and your son Bobby run one of the leading app companies. Tell me about it.

JB: Our company is N.E.A.D., which stands for “No Ego App Development.” We develop apps for cities, schools, and businesses that are accessible to anyone from their smart phone. Let’s take a school, for example. We can help them set up an app where they can use push notifications to report cyber bullying, or update parents if there’s a lock-down. They can also put in all the schedules of their events and update everybody on cancellations.

JL: Let’s talk about your book, Catch Every Ball: How to Handle Life’s Pitches. In it, you reveal your “Vowels of Success”, which are Adhere, Employability, Inner Conceit, Opportunity, and Use. What do you want people to take away from your book?

JB: I want them to have their own vowels. I want them to assess what their life is and develop their own vowels. So when I’m speaking to groups I ask them, “What is your A? What is your E? For example, Arnold Palmer’s “A” is Attitude. Bobby Knight’s is Assholes, as in “Keep the Assholes away. (laughs)”

JL: It’s an election year, so I have to ask why you never ran for office. I mean, you’re Johnny Bench, one of the most popular athletes of all time.

JB: When I retired, I worked for a bank, and the President of the Bank called me in and said, “John, I’d like to see you run for Congress.” And I said, “Can you hear those skeletons in my closet right now? (laughs) 

I mean, they’re knocking down the door! Besides that, I don’t know all the different facets of politics that you need to know.”

Bench might have rejected the idea of serving in Washington, but that hasn’t stopped him from serving people all over the nation. In addition to starting the Scholarship Fund, Johnny has also raised over $2 million dollars to help abused women and kids, he entertained the troops in Desert Storm, has been an advocate for Wounded Warriors, and he headlines the Children’s Charity Classic in Lexington to benefit USA Cares. Not surprisingly when he lands in Greensboro next week, he’ll take time out to help his good friend and GMA Chairman Tom Berry to promote a local charity.

Great catchers are always busy, they stay involved in every play, and never rest until the job is done. That’s why my “A” is dedicated to Johnny Bench and his helping hands. My “A” is Admiration.

For more information about Johnny Bench, visit www.johnnybench.com. To learn about NEAD, visit www.mycivicapps.com or call (513) 620-1880.
 
 

Last month, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio was delivering a speech in Iowa when a young atheist asked him why he spent so much time talking about religion. The atheist then suggested that Rubio seemed to be running for “Pastor in Chief”. Rather than respond by saying he would be the president of ALL people, Rubio instead launched into an aggressive defense of his Christian faith, and turned the atheist’s question into a rally cry for his campaign, and a central theme for his latest fundraising email scheme. In the email I received last week, Rubio said he needed to spread the word about “the role of faith in the public square.” He concludes by asking me to write a check to his campaign in the amount of $5,400—the maximum allowable individual contribution if combining a donation for both the primary and general elections.

I suppose this type of electronic tithing has replaced the more traditional passing of the plate. In any event, Rubio’s message is clear: Christians need to give him money now so he can spread the word of God, and drown out the heathen atheist voices which might derail his aspirations to be king, uh, I mean, president.

Clearly, Rubio knows how to pander to the electorate, but he’s not the only one. Every Republican candidate invokes God’s name at least once in every televised debate, and often thereafter whenever and wherever it suits their political purpose. Even Donald Trump, a mogul with a God complex, knows how important it is to woo Christian voters and others who worship a deity. That’s why he traveled to Liberty University recently in order to garner an endorsement from Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. The hypocritical Trump spoke to a large gathering of students where he demonstrated his total lack of familiarity with the Bible when he referred to Second Corinthians as “Two Corinthians”. Nevertheless, he still won Falwell’s blessing and endorsement. Go figure.

Let’s face it, politicians love to talk about God because that’s what voters expect. It’s no accident that Ted Cruz proclaimed, “I’m a Christian first, an American second, a conservative third, and a Republican fourth.” God help any candidate who forgets to invoke God’s name, or fails to chastise non-believers. That’s why Christian candidates like Rubio and Cruz have such little tolerance for atheists, and find it easy to incite a crowd by uttering the “A” word. Still, something about presidential candidates using atheists as a punching bag and God as a fundraiser, rings a bit hollow and hypocritical.

According to the 2010 Census, nearly half of all Americans say they are church members. However, a 2013 Gallup poll reports that only 37% of us attend church regularly. Author Mark Chaves says that figure is actually much lower- around 20%, and he attributes the discrepancy to what he calls the “Halo Effect”. The “Halo Effect” occurs when people give false data to a pollster so that they appear to be more religious than they really are.

So there you have it. We Christians expect our politicians to be Christian, say Christian things, and invoke God’s name at least once in every televised debate. Yet only about 20% of us even bother to show up for church services on a regular basis, and those of us who do, don’t seem to mind voting for candidates who vote against Christian-like legislation that would help the less fortunate among us. Translation? We want our politicians to talk the talk, but aren’t really concerned with whether they walk the walk. It’s a disconnect that is perhaps a product of our own hypocrisy when it comes to religion, and it’s a frightening disconnect at that. It also allows us to turn a blind eye to candidates who trample over the Constitution whenever invoking God’s name will get them elected. Senator Rubio says, “We are called in the Bible to adhere to our civil authorities, but that conflicts with our requirements to adhere to God’s rules, so when those two come into conflict, God’s rules always win.” I agree, and that’s why I’m not sending a donation to Rubio. God wouldn’t want me to do business with a moneychanger.
 
 

Several things anger me about American politics, especially during a presidential election cycle. They include: exclusionary rules and institutions; mudslinging; and uninformed voters. In order to become president, Senator Bernie Sanders may have to overcome all of the above.

There are many ways in which the two-party system can derail a legitimate candidate by disregarding (or, in a sense, excluding) the votes he’s collected. One of those ways is to hold state primaries in which people think their vote actually counts. In the Democratic party, primary votes are apportioned according to results, but that’s no guarantee that a candidate will benefit from his own vote totals. That’s because delegates to a party convention are morally, but not legally bound to vote for the winner of their state’s primary. Hillary Clinton has a lot of pull with state party leaders, so Bernie could actually win a majority of primaries and still lose the nomination.

Presidential politics has always been a rough-and-tumble sport, and certainly mudslinging and misleading ads are nothing new. In 1828, for example, John Quincy Adams attacked Andrew Jackson for marrying a divorced woman who, it turns out, was not legally divorced. Today, nearly 200 years later, Republicans have dogged Hillary Clinton about keeping top secret emails on her personal server. But Bernie Sanders came to her rescue, telling a debate crowd, “Enough about the damn e-mails!” Unfortunately, Hillary hasn’t returned the favor. Ever since Bernie started gaining in the polls, Ms. Clinton and her minions have started running attack ads, excoriating Bernie on everything from his healthcare plan, to his vote against making gun manufacturers liable for gun crimes. Disseminating misinformation about an opponent has become an accepted practice among political party hacks, and I truly hate it. Untruthful ads that are intended to incite and misinform viewers should be illegal, instead they are encouraged.

Exclusionary rules and institutions are dangerous, and mudslinging can cause untold damage to candidates, their families, and their campaigns. But perhaps the thing I despise most about presidential politics are uninformed and lazy voters. These are the folks who have never heard of fact-checking. For example, they believe Carly Fiorina when she claims to be a job creator, even though her favorite pastime at Hewlett Packard was laying off employees. Uninformed voters also believe that Hillary will crack down on Wall Street investment firms, even though she accepted $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs. These are the same lazy voters who say, “I would vote for Bernie Sanders, but he can’t win.” Pardon me while I scream.

First of all, who says he can’t win? A month ago, Hillary had a 50 point lead on Bernie in the national polls, and today, that lead has been in cut in half. Moreover, his numbers keep rising every time he visits a new state. As of this week, Sanders is crushing Hillary in New Hampshire by 60% to 33%, and leading her in Iowa by 51% to 43%. If Bernie wins those two contests next month, his national poll numbers will skyrocket. Translation? Time is on Bernie’s side.

Speaking of growing support for Sanders, Hillary’s African American spokespersons have told the media that Bernie has no support in the minority community. But just last week, Dr. Cornell West told Bill Maher that black voters support “Brother Bernie” once they get to know him. Hillary has underestimated Bernie Sanders the same way she underestimated Barack Obama in 2008, and now she’s starting to panic.

But even if Bernie’s poll numbers weren’t rising, why would anyone not vote for him just because they think he won’t win? You should always vote your conscious, and, the more people who do that, the better chance Bernie has of actually winning the nomination.

Lazy, uniformed voters also make me mad because they don’t take time to learn about Bernie’s platform. How can anyone not be in favor of a plan that eliminates monthly healthcare premiums? Sanders rolled out his comprehensive healthcare reform proposal last week which pointed out that if an average family saved $10,000 per year in insurance premiums, they would pay about $500 in additional taxes. I’m no math whiz, but paying $500 sounds a lot better than paying $10,000. Hillary’s only response to that plan? Maintain the status quo.

I sincerely hope that uninformed voters will wise up, and if they don’t I hope they stay home on election day.

Clearly Bernie Sanders may have to overcome a number of obstacles in order to win the White House, but his supporters can take comfort from news out of Western Illinois University. The research department at that school has accurately predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1976, and they predict that Sanders will be our next Commander in Chief. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As Bernie might say, “Enough with the damn polls! Let’s talk about the issues!”
 
 

Last week President Obama issued an Executive Order which he hopes will curb gun violence in America. His Order consists of three elements: First it seeks to clarify who is required to have a federal license to sell firearms at gun shows; Second, it calls for the addition of 230 FBI agents to process background checks on gun purchasers; and Third, it allocates half a billion dollars for treatment of mental illness.

Obama announced his Executive Order at a press conference in which he invoked the memory of the twenty children who were murdered at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012. While speaking of those deaths, the President shed tears of sorrow. The press seemed to buy into the waterworks. Even Donald Trump said Obama’s tears were real. Perhaps, but they were also staged, and it wasn’t the first time the President has done so. Following the Sandy Hook massacre I wrote a column entitled, “Obama’s Tears Too Little Too Late.” Just as he did last week, Obama shed tears at his December 2012 press conference, and did so on the same talking points. It is just one of five reasons why I believe his Executive Order is a hollow gesture.

REASON 1:

POLITICS AND HYPOCRISY

Last week’s press conference once again demonstrates that Obama’s tears are too little too late. Even if they were genuine and heartfelt tears, the question remains, Why the concern now? and Why not seven years ago? Obama apologists point out that the President would have never gotten tough gun laws through a Republican Congress. But for the first two years of his Presidency, Obama had a Democrat majority in both Chambers. In January of 2009, there were 256 Democrats and 178 Republicans in the House, while Democrats held a 55 to 41 edge in the Senate. Moreover, the President has had more than enough reasons to push for gun reforms. According to snopes.com, there have been 162 mass shootings on his watch (compared with just 20 during two terms under George Bush). We’ve experienced massacres at a Fort, a movie theatre, a college campus, a church, a clinic, and an elementary school. We even had a member of Congress shot in broad daylight. But each time an incident occurred, all we got from our Commander in Chief was condolences, rhetoric, and tears. In his January 28, 2015 State of the Union address, Obama said, “I’ve mourned with grieving families in Tucson and Newtown, Boston, Texas, and West Virginia.” But not once following a mass shooting did the President ever issue an Executive Order to deal with the problem. Why? Because he couldn’t afford to alienate voters, either during his own re-election cycle, or in off year elections. Now he is a lame duck, and it is finally politically safe for him to appear to do something about gun violence. The operative word here is “appear”.

REASON 2:

NO REDUCTION OF GUNS

Nothing in the President’s Executive Order does anything to reduce the number of firearms in this country, it only attempts to delay or deny gun purchases by a few bad apples. As of 2010, the population of the United States was about 309 million. Meanwhile, according to the Congressional Research Service, there are 310 million firearms in America. Translation? A shit load of guns are already in circulation. So even if no more guns were purchased, there’s still enough firepower available to fuel any number of murders.

REASON 3:

NO REDUCTION IN CRIME

Based on reason #2, one can make the assumption that the President’s Executive Order will do little or nothing to reduce gun violence. That’s not just my opinion, but it is the belief of law enforcement officials I have spoken with who know about and come up against what seems to be an endless supply of weapons in circulation. The President could argue that stepping up background checks at gun shows might deter anyone with criminal intent. But as I pointed out in previous columns, federal background checks are limited in scope, and don’t always take into consideration someone’s mental illness or proclivity for violence.

REASON 4:

NO AFFECT ON GUN SHOWS

Don Efred, owner of Archdale Arms and Archery told the Greensboro News & Record recently that a “high percentage of vendors at gun shows already are federally licensed dealers.” Other dealers say over 90% of exhibitors at gun shows are licensed. I have attended a number of such shows, and I’ve never walked by a display of guns that wasn’t manned by a federally licensed dealer. Obviously the President has never attended a gun show, or else he would realize that his Executive Order is aimed at solving a crisis that doesn’t exist.

REASON 5:

EXECUTIVE ORDER WILL BE OVERTURNED

In addition to reasons already stated, Obama’s Executive Order rings hollow because he knows Congress can and will dismantle some or all of the elements of that Order, either sooner or later. Specifically, Congress has the power to overturn an Executive Order in two ways. First they can simply pass legislation which is in conflict with the Order. Second, they can refuse to provide the funding necessary to carry out policy measures contained in the Order. Either way, the President’s Executive Order as written will be short lived.

If Mr. Obama is determined to circumvent Congress, he should have included elements in his Executive Order that were substantive, rather than superficial. He should have reinstated the 1994 ban on assault weapons, and required a 90-day waiting period for the purchase of any firearm (including shotguns). He should also have mandated that any potential firearm purchaser obtain a note from a licensed physician saying that the buyer is mentally fit. Rather than only funding mental health treatment, he should have also focused on prevention. For example, he could have required that all 8th and 11th grade students be screened for signs of behavioral health problems. The 8th grade screening would provide a baseline report for health professionals to review prior to the 11th grade screening, and then treatment would be available as indicated. In addition, all middle school parents should be required to attend a seminar on how to recognize seriously dysfunctional and potentially violent behavior in a child. Finally, The President should have allocated funding that would place one School Resource Officer in every school. In the end, even these proposals would probably meet with Congressional opposition, but at least they are not hollow gestures.

We’ve shed enough gun-related tears over the past two decades. Now it’s time to shed ineffective policies that accomplish nothing but photo opportunities for politicians. No doubt the GOP and the NRA deserve some of the blame for the unchecked massacres that have occurred, but Mr. Obama has failed to use his bully pulpit for anything but spewing bull.
 
 

Each week I use the last few moments of my Triad Today television show to comment on weird and wacky stories in the news. Here are some of the weirdest and wackiest from the last half of 2015.

TASTING POSITIVE

A father and son crime team from Oregon was recently arrested for stealing $70,000 worth of pregnancy strips which they apparently thought were teeth whitening strips. Asked what his first brush with the law was like, the son said the whole thing had left a bad taste in his mouth.

DUMB GUN

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s ready to test out a new weapon that can diminish your mental capacity. “Too late,” said the ten Republican Presidential candidates.

APE IS ENOUGH

Primate scholars are all aglow because last week a baboon in the London Zoo learned how to floss his own teeth. Encouraged by his progress, zoo officials now say the baboon is ready to take part in the next Republican debate.

LENGTH MATTERS

The Journal of Consumer Psychology reports that a man whose index finger is shorter than his ring finger, is more likely to spend money on his girlfriend. Conversely, men who spend NO money, GET the finger from their girlfriend.

POPPINS PERP

An English nanny was arrested last week for stealing $280,000 from the family she was employed by. The nanny was picked up after spending part of the loot at a Disney resort. Authorities say they were tipped off about the fugitive nanny by a letter they received from Jane and Michael Banks.

BIGFOOT SIGHTING

A man from Boone claims that he and his dog saw Bigfoot while vacationing in Henderson County. Police didn’t doubt the Bigfoot story so much as wondering why anyone would vacation in Henderson County.

A PENNEY’S SAVED

A female employee at a J.C. Penney store was recently sent home by her boss because he said the shorts she was wearing were far too revealing, and not appropriate for work. The woman was naturally confused because she purchased the shorts at J.C. Penney, in the “career” section! Let that be a lesson to you. Never buy work clothes where you work.

CHECK POINT CHICKIE

A Texas State Trooper has been arrested for prostitution because he offered to pay a woman for sex after having stopped her for speeding. This gives a whole new meaning to the term, “Police Cruiser.”

SMART FOOD

The University of Vienna in Austria has released a new study that says IQs are on the rise in the United States. Asked if he was pleased with the Vienna report on intelligence, former President George Bush said, “Yeah boy, and I love their tiny sausages too.”

THUNDERBALLS

White pop singing legend Tom Jones says he is undergoing a DNA test because he wants to see if he is really Black. Asked if this is a rare procedure, one doctor said, “It’s not unusual.”

SIGNAL BOOSTING

A woman in Costa Rica recently stole a plasma TV from a store by putting the TV between her legs and hiding it under her dress. The woman was arrested outside the store, but authorities wondered two things: How was she able to put a TV between her legs? and, How does she change the channels?

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

According to the Centers for Disease Control, when you get red eyes after swimming in a public pool, it’s not from the chlorine. It’s from urine discharged by other people. Which begs the question: If pee causes red eyes, what causes brown eyes?

GETTING CARDED

For his 106th birthday, a Grand Rapids man received 106 birthday cards. Said the man, “It beats the birthday when I turned 101. Those Dalmatians are eating me out of house and home.”
 
 

Over the past forty years I’ve been fortunate to interview a number of Hollywood icons, 99% of who were gracious, down to earth folks (I won’t name the other 1%). This past year, six of those wonderful performers passed away, so I wanted to recognize and celebrate them as we say goodbye to 2015.

DONNA DOUGLAS who played Elly May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies, passed away on New Year’s Day at her home in Louisiana. She was 82 years young. I interviewed Donna at the 2010 Western Film Fair in Winston-Salem, just days after the BP Deep Water Horizon spill had finally been capped, but not before discharging nearly 5 million barrels of oil into Donna’s beloved gulf coast. I asked her what she thought of the government’s proposed moratorium on drilling, and Donna said that would be bad because people in her area need those jobs. And in typical Ellie May fashion, Donna also worried about the “critters” who had been affected by the spill. Naturally we spoke of her time on the Hillbillies, and she recalled how wonderful it was to work with Buddy Ebsen. Then she ended our interview with a famous line from the show, saying “Y’all come back now. You hear?” That was followed by Donna letting out one of her famous whistles, which I had always assumed had been dubbed for her all those years. It wasn’t. Her whistle was authentic and deafening. My ears are still ringing. In her Hollywood years I was smitten by Donna’s outward beauty, and in her retirement years I was smitten by her inner beauty. Donna Douglas was simply a beautiful person.

JAMES BEST was an accomplished dramatic actor who appeared in over 80 films and 600 TV shows. He was also an acting coach, a director, a producer, and a painter. But he was best known as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard. Jim passed away on April 6 at the age of 88. Over the past few years Best and his wife Dorothy lived just up the road in Hickory, North Carolina. They stopped by the Triad Today studio in 2012 to tape a couple of segments about Jim’s multifaceted career, and to promote his artwork and his autobiography, Best in Hollywood. My friend Norman Lloyd, who produced the original Alfred Hitchcock Presents, including a spooky segment in which Best appeared, referred to Jim as “a scoundrel.” The title was fitting. I asked the scoundrel to talk about the incident that occurred when he was a young contract player at Universal, and was warned not to date any of the studio starlets. Best failed to heed that warning and got involved with one of the actresses. “I made a mistake, but she was so beautiful, I mean, she had been on the cover of Look magazine. But she was a blabber mouth, and she came back to the studio and told everyone that she had been out with me. All of a sudden the studio bosses called me in to their office. (Needless to say) they didn’t give me a raise (laughs).”

I also asked Jim to tell me about his not so authentic guitar playing on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. “I’m not in the habit of lying unless it’s really important (laughs), but when the producer asked if I played the guitar, I said, ‘Are you kidding? I have two guitars!” Well I got on set and we started to film, and the Director told me to play a piece of music and I told him I couldn’t play it. “You lied. You said you could play the guitar,” he shouted. “No, I said I HAD two guitars” (laughs).

James Best was a relevant part of our pop culture for seven decades, and a scoundrel to the end. He will be missed.

JAYNE MEADOWS was often confused with her younger sister Audrey who played Alice in The Honeymooners. But Jayne was an accomplished actress in her own right, and one of TV’s best game show panelists. She was also married to my hero/mentor, the great Steve Allen who invented the late night talk show. The couple teamed up often, appearing in such shows as Diagnosis Murder and St. Elsewhere. Jayne died on April 26 at the age of 95.

I first met Jayne and Steve in the late 1990’s when it fell upon me to arrange for the couple to attend a party for retiring CBS studio boss Bernie Oseransky. Jayne was always dressed to the nines and gave off an aristocratic air, but inside she was a very warm person who could do subtle comedy better than just about anyone. She not only loved Steve, but she understood his legacy. I once confessed to her that I was nervous the first time I met her husband. “Jayne I’ve interviewed hundreds of celebrities, but—” She interrupted me and said, “I know. He’s Steve Allen.”

Jayne Meadows was a consummate professional and an underrated actress. It was an honor to know her.

DICK VAN PATTEN was one of the last Hollywood stars who excelled in every facet of show business, from radio and theatre, to film and television. He was also an author and an entrepreneur. But Dick was perhaps most famous for his role as the patriarch in Eight is Enough. Dick passed away on June 23. He was 86 years old.

I first got to know Dick when he appeared at a “TV Dads” event which I moderated for the Television Academy back in 2009. Because he was soft spoken, most people assumed that Dick was an introverted man. But don’t tell that to anyone who ever competed against him in a game of tennis or poker. He also had a great sense of humor, and was a master storyteller. I laughed as he told about the baby alligator he kept in his tub when he was a little boy, and he cracked up our audience when recalling his reaction to his Father telling him the “facts of life”. Said Dick, “I thought to myself, boy I hope he’s right (laughs).”

But nothing will ever top the time I asked Dick if it was true that at age 16 he dated a stripper who made him get a tattoo. “Yeah that’s true. It was on my arm, it was a horseshoe. She made me get it. It was stupid (laughs). She said, ‘I bet you’re not brave enough to get a tattoo.’ And I said, ‘No I’m brave enough.’ I was trying to impress her, and in those days they didn’t have electric needles, they used a real needle, and I can’t stand blood. And the blood is streaming down my arm, and she says, ‘Does it hurt you?’ , and I said ‘No, no.’ What a dopey thing to do. And then I thought after all that, I’d get to make out with her or something. NOTHING!”

Dick’s little co-star Adam Rich once told me, “Dick is one of the nicest people you’d ever wish to meet.” He’s right.

MARTY INGELS was a comedy genius who regrettably only starred in one sitcom, “I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster”. The show about two handymen only had a short run in the early 1960’s, after which Marty was in demand as a guest star in shows like The Addams Family, all the way up to CSI, covering a period of six decades. Along the way he also became a Hollywood agent, and later, had steady work as a voice over talent. He died on October 21 at the age of 79.

I first met Marty through his Oscar winning wife Shirley Jones, who is best known to younger audiences as the singing Mom in The Partridge Family. Over the years, Pam and I kept in touch regularly with Marty and Shirley, including a visit to their home in Encino. Marty and I became frequent email pals in which I would write something funny, then he would respond with an even funnier quip. I will also miss the annual holiday cards which featured Shirley and Marty in hilarious poses. The last one pictured Marty with tape over his mouth and Shirley saying, “It was a quiet Christmas.” Rest in peace, Pal.

MARJORIE LORD was one of the most naturally beautiful actresses in the history of Hollywood, first appearing in B Westerns and mysteries, and later achieving stardom as the wife of Danny Thomas on the hit TV series Make Room for Daddy. As a young boy I had a major crush on Marjorie, but I didn’t realize that a nine year old boy was not allowed to marry a woman 35 years his senior. Bummer. I eventually got to meet my “crush” in 2008 when Maggie participated in my “TV Moms” event for the Television Academy. She was 90 at the time and still beautiful. Marjorie Lord passed away on November 28. She was 97.

During the “TV Moms” event I asked Marjorie to comment on the age-old double standard of aging that plagues actresses. “When I was in my 40s, I was playing 27 year old people on stage, but if they printed in the paper that I was in my 40s, it would be harder for the audience to buy me as a young woman. And you would never tell a producer your real age, because he gets that age fixed in his mind. So we were very quiet about our age back then.”

Maggie’s daughter, actress Anne Archer told me that her mother had “an inner beauty that radiated in everything she did.” Angela Cartwright, who played Lord’s daughter in Daddy, and appeared in The Sound of Music and Lost in Space, said of her co-star, “Marjorie always made me feel so loved and comfortable…I thought she was a princess.” I couldn’t agree more.

(Books by Marjorie, Dick, Marty, and James are available on Amazon.com., while interviews with Donna, James, and Dick can be viewed on JimLongworth.com)
 
 

As we celebrate and enjoy this holiday season, let’s not forget that there are people beyond our immediate circle of family and friends who could benefit from our love and generosity. Over the past decade, I’ve been able to showcase scores of community organizations on my “Triad Today” television show, and in the process, I’ve learned that there are several ways we can help these agencies help others. The first is to donate goods. Second is to donate money. And, third is to donate our time. Of course, some nonprofit groups can benefit from all three types of giving. Here, in no particular order, are just a few organizations to which you might lend your support.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC: Unfortunately, the Piedmont Triad has one of the worst hunger problems in the nation, and that includes the problem of childhood hunger. One reason is that we are still not fully recovered from the Recession of 2008, and in an economic downturn, many people are either unemployed or underemployed. That translates into an increasing number of families without money for food. The Second Harvest Food Bank distributes food to churches and nonprofit agencies that feed hungry people in an 18 county area. You can write a check directly to the food bank, and you can drop-off non-perishable food items at a number of locations in our area. For more information call 784- 5770, or visit HungerNWNC.org.

Goodwill Industries of Northwest NC: Each year, over 45,000 people in Northwest NC are served by workforce development programs that are administered by Goodwill. Those programs are supported in part by the items we donate, which are then sold at Goodwill retail stores. That means, the more items you donate, the more people will get back to work. Goodwill also welcomes monetary donations. For more information call 724-3621, or visit GoodwillNWNC.org.

Senior Services, Inc. operates an Adult Day Care facility, and offers a number of services to elderly citizens and their families. Their signature program is Meals on Wheels, and since 1962, volunteers of all ages have delivered over four million hot lunches to shut-ins, regardless of their ability to pay. Monetary donations are always welcome, and volunteers are always needed. For more information, call 725-0907, or visit SeniorServices.org.

Cancer Services, Inc.: Their stated mission is “to enhance quality of life for those living with cancer, and to provide the gift of life through education”. Their services include patient advocacy, medication and financial assistance, providing equipment and supplies, offering peer support groups, and much more. 90% of funds donated to Cancer Services, Inc. goes directly to providing client services. In addition to money, you can also donate used equipment and supplies. Call 760-9983, or visit CancerServicesOnline.org.

Greensboro Urban Ministry is on the front lines when it comes to providing emergency assistance. Greensboro Urban Ministry provides homeless families in Guilford County a safe, temporary environment. They also operate a food bank, and offer a chaplaincy service. Volunteers are needed to prepare and serve meals, manage shelters, tutor children, and perform a variety of other duties. Monetary donations are also much appreciated. Call 271-5959, or visit GreensboroUrbanMinistry.org.

Hospice: There are a number of hospice programs throughout our region, and all of them are in need of volunteers to aid in the care of patients, and to comfort families. Mountain Valley Hospice, for example, serves a 16 county area in NC and Virginia, offering personalized care to patients at the end of life. Due to the vast geographical area they serve, MVHPC maintains six regional offices, and operates the Woltz Hospice Home. They also specialize in care for terminally ill children and veterans. This month, MVHPC is breaking ground for a new hospice home in Yadkin County, which will be funded by grants and local donations. To give money or inquire about volunteering, call 1-888 789-2922, or visit MtnValleyHospice.org.

The Winston-Salem Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro: Thanks to the generosity of donors, these two historic Foundations are able to issue scores of community grants every year that go to support a variety of organizations and activities engaged in everything from offering scholarships, to promoting economic development. Both Foundations assist families and individuals who wish to establish charitable trusts and special funds. For general information, visit CFGG.org and WSFoundation.org.

The Petty Family Foundation: NASCAR legend Richard Petty and his family support a number of charitable organizations and specialized programs, including Paralyzed Veterans of America and Victory Junction Camp, the latter of which provides an uplifting experience for children with severe disabilities and terminal illnesses. To make a donation or learn more, visit PettyFamilyFoundation.org.

Carolina Donor Services and Red Cross … There can be no greater gift at this holiday season than the gift of life, and that’s why you might consider donating blood, and signing a donor card. Either gesture requires only a few minutes of your time, and will almost certainly result in saving someone’s life in the future. You can reach Carolina Donor Services at 1-800 200-2672, or at CarolinaDonorServices.org. You can call the Red Cross at 333-2111, or via the internet at GSORedCross.org.

Please remember that your donations of time, money, or goods to area community organizations is vitally important, not just now, but throughout the coming year. It’s also a way for us to expand the circle of people we care about, and that’s something worth celebrating in this season of giving.
 
 

Congratulations! By now you have been forced to decide what kind of health insurance to purchase for 2016, and if you choose not to choose, you will be fined up to 2.5 percent of your income. But never fear because President Obama said that we can keep the plan we had. Oh wait, that’s no longer true. He also said that our premiums wouldn’t increase by more than 10 percent. Again, not true. Depending upon where you live, premiums are going to rise by 25 to 50 percent. Then there’s the part where he said we would never be turned down for coverage.

That’s sort of true, and sort of not true. Yes, you can get coverage, but if you can’t afford the premiums, your insurance will be canceled. And even if you can make the monthly payments, if you or a loved one has a prolonged or catastrophic illness, you still have to pay the deductible, and (under most plans) up to 20 percent of the hospital bill. That means if your hospital bill is $50,000, you’d have to come up with about $12,000. Perhaps I’m missing something here, but most families don’t have $12,000 lying around.

So how can the deck continue to be stacked against individuals and families under the so-called Affordable Care Act? Because the healthcare system itself has not been reformed. For the sake of brevity, let’s just focus on the actual cost of insurance. If Blue Cross wants to raise our premiums by more than 10 percent, all they have to do is write a justification report to the State, then they pretty much get whatever they want. That’s because most State Insurance Commissioners either can’t or won’t do anything to prevent the increase. Says one healthcare expert, Professor Timothy Jost of Washington & Lee University, “Nothing in the Affordable Care Act prohibits them (insurers) from proceeding.”

Perhaps President Obama should have fought to include rate hike protections in his reform package, but I doubt Congress would have approved them anyway. It’s a moot point, anyway. According to Washington State Insurance Commissioner Stephanie Marquis, “The large cost driver in what people are paying does not have to do with healthcare reform … it would continue to happen regardless of whether we had healthcare reform.”

Earlier this year, correspondent Robert Pear wrote in the New York Times that Blue Cross Blue Shield has sought (and will probably get) rate increases that average 23 percent in Illinois, 31 percent in Oklahoma, 36 percent in Tennessee, 37 percent in Kansas, and 54 percent in Minnesota. Pear also reported that here in North Carolina, Big Blue has asked for an average 25 percent rate hike, but many people with individual plans are experiencing as much as a 50 percent jump in monthly premiums.

There’s no way to justify or sugarcoat what Blue Cross is doing. They can try and explain their exorbitant rate increases by blaming doctors and hospitals, but the truth is Blue Cross Blue Shield is guilty of price gouging, pure and simple. And price gouging is illegal. Generally speaking, we only hear about price gouging during or immediately after a natural disaster, such as when a gas station operator jacked up his prices after two gulf oil refineries were knocked off-line following Hurricane Katrina. But even during disasters we’re not always protected against price gouging. CBS Money Watch reported that after superstorm Sandy hit the east coast, only 7 of the 13 states struck by the storm had laws against price gouging. Today, 34 states have laws in place, including here in North Carolina. The question is, will they enforce them?

North Carolina General Statute 75-38 prohibits, “excessive pricing during states of disaster, states of emergency, or abnormal market disruptions.” So far, Attorney General Roy Cooper has a pretty good track record when it comes to punishing companies for price gouging during a natural disaster, but he’s never lifted a finger to stop Blue Cross from gouging its customers, even during and following the great recession of 2008. And if that recession doesn’t constitute a market disruption, then I don’t know what does. Millions of people lost their jobs, and families are still struggling to recover.

The obvious long-term fix to our healthcare crisis is to adopt Sen. Bernie Sanders’ solution, a system of so-called “Medicare for all.” The fact is nearly every other industrialized nation in the world offers its citizens free healthcare, so why not us? Yes, those systems are funded by taxes, and yes there can be a waiting list for certain types of non-emergency surgery, but at least people in those countries don’t lose their homes and their savings trying to pay for healthcare. Here in the land of the free, the number one reason for personal bankruptcy is medical bills, and that is a disgrace. At most, it will take a miracle for Congress to pass Sanders’ plan. At the very least it will take a long time. And so, in the meantime, there are a couple of quick fixes that can prevent financial ruin for the average family.

One solution is to legislate a cap on insurance premiums. This approach is not without precedent. Back in 2013 when states were trying to get a handle on how to implement ACA, Maryland’s Attorney General Douglas Gansler and the Maryland Insurance Administration sought a cap of 5 percent on health insurance premiums until such time as it became clear what the actual price tag of ACA would be. Gansler’s actions were precipitated by Care First Blue Cross Blue Shield’s attempt to raise premiums by up to 150 percent.

Another short-term solution is for states to enforce their own laws against price gouging. If he broadly interpreted and applied statute 75-38, Attorney General Cooper could unilaterally drop a fly into Big Blue’s greedy ointment. Of course, such an action would be challenged by BCBS, and perhaps eventually struck down by the courts, but you don’t know if a solution will work unless you try. Right now, families in North Carolina need an advocate who will stand up to insurance monopolies. Roy Cooper could be that advocate, especially since he needs our help to get a job promotion next fall. Maybe we just need to gouge him a little.