From the September 18, 2013, Asheville Citizen-Times:<\/p>\n
When we moved here, this state was promising to be a southern version of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 Now it is rapidly mutating into a northerly version of Texas, thanks to Republican control of all branches of government.\u00a0 It is all about cutting taxes and reducing services.<\/p>\n
Oh, by the way.\u00a0 Our North Carolina anti-tax Republicans are anti-tax only when it comes to those who can afford to pay.\u00a0 In the latest update<\/a> to North Carolina sales tax law…<\/p>\n \u2022 The sales tax on manufactured and modular homes (the kind you find in trailer parks) increases from 2.0% to 4.75%, effective January 1, 2014.<\/p>\n \u2022 The sales tax will now apply to newspapers sold by vendors and home-delivery carriers, effective January 1, 2014.\u00a0 This targets readers who do not use the internet.<\/p>\n \u2022 Effective July 1, 2014, breads and other baked goods sold at a bakery thrift store will be subject to the general state and local sales tax (6.75% in my area).\u00a0 Prior to this, such items were subject to the 2% food tax rate.<\/p>\n \u2022 The “Sales Tax Holiday” for clothing, school supplies, instructional materials, computers, computer supplies and sports or recreational equipment sold between 12:01 A.M. on the first Friday of August and 11:59 P.M. the following Sunday, is now repealed.<\/p>\n Our state Republicans are seeking to reverse defeats from the 1960s and maybe the 1860s.\u00a0 If you thought North Carolina had become a purple state, you would be wrong.\u00a0 This is a chimera<\/a> state, composed of several different populations with different origins and cultures and values.\u00a0 The color of chimera is not purple but a blotchy blue-gray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the September 18, 2013, Asheville Citizen-Times: An anti-abortion activist [Margaret Peal] has been hired as a senior policy adviser at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the latest in a string of politically charged hiring decisions … Continue reading