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Four Seasons Politics

Elections board upholds ruling on candidate's age

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Defense attorney denounces call for Absher resignation

The attorney for embattled School Board member Michael Absher on Tuesday strongly denounced a potential vote by the board to demand the resignation of Absher, who faces a criminal charge related to a group home his nonprofit agency operates and a civil complaint filed by a high school teacher.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Health care bill lacks the votes, Meadows says

The Republican-backed Senate health care bill released on Thursday lacks the votes to pass in either the House or Senate, U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows told reporters in a conference call on Friday. “We don’t have enough support among conservatives or moderates in either chamber to get it to the president’s desk,” Meadows said.His main concerns are, “How do we make sure that we bring premiums down substantially, and how do we solidify the insurance markets so that there’s enough insurance to provide coverage,” he said.The Senate bill provided a little stability, Meadows said, by adding funds for CSR payments, which would help those on Obamacare and reducing the percentage of people that receive subsidies to those at 350 percent of the poverty line.“That reduction doesn’t affect a great amount of people in terms of the threshold,” he said. “Most people are covered through employer health plans. One of the recommendations is to look at subsidies looking at 400 percent and being able to buy premiums out of a health savings account.”“A number of us that believe there should be an amendment for people to buy Obamacare plans or other non-compliant plans that would accurately reflect the risk that they have, for example someone in their 50s would have more coverage on certain types of illness than others,” Meadows said. “Having flexibility as a health care provider and insurance provider is important. It’ll have the greatest effect on rates and affordability,” he added.In terms of Medicaid, because North Carolina isn’t a Medicaid expansion state, the impact here wouldn’t be great, Meadows said. But what is of concern to him is that North Carolina would receive its “fair share” in compensation."I’m optimistic that we can improve the bill and get consensus among moderates and ultimately get it to President Trump,” he concluded.In response to Trump’s calling of the bill “mean”, Meadows isn’t focused on the labels it will receive, and has a different interpretation of Trump’s response.“I think what he’s responding to is that we not only handle preexisting conditions, but we fund it in a way to not give people anxiety,” he said. “I support him fully in that. They want to make sure we adequately fund it, make sure there is no anxiety for people with preexisting conditions. I see it as a push to get the Senate to increase dollars on some critical areas.”With regard to preexisting conditions, a heated topic within the bill, Meadows says they need to be covered. “A preexisting conditions provision in the House and Senate bill was never bypassed,” he said. “If I have a preexisting condition and go to an insurance provider I would get the same rate as someone who doesn’t have a preexisting condition.”The bill looks to decrease government support for Medicaid.“I would prefer to see greater flexibility for every state to deploy Medicaid dollars in a less prescriptive manner,” Meadows said. “Medicaid today is broken. We somehow think that Medicaid is working the way that it is, Medicaid doesn’t work the way it currently is. The real key is allowing dollars to be deployed by legislature to meet the needs. The trajectory now is not sustainable for the health care provider. They’re getting reimbursed less and less. There’s more work to be done, but it’s a broader Medicaid reform package outside of an ACA repeal and replace measure.”Meadows would like to see some changes in the bill before it is passed.“The biggest thing I would like to see in terms of amendments is to have flexibility for consumers where they can buy one of 20 plans that insurance providers are allowed by law to provide those plans and still qualify for subsidies offered by the federal government,” he said. “The second part is to expand the ability of HSAs to allow more people to buy those types of coverage.” Health savings accounts are untaxed, but only those with a high deductible health plan are allowed to have them.Critics of the bill criticize its process and the nature in which it was made.“I don’t have a problem with the speed of which it’s being brought forth,” Meadows said. “We’ve (Republicans) talked about repeal and replace for seven years. I do have a concern with trying to make sure legislation has top priority with does it lower premiums and does it stop hardworking tax payers from choosing between putting food on the table and paying premiums. Most people can agree that insurance premiums have continued to skyrocket. We need to do something about that and to make sure preexisting conditions are protected and covered. We will do those two things in a bill that has my approval.” As for the secrecy from the Senate, “I’m for open process and transparency,” he added. “I think the more transparent the deliberation process, the better the product.”The bill will undergo the voting process next week.Meadows also briefly discussed tax reform.“The biggest budget concerns are increasing the amount of money for defense and non-defense discretionary dollars,” Meadows said. “Those numbers right now are to increase defense spending by 75 billion, keep non-defense discretionary at current levels, where most of the consensus is building in the House. If we’re doing tax reform, we have mandatory spending cuts.”Next week will be critical for settling on a budget and final numbers, he added.“There is growing pressure to sequester for the military,” he said. “If we did that, it would be a monumental vote that we haven’t seen in the House or Senate in at least the last three congresses. It’s a work in progress in terms of the budget. There are three different camps in the House: fiscal hawks, defense hawks and those that are more moderate in spending habits wanting to increase non-defense spending levels. We need to try to bring those groups together.”   Read Story »

Hendersonville Four Seasons Politics

NC budget grants money for downtown, AVL, Muddy Sneakers

The new state budget contains $100,000 for public improvements to downtown Hendersonville, $200,000 to fight the woolly adelgid scourge that is killing hemlocks, $4 million for capital improvements at Asheville Regional Airport, $100,000 to expand a legal program for veterans and $500,000 for the Muddy Sneakers program among other benefits for the Henderson County area, state Rep. Chuck McGrady announced.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

McCrory not ruling out rematch in 2020

RALEIGH — Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory says Roy Cooper, his Democratic successor, is repaying his trial lawyer campaign contributors by hiring them for expensive, politically motivated lawsuits against the GOP-led General Assembly.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Conservative stars to join rally supporting Meadows

A rally in support of U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows will feature Wall Street Journal columnist and Trump adviser Stephen Moore and FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon, the Asheville Tea Party announced. The two conservative policy stars will join Meadows supporters for the rally at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, June 15, at the Golden Corral at 2535 Chimney Rock Road. At 2:30 the supporters plan to rally outside Meadows' 11th District office at the Grove Street Courthouse. Moore, who served as senior economic adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth for the Heritage Foundation, a former president of the Club for Growth and a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. In addition to authoring many New York Times best-selling books, Moore served as a Fox News analyst, is a present senior economics analyst for CNN and serves as senior economic contributor for Freedomworks. Brandon previously served as the executive vice president of FreedomWorks and vice president of communications for the organization. Before joining FreedomWorks, Brandon served as a program director at the Junior Statesmen Foundation in Washington, DC, and was campaign manager for Ohio State Rep. Bryan Williams’ bid to become mayor of Akron, Ohio. Adam was a press assistant on Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign. He also taught American History, Government and International Relations at Emerson Preparatory School in Washington, DC. For information and to RSVP contact Asheville Tea Party Chair Jane Bilello at 828-692-3117 or Jane@AshevilleTeaParty.org.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Legislature flips off Cooper's call for special session

RALEIGH — Legislative Republicans wasted little time Thursday dispatching Gov. Roy Cooper’s call for an extra session to draw new legislative districts. As the clerk was reading Cooper’s proclamation calling for the 14-day session, House Rules Committee Chairman David Lewis, R-Harnett, raised a constitutional objection to the governor's order. Lewis cited Article III, Section 5, Part 7: “The Governor may, on extraordinary occasions, by and with the advice of the Council of State, convene the General Assembly in extra session by his proclamation, stating therein the purpose or purposes for which they are thus convened.” Lewis argued no extraordinary occasion existed, a federal court order required new districts to be drawn during a regular General Assembly session, and the governor did not meaningfully consult with the Council of State. House Minority Leader Darren Jackson, D-Wake, objected to Lewis’s objection. The House voted down his objection, 44-71. House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, then removed the extra session from the legislative calendar. The Senate convened at noon and went through a similar process, this time led by Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell. This time, Sens. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, and Wanda Bryant, D-Halifax, repeatedly objected to the methods used by Republicans. Rules Committee Chairman Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, approved Hise’s objection, and the Senate likewise canceled the special session. “Despite all his talk about separation of powers, it’s clear Roy Cooper wants to be North Carolina’s governor, legislature, and with this latest stunt, its judiciary too,” said Hise in a statement after the Senate canceled the extra session. Ford Porter, Cooper’s spokesman, issued a statement slamming the General Assembly. “Now the Republican legislature is thumbing its nose at the North Carolina Constitution as well as the U.S. Supreme Court,” Porter said. “It’s troubling that they prefer to fight about the process rather than draw the new map that North Carolina voters deserve to level the playing field of our democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision and there is no reason to delay the drawing of new maps.”   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

2015 HHS graduate announces candidacy for City Council

The first candidate to publicly announce plans to run for the Hendersonville City Council this year would bring diversity and youth to the elected body.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

County budget: No new taxes (and no tax rollback)

The Henderson County Board of Commissioners on Monday adopted a $136.5 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, keeping the tax rate at the current rate of 56.5 cents per $100 valuation.   Read Story »

Henderson County Four Seasons Politics

Democrat Coffay rips Meadows on climate accord position

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows and a Democrat who is planning to challenge him in next year's election differ sharply over President Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. “I applaud President Trump for following through on this campaign promise he made to millions of voters across the country," Meadows said. "The Paris Accord is a bad deal for the American people—it hampers economic growth, burdens job creators, and stifles innovation to preserve an agreement where the benefits are miniscule at best. We all agree that we must be good stewards of the earth, but it doesn’t require a treaty never ratified by Congress to accomplish that. Time and time again we’ve seen that businesses will adapt to consumer demand to use more environmentally friendly practices–there is no need to cripple entire industries with sweeping regulations. "Today’s decision by President Trump is another step toward accomplishing the long-term goal that the President emphasized so successfully during his campaign: putting the interests of the American worker first.” Matt Coffay, 30, announced his run for the 11th Congressional District seat in April. He leads a local chapter of Our Revolution, an organization aligned with the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. He grew up outside Blue Ridge, Ga., and graduated from UNCA. He was a farmer in Alexander until last year, when he took a job with the nonprofit National Young Farmers Coalition, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. "Mark Meadows’ praise of the decision to back out is shortsighted, irresponsible, and just plain wrong," Coffay said in a news release. "If he cared about the people of his district, he’d be encouraging us to invest and create jobs in renewable energy." "Western North Carolina needs leadership that values the lives and welfare of regular people, not big corporations," Coffay said. "Meadows has shown his true colors by applauding this terrible decision. When I’m in Congress, I won’t make the same mistake. I’ll ensure that America leads the way in renewable energy investment and job creation. Let’s create a future to be proud of." China now produces more CO2 than the United States annually, but high historic output from the U.S. makes it the biggest overall contributor to climate change in the world. And as a country which makes up just 4 percent of the world’s population, but which is responsible for about a third of the carbon dioxide contributing to climate change, Matt Coffay believes this country has a moral imperative to be a global leader and set an example for clean energy: "Renewables are the future," Coffay continued. "The only question is whether or not the United States will reap the benefits of the jobs and industries that will spring up around renewable energy or if we’ll sit back while China, India, and Europe lead the way. Mark Meadows is more concerned with campaign contributions from Big Oil and the fossil fuel industry than he is in representing the interests of working families in Western North Carolina. He’d rather hand jobs over to China and India than keep them here in the United States."   Read Story »

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