Am I the only one feeling we are getting the short end of the stick during the short session of the General Assembly?

I have a few questions on the bond referendum Pat McCrory has requested to be placed on the March 15 primary ballot.

Is this as an effort to improve his image before the 2016 elections?

First, if these projects are so important to our state they should be budgeted, so those who want them are paying for them today, not irresponsibly forcing others to pay the debt and interest for these items later.

Could this blow up Art Pope’s tax cuts? I hear from Pat that this $2 billion debt being proposed “will not require a tax increase” in order to pay it off. The taxpayers of North Carolina will be forced to pay, whether it is by a tax increase or by taking money away from other future priorities in order to pay for the pet projects of today.

Why place them on the Primary ballot when fewer voters will turn out to vote? Remember Amendment One? With only a 35% voter turnout it passed with only 1 out of 5 registered voter’s approving because of such a low turnout.

He doesn’t want everybody to vote. Elections have never been won by a majority of people, even from the beginning of our country and they are not being won now. As a matter of fact, his leverage in this primary election goes up as the voting turnout goes down.

Why not wait until November elections when North Carolina voter turnout is 68-70%?

The problems we face in this election year are many. With voter ID, compacted voting sites, fewer days, and now primaries months ahead of previous years. This has placed many burdens on the poor, young and elderly.

So getting back to my questions.

Do we want this, do we need this and most of all, can we afford this?

–Wiley Post