Jan MacKay, candidate for NC Senate in North Raleigh and Wake Forest, is perhaps one of the most interesting candidates for the North Carolina General Assembly in 2008. Her opponents are both men from mostly Republican backgrounds; Chris Mintz and Neal Hunt. Chris Mintz is the former chairman of the Wake County Republican Mens Club. Neal Hunt is the Republican incumbent senator. Jan is the only candidate from a lifelong independent (voting almost entirely for Democrats) background. NC Senate candidate MacKay hopes for voter support from democrats unable to vote for a self-described conservative, unaffiliated voters who are independent, libertarians, greens, as well as moderate republicans upset with the status quo. More at NC Politics.

OMG! NC Governor Candidate Mike Munger makes a SPLASH as he winds down his Ol’ Fashioned Backroads Campaign Tour! He certainly makes his point about PARTICIPATION IN DEBATES AND FAIR ELECTION COVERAGE in the MUST SEE VIDEO! Also, see an article from a biker rights perspective at Munger for Governor.

LIBERTARIANS ARE THE FASTEST GROWING POLITICAL PARTY IN NORTH CAROLINA
NC Voter Registrations Spike - One Week After Bailout, Libertarian Voter Registrations Spike 19 Percent!
Raleigh NC Grassroots USA October 12, 2008
The NC State Board of Elections has been very busy with last minute voter registrations. Overall, the state total for voter registrations jumped by 0.67 percent. NC Libertarians saw a huge spike in voter registrations, increasing the number of voters registered as Libertarians by 19.24 percent in one week!     See weekly voter registrations chart.

NC Senate Candidate MacKay drafts legislative proposal in advance of Ballot Access Summit:
“Fair Ballot Access for Increased Voter Choice”  see Press Release

Economic Crisis - 9/23/08. Must watch video comments from Ron Paul, Baraq Obama, and John McCain on Ron Paul interview with CNN. NC Senate Candidate Jan MacKay urges all North Carolinians to contact US Congress immediately!
Say no to bailout! The fed has no right to raid the US Treasury to benefit Wall Street. It is to be the greatest transfer of wealth in history, from you to Wall Street. Reforms - yes! Bailout, trillion dollar bad debt, more bureaucracy - no!

NC STATE SENATE CANDIDATE MACKAY PROPOSES GRASSROOTS DEMANDS:
MAIN STREET SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO BAIL OUT OF THEIR 401K PLANS WITH NO 10% TAX PENALTY!! IT’S OUR MONEY. WE SHOULD NOT BE PENALIZED! See Press Release.

NC Senate Candidate Speaks To Matters Near and Dear
Raleigh NC September 18, 2008 North Raleigh, Wake Forest, and Unincorporated Wake County
NC Senate Candidate Jan MacKay taped a 2 minute message in the NBC 17 television studios in Raleigh today. Topics: veteran of military service, influences, cost of freedom, rights, liberty, drought, tourism, fuel prices, and no tolerance for corruption and status quo. See script.

Fact: The annual salary for NC state senator and NC state house representative is only $20,659.
August 26, 2008 Raleigh. Why would a Senator spend tens of thousands to campaign for this low-paying job?
NC Senate Candidate Jan MacKay pledges to refuse all PAC money, bribes, and payola.
Will accept information only! See NC LEGISLATURE CORRUPTION.

The 2007-2008 NC Legislative Session ended on July 19, 2008. See 2007-2008 Session Laws for Enacted Legislation. In 2008, the general elections will be held on November 4, 2008. The NC General Assembly is scheduled to convene again on Jan 28, 2009.

Citizens Rights versus Powers of Government

Essay on the 4th of July, 2008, by Jan MacKay
NC State Senate District 15 Candidate, Wake County
 including North Raleigh, Wake Forest, Bayleaf, Stony Hill

The people cannot protect their rights unless they refuse increases in government.

In North Carolina we face the challenge of balancing the powers of government and the rights of the people. The combined powers of federal, state, county, and municipal government have much more weight than the rights of the individual. This is contrary to the desires of the founding fathers. Either the rights of the individual must be increased, or the powers of government must be decreased.

The government derives all of its powers by consent of the people. The democratic process of majority rule ¹ only works when the government abides by restrictions of powers, by a constitution, balanced by a strong bill of rights for the people. When elected leaders fail to take seriously those constitutional restrictions, the power of government increases, and the rights of the people are compromised.

In the NC legislature, when elected leadership knowingly pass laws which have no constitutional basis, they force citizens to either lose those rights forever, or challenge the laws by either electing people who take the constitution seriously, or by challenging the constitutionality of those laws in court.

The effectiveness of legislators should be judged, not by the number of bills they get passed into law which increase bureaucratic powers of government by stealing rights from the citizens, but by the powers of government they refuse to allow, and by rights of the people which they steadfastly affirm.

There has been a mocking of the Constitution by our government leaders. Without firm abidance to the restrictions of powers granted the government, by the people, the government takes more power unto itself than allowed by the people.

Inalienable rights of the people already exist, but they need to be continually reaffirmed. Unfortunately, we cannot leave it to status quo legislators to do this.

Footnote:
1. Majority rule, under the present situation of having 4 levels of government contriving against the individual citizen, with no respect for the Bill of Rights, is like 4 wolves and a lamb discussing what should be on the dinner menu.

PRIVACY RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK IN NC

With the passage of FISA, actions to suspend habeus corpus, new developments in surveillance technology, and the federal government demanding states to adopt Real ID, privacy rights has become one of the most important political issues. Our own government is spying on us. This clearly contradicts the Bill of Rights. We must all be concerned about when this happens as it signals an omnipotence which could turn into dictatorship. NC Senate Candidate Jan MacKay, Wake County, has urged all North Carolina legislators to adopt a strong stand against the Real ID act, similar to that of Montana legislators and Montana Governor Schweitzer who wrote to Secretary Chertoff, Homeland Security, to firmly resist the federal governments demands to implement Real ID.
For information about NC legislation related to Real ID, please see Issues:  PRIVACY RIGHTS.

MYRTLE BEACH BIKE WEEK - “the Tradition Will Always Continue!”
Bikers USA Raleigh NC August 8, 2008
Jan MacKay, NC Senate Candidate from Wake County, in her capacity as a US CITIZEN which is truly the highest office in the land, and director of Bikers USA, director of BOLT of NC, and co-director of BOLT of the Carolinas, had this to say about attempts by Myrtle Beach City Council in Horry County, SC to ban Myrtle Beach Bike Week:
“Bikers will not honor any "ban" on bike rallies, and will not honor any unconstitutional  "call for a ban" on Myrtle Beach Bike Week. The bill of rights and the 14th amendment of the US Constitution is the law of the land which we will follow. Motorcycles are a common and accepted means of transport. The laws of the United States of America supercede any city-wide ban on motorcycles. We will not allow a state, county, or municipality to deprive us of use of public roads funded by tax dollars. Regardless of whatever kind of heavy-handed unconstitutional politics the city may be considering, the tradition of Myrtle Beach Bike Week will always continue!”
Jan MacKay vows to ride there on her motorcycle, in defense of the US Constitution during the traditional 69th Annual Myrtle Beach Bike Week in the third week of May, 2009. Jan and others will ride in lawful protest of city council decisions to punish Myrtle Beach property owners with property tax increases in order to make up for a major loss of tourism revenue anticipated to be millions of dollars. We will also protest the underhanded political tactic of trying to turn the citizens against motorcyclists, when it is city council who is to blame for any loss of tourism. Any attempt to interfere with the protest ride along public roads, other than declaration of emergency powers, will be considered an additional violation of the US Constitution and our civil rights. Myrtle Beach City Council is also banning motorcycle vendors in an attempt to discourage rally goers from attending. Motorcycle vendors and motorcycle dealers do not make the rally. Motorcyclists do! Let’s ride! Jan also vows to participate in united support with black bikers during any similar ride during the traditional Myrtle Beach Black Bike Week which often has to be held at Atlantic Beach due to problems with the city of Myrtle Beach. In past years, Myrtle Beach has come under fire from the NAACP for a variety of alleged acts of discrimination by the city against black bikers.
If elected to the NC Senate, Jan will work for improving tourism in the state by removing impediments to tourism growth. Jan will also introduce legislation to ensure public access to all roads which are publicly owned and maintained, and will attempt to remove police checkpoints which interfere with the lawful citizens right to travel freely.
Full References at: Bikers USA, Myrtle Beach Bike Week, SC Bikers, Biker Rights

About the front page photo of motorcyclists riding through Raleigh: The Raleigh skyline with approximately 500 motorcycles riding in the Officer Down Memorial Ride in June 2008. When North Carolinians unite for a common purpose, and move in the same direction, we can achieve greatness, but we must  choose the right leaders. There is nothing tricky about it. It’s actually a rather simple roadmap. The best leaders are the ones who know the way, and know how to make course corrections. North Carolina is a land of great promise, but under current leadership, is heading the wrong way! We need new leaders who are strong, have a good sense of direction, and will keep us on course!