Today is politics day, a time for discussion of a few issues.

First up are audits and reactions. It was a couple of weeks ago that State Auditor Beth Wood declared she would seek reelection. Considering her thoroughness in audits and that she doesn’t care if the department is run by a Democrat or a Republican, her decision is a good one. This week, she released two audits; the reactions are night and day.

An audit report on the Department of Health and Human Services found one of the employees was doing favors for friends and families, costing the taxpayers lots of dollars through the hiring of these friends and family members. The audit explanation seemed to be thorough, complete and accurate, but the reaction from DHHS was one of dismay and objection, saying the amount of dollars in the audit was overblown and that the people hired didn’t work directly for the department headed by the person responsible therefore nepotism wasn’t true. Hah!

On the other hand, there was an audit of the NC Treasurer's Office and some of the policies and procedures there. The reaction was 180-degrees from DHHS. Treasure Janet Cowell, also seeking reelection next year, was quick to thank Ms. Wood for the audit, agreeing to the findings and saying changes would be made. While Ms. Wood is not the end-all to beat-all in determining what is right and wrong within State government, she has done well during her first two terms and deserves a third. DHHS should have smiled and agreed changes need to be made and move ahead instead of fighting.

It was also announced this week by Attorney General Roy Cooper that he will appeal a ruling by the FCC that allows city-owned internet services to expand beyond their borders. If the ruling is tossed out, it will be a victory for big business and a kick in the teeth for people who want broadband service that companies such as Time Warner and others will not supply, and if they do, it will come with a large amount of dollars on the invoice. Cooper is running for Governor, so siding with State Government this early in the campaign may not do him damage, and he's not willing to fight the legislature on this one but hopefully the FCC will be upheld.

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Dictionary.com word of the day

scroop (verb) [skroop] to emit a harsh, grating sound