The Bad News Report

[Niner National]

12 minutes ago, cltcane said:

You're right.  So far Charlotte seems to be the only city the state adversely affected by HB2, at least materially.  Why are we the ones being punished by the General Assembly's bigotry when we were the only city in the state that took a firm stand against LGBT discrimination?  Unfortunately, I think HB2 is going to have to start affecting the economies of Raleigh and smaller and less urban areas of the state before publish backlash starts to grow and there is any real push for repeal beyond the LGBT, progressive, and corporate communities.

Greensboro has a pharmaceutical company that was going to invest tens of millions in a new facility and create 80 jobs that is reconsidering it's investment into the state. I think it was a New Jersey based company.

[cltcane]

40 minutes ago, NYCLT said:

Why are you embarrassed for the city? I don't give a damn either way I just want Charlotte to prosper - but I know for a fact that Charlotte has nothing to be embarrassed about.

We're all embarrassed because, like ah59396 said, everyone is talking about HB2 and how backward our legislature (and unfortunately by extension, our state, of which Charlotte is obviously a part) is and not how our local leaders took a stand against discrimination.  We're unfairly being tied to HB2 and the homophobia and especially transphobia that permeates our state's Republican leadership, and we're the ones being double punished for doing what was right and good for business.

Edited April 5, 2016 by cltcane

[NYCLT]

The fact that these companies are pulling from Charlotte proves that they don't know anything about this law or this story - just a bunch of corporate PR BS. If the NBA ASG moves I'm going to lose it.

[Crown]

I think High Point is feeling the squeeze as well with the effect on Market. The Market has an annual economic impact of $5.38 billion 

I wish media would move away from the "bathroom bill" title because it is so much more than that. 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/28/news/economy/north-carolina-bathroom-bill-high-point/

[Miesian Corners]

6 minutes ago, NYCLT said:

The fact that these companies are pulling from Charlotte proves that they don't know anything about this law or this story - just a bunch of corporate PR BS. If the NBA ASG moves I'm going to lose it.

What's not to know? I've ready the law and I'm pretty sure they have too. LGBT citizens are NOT a protected class in NC. They would have been in Charlotte, but since the brain trust known as the North Carolina General Assembly nullified our ordinance, nada. 

[tozmervo]

14 minutes ago, NYCLT said:

The fact that these companies are pulling from Charlotte proves that they don't know anything about this law or this story - just a bunch of corporate PR BS. If the NBA ASG moves I'm going to lose it.

It proves that companies recognize that HB2 permits businesses in NC to decline services to their employees based on their sexual orientation. Imagine being a gay employee sent to NC for work only to be declined a hotel room, a taxi ride, moving services, or a rental apartment - because you're gay. That's what HB2 means.

[urbanlover568]

I fear that federal funding will be next. This will give the white house justification to do so.

[cltcane]

1 hour ago, NYCLT said:

The fact that these companies are pulling from Charlotte proves that they don't know anything about this law or this story - just a bunch of corporate PR BS. If the NBA ASG moves I'm going to lose it.

They know all they need to know.  HB2 is about more than just the controversial restroom provision of Charlotte's local ordinance which is what supporters of the law want everyone to believe.  It was and is as much about ensuring that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be considered protected classes anywhere in the state.  The Republican leaders in the General Assembly just jumped on the opportunity to use the artificial paranoia they created about trangendered people being pedophiles and sexual predators to legally limit basic protections for all LGBTQ North Carolinians.  It was a damn-the-consequences, socially-conservative statement against recent progress made in the decades-long fight for LGBTQ equality (and one they hope will help rally the religious right base in November).

Edited April 5, 2016 by cltcane

[NYCLT]

I appreciate the replies from all of you - I just got into the story now that it's blowing up in our faces and what I took from it was that Charlotte is being inflicted punishment because Charlotte is the greatest contributor to the NC economy, hence if you punish Charlotte you punish NC, but by inflicting punishment on Charlotte you are not at all affecting the constituents who actually voted the people into office who passed the bill in the first place because they are not located in Charlotte - furthermore, the people who voted the people into office who passed the bill hate Charlotte  so they're just having a grand ole time - obviously you see why this is so frustrating to an average citizen such as myself.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

So...I just read Pay Pal has jobs in China and Saudi Arabia. Hypocrites! So don't even try and say this is about gay rights. It is straight up political and PR BS.

Maybe, just maybe this is the Charlotte mayors fault? She should have left well enough alone!

[Niner National]

Just now, RaleighHeelsfan said:

So...I just read Pay Pal has jobs in China and Saudi Arabia. Hypocrites! So don't even try and say this is about gay rights. It is straight up political and PR BS.

Maybe, just maybe this is the Charlotte mayors fault? She should have left well enough alone!

While I don't really agree with you on the law, I do agree that the Charlotte mayor deserves some blame in all this.

She wanted to make a political statement and she definitely did. It all just blew up in her face and now Charlotte and the rest of NC is looking quite unattractive to a lot of companies.

[15895]

7 minutes ago, RaleighHeelsfan said:

So...I just read Pay Pal has jobs in China and Saudi Arabia. Hypocrites! So don't even try and say this is about gay rights. It is straight up political and PR BS.

Maybe, just maybe this is the Charlotte mayors fault? She should have left well enough alone!

 

So you're saying our new law makes us more like Saudi Arabia?

[RaleighHeelsfan]

Uggg...NO...I was talking about Pay Pal...they are hypocrites!!! They employ people in China. When it comes to Pay Pal...it has nothing to do with gay rights. Just PR. I am NOT talking about the HB2.

[Miesian Corners]

How is this Roberts' fault? Had the Legislature simply left Charlotte and Chapel Hill alone, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

It's her fault for playing with fire. But I also agree Raleigh should have stayed out of it.

3 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

How is this Roberts' fault? Had the Legislature simply left Charlotte and Chapel Hill alone, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

 

 

[Miesian Corners]

You're saying the General Assembly createted a new law that negates the rights of its citizens and it's Mayor Roberts' fault. I don't follow the logic. From the Pay Pal press release: "The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte."

[RaleighHeelsfan]

"The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte."

Lol...really!!!!  The new law perpetuates discrimination and it violates the values and principles that are at the core of PayPal’s mission and culture. As a result, PayPal will not move forward with our planned expansion into Charlotte." 

LOL REALLY!!! Yet they employ people in China and Saudi Arabia! Pay Pal takes trips to those countries and ok with it. They can keep their jobs!!!  Come on people!!! Hypocrites!!!

[grodney]

Not hypocrites, realists.  Charlotte, as a possible expansion in the U.S., is completely different than foreign markets.  That's just the way it is.

[RaleighHeelsfan]

NO...Hypocrites!!!

1 minute ago, grodney said:

Not hypocrites, realists.  Charlotte, as a possible expansion in the U.S., is completely different than foreign markets.  That's just the way it is.

 

[Miesian Corners]

I still don't see how McCrory and Company didn't see this coming. Did their 1950 television sets not get the news from Indiana and Georgia?

[grodney]

1 minute ago, Miesian Corners said:

I still don't see how McCrory and Company didn't see this coming. Did their 1950 television sets not get the news from Indiana and Georgia?

I think they did.  And they don't care.  They are a frightened animal, backed into a corner.

 

[abttown]

Yes it is hypocritical of PayPal to keep jobs in places with shoddy human rights records, but I think anger should be directed at the General Assembly who just decided to take a big dump on human rights for an entire American state in the year 2016.  No one forced Jennifer Roberts or the city council to pass the ordinance, but all they were trying to do was be more inclusive and add Charlotte's name to the long list of other cities/towns in this country that have done the same.  For all we know, Charlotte could have many more companies wanting to move here if the Charlotte ordinance had been allowed to stay.  This could have been a big boon to our economy.

Please write the Governor and let him know how you feel.  Try to be thoughtful, even though it is rather difficult.  Repeal the bill!

http://governor.nc.gov/contact/email-governor

[Deleted.]

While PayPal not expanding here in CLT stings right now, its what we need to get momentum going to get this bill repealed: after all, human rights are better/more important than new jobs. 

[15895]

12 minutes ago, RaleighHeelsfan said:

NO...Hypocrites!!!

 

Regardless of your opinion, job creators don't agree with you. And it has tangible consequences. No matter how much you kick and shout, they're not on the same page as you & McCrory. Thus, NC will become less competitive to states like Georgia.

[Nick2]

This is really not good for my blood pressure. The thing that irks me the most is how much they're playing on people's fears. "Oh No! The crazy leftist extremists want to make it so grown men can sneak into the bathroom with little Susie." And also the fact that they keep calling it the bathroom bill when the bathroom part of the bill is just the very top layer of it.

I'm kind of surprised to see that Paypal pulled out but they are a pretty progressive company so I suppose I shouldn't be. I'm hoping Charlotte doesn't lose out on any other potential new jobs. The Charlotte city council needs to make a big statement. Something huge and symbolic. Maybe place "bathroom checkers" around some of the cities restrooms to "check people's birth certificates" before they can use it and call up the media to watch. They need to make it known that Charlotte is against this bill and will be fighting it before any more bad news occurs as a result.