Archive for 2006
Deadeye Dick is a Sitting Duck
How easy is it to make fun of Dick Cheney shooting a fellow hunter? Here are just a few of the jokes and one-liners I’ve heard since his hunting mishap: • The White House says it wants to make up with Hillary Clinton. So they’re inviting her on a hunting trip with the Vice President.…
Read MoreTough Sell on Taxes
The News & Observer recently called my old boss, Jim Hunt, the closest thing North Carolina has to a “policy Pope.” (I assume they meant Benedict of Rome, not John and Art of Raleigh.) Unfortunately, I’m afraid Pope Jim has taken on a tough crusade with tax reform. The Institute for Emerging Issues that Governor…
Read MoreThe Downtown Hotel
The downtown hotel has hit a stumbling block – but not because City leaders decided it was a mistake to stick taxpayers with a $20 million bill to build a Marriott Hotel. Instead, the problem is stucco. That’s right, stucco. Councilman Thomas Crowder is raising all sorts of cain because the builders want to put…
Read MoreBush and Spying
When I first heard about President Bush ‘wire taping’ calls (from U.S. citizens to overseas) I thought that sounded pretty bad – that the President shouldn’t just have the power to go out and wiretap calls made by American citizens anytime he wants to. Then I thought about the pictures on the Internet of hooded…
Read MoreMy Big-Bang Government Theory
Ever wonder why the MBA presidency of George Bush seems so incompetent when it comes to managing government? I’ve got a theory. But first, let’s review the evidence: • “Heckuva job, Brownie” of FEMA and Katrina fame; • The lack of armor for American troops in Iraq; • The mess in the Medicare drug benefit…
Read MoreWho Will Speak for the Democrats?
Wednesday’s New York Times has a front-page story about the problem I’ve blogged about: national Democrats’ ineptitude at challenging governmentally inept but politically skilled Republicans. In the article, numerous Democrats concede the party has missed a golden opportunity while Bush & Co. fumbled and stumbled the past few months. And they blame the party’s current…
Read MoreA Wanna-Be Governor’s Priorities
Bill Graham, the Republican John Edwards wanna-be, says he will spend $40,000 a week on TV ads opposing the 2.7-cent state gas tax increase. I wonder if he will run ads attacking ExxonMobil for making $36 billion in profits last year – by raising the price of gas a bit more than 2.7 cents a…
Read MoreSuper Bowl MVPs
My choice: the refs. Maybe Seattle didn’t get jobbed. And as an N.C. State grad, I’m glad to see Bill Cowher win. But I hate to see the Super Bowl decided by the zebras’ close calls.
Read MoreThe Race Card, 2006 Version
No matter what school bond issue faces Wake County voters this year, here is an issue I promise will come: illegal immigration. You can see the Republican pollsters salivating right now. Advance word is that one of the key issues President Bush will address in his State of the Union speech will be illegal immigration.,…
Read MoreDigging Deeper
The N&O reported today that the downtown Raleigh Convention Center keeps getting more expensive. And the city-subsidized hotel keeps getting uglier. The political hole is getting as deep as the construction hole.
Read More