Can the Potty Jokes

Spend $230,000 in taxpayers’ money fixing up the private bathrooms at the Executive Mansion? You could hear howls across the state when that news leaked. (Get it? “Leaked”?)   OK, time out. No more potty humor. This has already been a headline-writer’s dream: “Flushed,” “in loo of,” “down the drain,” “taxpayers take bath.” Let’s deal…

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A Calm Explanation

There’s been a lot of screeching and howling coming out of Washington about who shut down the government. Respected economist Thomas Sowell lays out his opinion pretty calmly below:   Who Shut Down the Government? By Thomas Sowell   Even when it comes to something as basic, and apparently as simple and straightforward, as the…

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Anarchist Alert

The legislature’s gendarmes were searching in all the wrong places.   General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver revealed this week that his 18-officer department is collecting intel on “anarchists,” including Moral Monday protestors. The Chief and his sleuths are on alert for people who are “against government.”   Here’s a clue, Inspector Clouseau: You’ll find…

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A Poker Game

A government shutdown’s turned out to be a peculiar sort of beast.   First, before a shutdown, every politician – in both parties – declares the government shutting will be terrible. Awful. Armageddon. And every politician swears they want the government to stay open.   Then the government shuts down.   Next one group of…

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Et Tu, Tommy?

A Republican legislator did a fine job of stating the case against Governor McCrory and the Republican legislature: “It makes it awfully difficult…to hear from teachers making $30,000 a year and not receiving raises in five years, and you hire someone one year out of college with an English degree and pay him $85,000.”  …

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Doctor My Eyes

So all the DHHS scandals are based on a report that was doctored to mislead legislators and taxpayers.  The $87,000 salaries for young campaign aides, lucrative contracts for political allies, eyebrow-raising sudden exits by top department officials and sweet severance payouts.   All that is based on the McCrory’s administration claim that it inherited a…

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Overconfident?

What if Obamacare flops? What if the public has sticker shock? What if voters blame both sides for the shutdown?   From the White House down, Democrats seem awfully confident the shutdown-Obamacare standoff will end well for them.   Plus, they say, Americans will love Obamacare once they get to know it. But suppose all…

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Eyeball to Eyeball

Houston, we have a problem.   Last weekend, in Asheville, Roy Cooper threw down the gauntlet. He’s running for Governor.   This isn’t quite a tsunami or earthquake. But Democrats now have a bona-fide candidate (with name identification and money) standing eyeball to eyeball with Governor McCrory – pouring gas on the fire of the…

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Stagner for Raleigh

I wish the N&O had endorsed Randy Stagner for City Council. It would be bad to lose a good council member because of what looks like a failure to communicate.   Like the N&O, I was bothered at first by the flap involving City Manager Russell Allen and City Council parking places. I even wrote a…

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A Wacky Idea

Talk about strange things happening: Up in Washington two tribes of politicians have been pummeling each other night and day over who deserve the blame for shutting down the government.   Then, unexpectedly, one tribe changed directions.   First the House Republicans voted to fund national parks and monuments, then they voted to fund part…

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