Archive for 2013
It’s a Little Late, Pat
Every day I say: Today I won’t pick on Governor McCrory. Then he does something so boneheaded I can’t resist. Like his parting shots at the legislature. He looked like the 98-pound weakling sticking out his tongue long after the bully who kicked sand in his face walked down the beach. The legislature…
Read MoreA Heart Attack?
The Governor climbed into the ring with the State House Monday morning and thirty minutes later he was lying sprawled flat on his back on the canvas then, the next morning, he climbed back into the ring – this time with the State Senate – and the same thing happened again. Pat McCrory’s…
Read MoreOverridden
Even Republicans are puzzled about why Governor McCrory vetoed the two bills he did. Why pick a fight you’re going to lose? Unless there’s a big upside, and there’s not here. Both of the bills he vetoed had passed the House, his only real ally on Jones Street, with veto-proof majorities and bipartisan…
Read MoreNot One Overheated Washington Politician…
Broken politics and posturing politicians present one degree of mendacity when it comes to passing a budget – but the moment a war appears on the horizon that same devilment turns lethal. A few days ago the President declared that, as leader of the oldest constitutional democracy on earth, he needs the support of…
Read MoreCEO Pans Pat
A local CEO was shocked by Governor McCrory’s comments in Rob Christensen’s Sunday N&O story (“During session and beyond, McCrory has rough start”). Here’s the message he left on voice mail: “I can’t tell you a CEO in any organization who could get away with saying I have no agenda, I have no…
Read MoreTwo Skunks
In the desert land where the Lord struck St. Paul blind then showed him a vision, a pair of skunks are fighting a Civil War and five-thousand miles away in the world’s oldest democracy a great hue and cry has arisen to bomb one of the skunks. Now in the oldest democracy politics is…
Read MoreWhat Pat Paid Them
What did Governor McCrory pay the DHHS Gold Dust Twins when he was spending his money, not the taxpayers’? A curious TAPster decided to find out. The answer: You (the taxpayer) are paying the two 24-year-olds a lot more than Pat did. Maybe twice as much. The TAPster looked at McCrory’s campaign reports…
Read MoreSitting Pretty
An Old Wise Lobbyist (OWL) gives me a Labor Day break by sharing this: “Contributors to Rep Edgar Starnes’ campaign should be disgusted and dismayed that he used their contributions to beautify his Raleigh legislative office. “The Republican House leader used $7,000 of campaign money for furniture and other niceties at the legislative…
Read MoreOne-Termer
There is growing talk in Raleigh – by Republicans and Democrats – that Governor McCrory will be one and done. And he’s not going to the NBA. The consensus, which could always turn out wrong, is that he’s over his head. Some people even say he won’t run again. The job isn’t what he…
Read MoreIf You Hated This Session….
A long-time Raleigh veteran warns that next year’s short legislative session could bring a “hopeless muddle” in the office of speaker Thom Tillis. I quote: “Tillis is forsaking the best political job in the state to run for the US Senate. If he remains speaker for the short session, the possibilities are endless for conflicts…
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