A Little Devilment

Just about every morning a group of MCO promoters (the Carolina Partnership for Reform) drop an email into legislators mailboxes and the other morning they gave legislators a list of 15 states and told them, Look. See. North Carolina spends more on Medicaid per enrollee than states that have MCOs. It looked logical. And sounded…

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The Power of the Veto

Give Governor McCrory credit. He did the right thing by vetoing the magistrates/same-sex marriage bill. And it’s good politics. This should be a wakeup call for Democrats who think he’ll be a pushover next year because he’s a doofus or because the legislature is too far right. Take it from me. An incumbent has a…

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Looking at Hillary Through Different Eyes

A powerful new Modern Science has crept into the world of political campaigns: The Mega-Database – where thirty-something whizzes and mathematicians collect data from the four corners of the digital universe to figure out what voters (and especially Independent voters) have on their minds. The other day sitting in a meeting, when one of the…

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Volvo and Alcoa Vs. NC?

Could it be that losing Volvo to South Carolina had nothing to do with the Republican vs. Republican battle over incentives vs. tax cuts? Could it be that North Carolina is doomed to NEVER get an automotive plant? Could it be that North Carolina lost out because of its long-running war with the company that…

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Crossing the Line

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Bad Bob Rucho is a Bull Moose or a bull in a china closet but there’s no doubt he sincerely loathes tax loopholes so it’s a shame in his enthusiasm to gore a corporate ‘incentive’ he crossed the line. When a bill landed in Rucho’s committee to kibosh a…

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Hagan Up to Bat Again?

There are about 100 million reasons why Kay Hagan may be Democrats’ Senate candidate again next year. You see, $100 million is what the race cost last year. And it’s hard to imagine another candidate playing in that league. In a National Journal story, an anonymous Hagan donor from North Carolina made an apt seasonal…

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Same Old, Same Old

Back when Democrats ran the legislature, Republicans swore that things would be different if they ever were in charge. No more high-handed rulings, no more procedural shenanigans and no more bosses using their gavels to ram through favored legislation. So much for that, says Boss Bob Rucho. Back when a Democrat was Governor, Pat McCrory…

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Liberals of the World, Unite!

Liberal Democrats are rejoicing at the discovery of kindred spirits within the North Carolina Republican Party. Join us, comrades! Together we can make a New World. The revelation comes courtesy of conservative super-donor Bob Luddy, who attacked House Republicans for their “liberal” budget. Apparently some of them believe the state should invest money in education…

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Hoodoo

MCOs (Managed Care Companies) are a species of corporate locust but a cohort of silver-tongued Super PAC Managers and I.E. Campaign Managers are hard at work to convince legislators MCOs can heal by touch and walk on water – and save the state a billion dollars on Medicaid. But here’re two facts from the General…

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Fennebresque on the Fault Line

John Fennebresque is the political equivalent of Nepal. He sits squarely astride the two giant, grinding tectonic plates of North Carolina’s political world as he leads the UNC Board of Governors’ search for a new President. This demands leadership skills, political skills and communications skills. And Fennebresque didn’t exactly get off to a great start…

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