The trouble with South Carolina, Robert E. Lee supposedly said, is that it’s too small to be an independent nation and too large to be an insane asylum. Which helps explain why Mark Sanford may win his congressional race tonight. The other explanation is our politics today. We are so deeply and bitterly divided…
Read MoreGovernor McCrory went to Texas to push for off-shore drilling, but where does he stand on deep-sixing renewable energy? His old boss at Duke Energy opposes the bill. So do some legislative Republicans. But McCrory, the jobs and energy governor, is silent. Does he agree with the argument made by Republican Rep. Mike…
Read MoreWho’d have thought it was possible – the Internet sweepstakes poker parlor folks have offered ‘to put $500 million’ in the state treasury – if the legislators will just see the light and let them stay in business. Whoever heard of anybody volunteering to pay half a billion dollars in taxes? You have to…
Read MoreChairman Randy Voller continues to embarrass himself and the North Carolina Democratic Party. Now it’s for saying Republicans are “raping” North Carolina. After numerous Republicans committed political self-immolation last year by talking loosely about rape, you would think any man in politics would have the good sense to avoid the word. Not Voller. …
Read MoreRaleigh Republicans’ once-united front is fraying. There was Rep. Larry Pittman’s non-apology apology to Speaker Tillis (“I’m not sorry I said it; I’m sorry I got caught.”) One wit noted that it read like a hostage letter. Was he waterboarded? Then there’s renewable energy. Some Republicans chafed at the pressure behind the bill to…
Read MoreSharp-eyed readers no doubt note I goofed in “Foxx at the Wheel” (below): Mel Watt was named to head the Housing Finance Agency, which is not a Cabinet appointment. Blame Twitter. I had seen a tweet about “Watt to Housing.” I misunderstood. It’s like what The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart said recently when a…
Read MoreLiddy Dole rode DOT to a Senate seat from North Carolina and a presidential race. Where will it take Anthony Foxx? Such is the power of a President: Obama elevated Foxx to the head of the political line in North Carolina. He is now a clear contender for Governor or Senate. He is the…
Read MoreIs this what Governor McCrory means by government serving its customers? It’s certainly as blatant a statement of pay-to-play as has ever been made. Sweepstakes operator William George of Rock Hill, S.C., who gave $4,000 to McCrory’s campaign, told AP: “We didn’t give them money because we liked them. We just knew they were…
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With a better General Assembly, Josh Stein could join Jim Hunt and Terry Sanford on North…
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Once upon a time, there was a great and powerful newspaper: The News & Observer. Everybody…
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The shouting, sign-waving and cane-wielding by congressional Democrats at the State of the Union isn’t a…
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