Carter wrote (“The Real Reason”) that “Democrats are having apoplexy” over Art Pope as Budget Czar because “Pope is dead serious about cutting government spending.” Well, that’s part of the story. The rest is that Democrats wonder whether he can cut government spending without hurting education (public schools, community colleges and universities), jeopardizing public…
Read MoreThis Christmas, we have much to celebrate. To start with, the world didn’t end. Except for Washington, where the fiscal cliff and a bruising battle over guns loom. And in Raleigh, where it has ended for Democrats. Blessedly, for one day all will be peaceful – or mostly so. We celebrate according…
Read MorePat McCrory called reporters down to the Albemarle building for a press conference and said two words and near about gave liberals from Murphy to Manteo apoplexy. He said, Art Pope. And five minutes later ole Chris Fitzsimmons was howling on Twitter, The Pope Administration begins…and about an hour later the Democratic Party…
Read MoreArt Pope is both a good target for Democrats and a good choice for Governor-elect McCrory. Democrats get to skewer him as a rich, right-wing puppet master who will pull McCrory’s strings while running and ruining North Carolina. McCrory gets three things: Pope knows the budget in and out. He knows how Raleigh…
Read MoreTwo years ago as businesses were struggling through the recession, a family business in eastern North Carolina that cares for shut-ins and older people in their homes received a letter from PCG Corporation of Boston saying, We’re coming to audit the payments you’ve received from Medicaid. Earlier, PCG (the ‘Public Consulting Group’) had told…
Read MoreA TAPster offers a creative solution to gun violence: “The eventual outcome of the approaching debate about gun control – regardless of that outcome – is unlikely to satisfy anybody. Gun owners will chafe at new restrictions, control advocates will cry that more should be done, and people will continue to be shot. …
Read MoreEven if he doesn’t (as is rumored) become Governor-elect McCrory’s budget director, Art Pope will be a power. So – despite its disclaimers – let’s assume the Civitas Institute channels Pope’s thinking when it proposes doing away with the state income tax and replacing it with a broader sales tax. And let’s assume…
Read MoreBack in the old days there was a breed of Congressman, rugged individualists, who, whenever he (or she) had to cast an unpopular vote, would shrug and say, Let the chips fall where they may. That political animal is now all but extinct. In the place of a troublesome conscience (when it comes…
Read MoreDon’t underestimate how much the Newtown killings can change politics. It has happened before. In 1995, President Clinton was struggling to be relevant in a Washington dominated by Newt Gingrich and his newly triumphant Republican majority. Then came the Oklahoma City bombing. Seizing the moment, Clinton spoke for the nation’s grief and anger. The…
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