So how did I do on my 10 election predictions? Right on four and a half. Wrong on two (happily wrong on one of those). And we’re still counting the votes on three and a half. So I’m hoping I come up 8-2. My predictions from yesterday and the results: Democrats sweep nationally. It’s the…
Read MoreGovernor Easley may have just sent a huge signal he’s thinking about running for the Senate in 2008. Just before the election the Governor spent $100,000 – in ‘leftover campaign funds – on TV ads promoting his ‘prescription drug plan for low-income senior citizens.” (News and Observer; 10-31-06). Maybe, this is just the Governor’s way…
Read MoreMayor Meeker wants the City to set up a development corporation to buy the Dix Hospital site for $40 million. (The money would come from bonds, new taxes and donations.) Voters just passed a billion dollar school bond. Are they likely to favor another bond so the City can go into the land development business?…
Read MoreLast month the newspapers reported Governor Easley’s state ABC Board Chairman taking a junket to Ireland, courtesy of Irish whiskey distillers. It turns out that trip was the tip of the iceberg. ABC Board Chairman, Doug Fox, has also taken junkets to Guadalajara, Mexico, Aspen, Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, Marco Island, Florida, and a second time…
Read MoreMichael Decker pled guilty to taking a bribe to vote for Jim Black. Black’s appointee to the Lottery Board was convicted of fraud. Black’s aide, Meredith Norris, plead guilty to lobbying Black illegally. And a lottery vender’s Vice President was also convicted of illegally lobbying Black. Defending himself, Speaker Black argues stoutly he can’t recall…
Read MoreWe pay 48¢ a gallon gas tax (30¢ state; 18¢ federal) but almost every day we read the state is delaying crucial road projects â like I-540 â for years. The News and Observer (10-29-06) has identified one reason: Earmarks. Perks for Congressmen. If youâre a Congressman building the most needed roads in the state…
Read MoreMy Democratic campaign friends are cautiously ecstatic. My Republican campaign friends are nearly suicidal. So here – based on hearsay, guesswork and a dose of wishful thinking – are my Election Day predictions. Democrats sweep nationally. It’s the war, stupid. (Listen up, Mr. President.) Democrats take Congress. We pick up 30 U.S. House seats and…
Read MoreHouse Majority Leader John Boehner made this pre-election prediction on George Stephanopoulos’ TV program Sunday a week ago: Boehner explained most Congressional races aren’t about federal issues, they’re about local issues. So, he says despite the war, Republicans will win. He admitted Independent voters are a problem, but added they don’t vote in off-year elections.…
Read MoreEvery morning I go out, pick up the newspaper, then sit down and read it. One day last week almost cured me of the habit. When I opened the paper, Iran was enriching more uranium to build bombs, Korea had tested a bomb and the Prime Minister of Iraq, who’s a Shiite Muslim, had attacked…
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