Posts by Carter Wrenn
Another Version of ‘Pay to Play’
When the state had to bid an $18 million contract to purchase office supplies, it hired the consulting company Accenture and paid them $300,000 to evaluate the bids. However, according to the News and Observer, Accenture, the state’s consultant, has also been paid millions of dollars by Office Depot (for work unrelated to North Carolina).…
Read MoreRaleigh Mayor
A good way for Republicans to get a head start on the next Mayor’s race is to start making Mayor Charles Meeker’s runaway spending an issue. Now. On top of proposing to raise taxes on new homes, and raising property taxes to pay for a school bonds and raising property taxes two years ago, the…
Read MorePope versus Morgan – Chapter 4 – The Purge
The usual way to eliminate an opponent, politically, is to defeat him in an election. A simpler way – when the legislature redraws its districts – is to put him in someone else’s district. After he was elected Co-Speaker, Richard Morgan took Leo Daughtry out of his district and put him in a district with…
Read MoreA Small Cut
With Mayor Meeker talking about raising taxes again, and the City Council talking about spending $11 million more than it has, Republicans should be recommending ways to trim the budget. Here’s a small idea. The City publishes a newsletter, “Liveable Streets Update: Downtown Raleigh.” The newsletter seems to exist for only one reason – to…
Read MoreQuote of the Day: It’s about Me
The day before the election, when defense attorneys asked a Durham judge to remove DA Mike Nifong from the Duke University lacrosse rape case, charging his “zeal to win votes trumped his duty to see justice,” Nifong responded (News and Observer, 5/2/06): “Some people try cases in the media by filing motions that contain outrageous…
Read MorePope versus Morgan – Chapter 2 – Roots of a Holy War
Robert Grady ran for the State House in 1984; he was one of only two Republicans elected that year from east of Raleigh. Four years later, Art Pope ran and was elected to the House from Raleigh. Two years after that, in 1990, Richard Morgan was elected from Moore County (Pinehurst and Southern Pines). Back…
Read MoreJust When Republicans Needed a Break…
The fall elections have been looking pretty bleak for Republicans, lately. After President Bush’s stands on the United Arab Emirates ports deal – letting a company owned by the Emirates run U.S. Ports – and immigration proved to be unpopular, even with Republicans, his standing in the polls plummeted to a low ebb. For the…
Read MorePolitics and Impact Fees
Someone once quipped the two greatest lies are ‘the checks in the mail,’ and ‘I’ll still love you in the morning.’ He might have added, ‘We’ll tax someone else.’ The great debate over ‘Impact Fees’ is underway in the Raleigh City Council. The smallest amount being considered to increase this tax is 72%. Even that…
Read MoreWalter Jones
Whether or not you agree with Congressman Walter Jones you have to admit he has a rare trait among politicians. There are many elected officials who are clever, intelligent or articulate – but there are not many whose courage matches their other skills. Congressman Jones have has stood up and disagreed with his own President,…
Read MoreState Legislature Races – Coronations not Choices
The Charlotte Observer reports (3-9-06) there will be no election at all in almost half the 170 races for State House and Senate this fall. In addition, in the races all but a handful of the races that are contested, practically, if not legally, the outcome is all but decided. Because of how legislators have…
Read More