Posts by Carter Wrenn
Parking Deck – Another $45 Million
The Raleigh City Council has approved Mayor Meeker’s new underground parking deck – to go with his downtown Hotel and Convention Center. This $45 million parking deck brings the total cost of Mayor Meeker’s Center/Hotel complex to over $250 million.What would taxpayers have saved if the Mayor had decided to build an above ground parking…
Read MoreLottery Advertising
Sometimes politics seems to slip from the unusual to the absurd. The Lottery Commission is spending $10 million on advertising. But, according to the Winston-Salem Journal (3-15-06), under state law “No advertising may have the primary purpose of inducing persons to participate in the lottery.” So why is the Lottery Commission spending $10 million on…
Read MoreAmbush in Wake County
Supporters of former State Representative David Minor on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, ambushed their Commissioners on Monday (April 13) to get Minor hired as the county lobbyist. Earlier, Commissioners had decided not to retain Minor after several Raleigh legislators – the people Minor would be lobbying – said, in effect, ‘This isn’t going…
Read MoreStraightening out the Mess in the House
Three Republican legislators have a remedy to the scandals in the State House. Representative Nelson Dollar, Paul Stam and Russell Capps say each party’s Caucus should appoint its members of House Committees. That the Democratic Caucus should appoint the Democrat members, and Republicans the Republicans. Instead of every Committee Member being picked by House Speaker…
Read MoreJohn Edwards and Hillary
The News and Observer (4-4-06) reports the ‘buzz’ in Washington is that John Edwards is running second in the Democratic race for President – behind Hillary Clinton. According to the Washington Newsletter Hotline, Edwards is “the only major candidate who seems comfortable going to Hillary’s left.” I didn’t know there was such a place. Not…
Read MoreTeapot Museum Gets $500,000 More
Last year, Democrat leaders in the General Assembly put $400,000 in the budget to give to the Sparta Teapot Museum. Earlier the foundation they (Mike Easley, Mark Basnight and Jim Black) appointed to give out the tobacco settlement money gave the Museum $590,000. Now Congress has given the Teapot Museum another $500,000. In fact, Congress…
Read MoreMorality, Politics and John Edwards
“The Democratic Party is focused on filling the void of moral leadership in America.” – John EdwardsNews and Observer The question, when a politician starts talking about morality, should be – is his real interest morality or politics? If the answer is he discovered “morality” through a poll, there’s not much more you need to…
Read MoreWill Jim Black Survive?
There are two words that strike fear in a politician’s heart: Grand Jury. Especially when they appear in a newspaper headline like this: ‘Top Black Aide Appears before Grand Jury’ (News and Observer, March 15). Which is what happened last Wednesday in Raleigh. Why were two of Democratic Speaker Jim Black’s aides testifying before a…
Read MoreFollow the Money
Not too long ago, Morrisville gave Chinese computer giant Lenovo a million dollar tax subsidy to get it to move its plant there from the Research Triangle Park. The theory was the jobs were worth the million dollars. Guess what? The News and Observer reported (March 17), “Lenovo, the Chinese company that bought IBM’s PC…
Read MoreSchool Bonds – DOA? – Why?
If the School Bonds are DOA – Mayor Charles Meeker probably did more to kill them than anyone else. Inadvertently. County Commissioner Tony Gurley and Mayor Meeker have been leading the cheers for passing between $1.3 and $1.9 billion in School Bonds (and, of course, raising taxes to pay for them). The Chamber of Commerce…
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