Posts by Carter Wrenn
The Uber-Villain
No one’s explained why a Malaysian airliner was flying over a war zone but when it was shot down Senator John McCain had no doubt who to blame: Obama. It was, McCain adamantly told Fox News, Obama’s fault because he hadn’t given the Ukrainians more guns. I reckon McCain figures if the Ukrainians had…
Read MoreLibertyValance
The Old Bull Mooses walked into a meeting with the House to wrangle over the state budget but before they could fire a shot the House’s lead wrangler, Nelson Dollar, threw them a curve ball: He announced he was calling half a dozen school superintendents to testify at the hearing. The Bull Mooses had…
Read MoreBorder Children
What on earth do you do when a eight-year-old lands on your doorstep? I heard two spokesmen on the radio today with answers – the first told a story of a lone girl, one of the border children, who after being repeatedly raped by gangs in Honduras, trudged or rode on the tops of…
Read MoreUncertainties
Locked in a wrestling match with the Governor over Medicaid (and how much it will go over budget) the Old Bull Mooses invited Art Pope (the Budget Czar) over to the Senate for a cordial visit then added if he didn’t come along peacefully they’d send him a subpoena. Pope, responding like a gentleman,…
Read MoreA Lit Stick of Dynamite
There’s a lit stick of dynamite – and one unanswered question – being blithely passed from hand to hand in the backrooms of Raleigh: Who will the State Senators and Representatives make pay to cleanup Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds – which Duke says is going to cost $10 billion and which, Duke also says,…
Read MoreDangerous Terrain for an Optimist
The Governor sent his budget over to the Senate. And as Rodney Dangerfield used to say, He got no respect. It was DOA. The Senate sent its budget over to the House. And it got no respect either. DOA, again. The House sent its budget to the Senate. And met…
Read MoreBefuddled?
The news from Iraq was puzzling. West of Baghdad, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) was whipping our allies the al-Maliki government. At the same time, next door in Syria, President Assad was bombing our enemy ISIS. Meanwhile, in Washington, President Obama was asking Congress for $500 million to send…
Read MoreA Year Later…
Last year (after their big victory in the 2012 election) as soon as Republican State Senators and State Representatives got to Raleigh they went to work to cut spending and it was almost like a competition: The House would announce it had cut a hundred million dollars. And the Senate would top that…
Read MoreWho Captured Whom?
As much as I admire the Old Bull Mooses’ single-minded pertinacity, I’ve been unkind lately to the State Senate but at dinner last night Conor, who may be the last of the Jessecrats, set me straight. I’d written – a couple of days ago – how the Democratic political wizards around Raleigh believe the…
Read MoreOld-Fashioned Back Room Politics?
The other day while I was having lunch with one of Raleigh’s Democratic wizards he said, You know a lot of people believe the Senate Republican Caucus has captured the Chamber of Commerce and turned it into an appendage of its political committee. I said, How’s that? and he explained the Democrats, rooting through…
Read More