Posts by Gary Pearce
What to Do?
Over lunch Mickey and Minnie were talking about Governor McCrory’s statement last week on the influx of child immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Mickey was outraged. “McCrory must figure he’s losing the education debate. So he decided to bash child immigrants!” He noted that the N&O said McCrory’s remarks were “tinged with…
Read MoreA Picture Worth a Thousand Words?
Some sharp-eyed TAPsters were struck by this photo of Governor McCrory signing the state budget today. One noted, “Legislators are usually jockeying to get in a bill-signing photo.” Not today. Apparently, only two legislators were on hand: Sen. Neal Hunt, who is not running again, and Rep. Nelson Dollar, who represents a heavily…
Read MoreJeff Jackson: Prophet
Yesterday I quoted at length from Senator Jeff Jackson’s speech on the legislature’s budget process. Today we learn what a prophet “the new kid” was. Jackson said on the floor last week, “Folks, if you weren’t allowed to see this budget until this morning, I don’t see how you can vote on it in…
Read MoreA Star is Born
You should read the speech below – or even better, watch the video – (A) if you despair about politics today, (B) if you yearn for a fresh new voice in politics or (C) if you’re a Democrat wondering where the next crop of legislative leaders, Governors and U.S. Senators is coming from. It’s…
Read MoreArt’s Grocery
A year ago I didn’t know anything about food deserts and food insecurity. I’ve learned, thanks to my dedicated young friends at the Jamie Kirk Hahn Foundation and at the Interfaith Food Shuttle – and WRAL’s eye-opening special HungerFreeNC. A big problem right here in Raleigh is that low-income families don’t have access to…
Read MoreA Veteran’s Verdict
A long-time veteran of the Legislative Building, one who looks at both parties with a critical eye, offers this critique of the end of the not-so-short session. “Legislative Republicans treated each other last week just like they’ve treated the state’s citizens for the last two years: with meanness, impatience, and a lack of caring,…
Read MoreSine D’oh
It may still be unclear what this legislature did, but it’s very clear how they did it: with remarkable bile, bitterness and backstabbing among the forces of McCrory, Tillis and Berger. Oddly, there wasn’t the usual simultaneous adjournment, with members from both houses sharing smiles and handshakes at the end. The Senate passed its…
Read MoreTwo North Carolinas
Shades of John Edwards and “Two Americas!” The state Senate seemed to channel the former Senator in the debate over how to help the state’s stagnating rural areas keep up with booming urban areas. One Senator said we need to “level the playing field.” There is a political angle to this, of course.…
Read MoreA Friend in Need…
A suspicious-minded sort at breakfast wondered if there was more than coincidence behind these two stories running the same day: “N.C. voters want stronger actions from lawmakers on coal” (Weekly Independent) and “Duke deal could lower power bills in eastern NC towns” (WRAL-TV). No doubt the ElectriCities deal has been in the works for…
Read MoreBOMs Away!
Democrats and progressives routinely decry Big Outside Money (BOM). Maybe they should recalculate. BOM has fundamentally reshaped the U.S. Senate race – in favor of Senator Hagan and against Speaker Tillis. A flood of ads sponsored by pro-Hagan groups like the Senate Majority PAC have painted Tillis as the friend of CEOs, yacht-owners and…
Read More