Posts by Gary Pearce
Sweeping Taxes
Is Governor Perdue’s sweepstakes tax a smart idea? At a time when she’s struggling to remain relevant, it put her back in the headlines. But the proposal, like her original budget, is headed straight for the legislative trash can. It did put the focus back on school cuts – winning ground for Democrats.…
Read MoreKing Canutes
That’s one less thing to worry about. The Republican legislature has decided that the ocean will not eventually take over our little place at Nags Head. Wait until I tell my brother-in-law that on the golf course this weekend. He’s a Republican himself; after all, he did very well in the oil…
Read MoreLiars Sure Do Figure
The Romney campaign says: “Under President Obama, the nation has lost 552,000 jobs.” But the New York Times notes, “that statistic includes Mr. Obama’s first year in office, and especially the months of February, March and April, when monthly job losses from the economic collapse were at 700,000 or higher. “Just leaving out…
Read MoreClout
A TAPster with a cruel sense of humor notes: “The Chief of the Cherokees has more influence in the legislature than the Governor of North Carolina.”
Read MoreNervous Nellies
Bill Clinton last week became the third big-name Democrat – after Ed Rendell and Cory Booker – to question attacking Mitt Romney’s Bain record. Some North Carolina Democrats are similarly skittish about the ads attacking Pat McCrory’s record. Now, we love Big Dog Bill. But he always seems to find inconvenient times to…
Read MoreSex and the Legislature
A male TAPster with years of lobbying experience took issue with Mandy Locke’s revealing (pardon the expression) story in the N&O, “Legislators, lobbyists mix business with pleasure.” The TAPster writes: “The N&O’s weekend story about the plight of women lobbyists was another new low point in the paper’s coverage of politics. It hit…
Read MoreGOP Silence is Deafening
Suddenly the Republican chorus howling for justice has gone silent. The chorus was in full cry for John Edwards, Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. Now comes Charles Thomas. Like Edwards, Thomas held a position of public trust and power. Like Edwards, Thomas cheated on his wife. Like Edwards, Thomas’s wife had cancer. …
Read MoreEdwards’s Revenge
Wade Smith wisely advised that John Edwards plant a garden and bide his time before finding a new endeavor. A less philosophical and forgiving soul might have a different suggestion for Edwards’s new life. No, there won’t be any return to politics. But suppose Edwards bides his time until his nemesis George Holding (former…
Read MoreThe Verdict
John Edwards wasn’t found guilty, but the federal government certainly was – of overreach, incompetence or both. Here’s how bad the U.S. Attorneys Office and Justice Department bungled: They indicted the most despised politician in America – a man a jury might want to convict just on general principle. The government throws at him…
Read MoreThoughts
A Tapster submitted this blog about the John Edwards verdict.: The John Edwards verdict hopefully ends a decade-long parade of Democrats doing the perp walk to federal and state courthouses to atone for political and financial misdeeds. Our ears ring from the sound of judges’ gavels banging down on the careers of Mike Easley,…
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