Posts by Gary Pearce
Merit Pay: A Great idea
Senate Republicans propose merit pay for teachers and state employees. What a terrific idea! But we shouldn’t stop there. I’m thinking merit pay for legislators. We could hold a statewide referendum after every session to let North Carolinians vote on how much legislators should be paid. Should get their full pay, half pay…
Read MoreThe GOP’s Lousy State Crop
A Tapster had these thoughts in response to my blog on the GOP’s lousy crop of presidential candidates: “Look no further than the uncivil chaos on Jones Street to see weeds, chiggers and worms in the Republican crop there as well. GOP leaders have lost sight of their promised “jobs/economy” focus, and have let…
Read MoreSarah Palin, the Movie
A New York Times story reporting that Sarah Palin is moving toward running for President has this intriguing paragraph: “The drumbeat intensified on Tuesday night when the conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon was quoted on RealClearPolitics, a political news site, as saying that he was releasing a feature film he made with Ms. Palin’s acquiescence…
Read MorePlease Make a Deal
Please spare us. Put us out of our misery. Don’t make us go through a months-long courtroom regurgitation of all the tawdry details of John Edwards’ campaigns, marriage and affair. Especially those of us who had anything to do with Edwards getting to where he could do so much damage and bring so much…
Read MoreThe GOP’s Lousy Crop
If the Republican Party was a farmer and his crop was the current field of presidential candidates, he’d be losing the farm. How can that be? How can a party coming off a landslide election sweep, a party consumed by its hatred of President Obama, a party convinced it has the right ideas for…
Read MoreThe Education of Phil Berger
Contrary to what some people think, I believe the most powerful weapon in politics isnât a negative ad. Itâs a positive message. And Senator Phil Berger seems to have figured that out. He realized the Republicans were losing ground by having to defend their education cuts â including laying off teachers. So last week…
Read MoreBest Commencement Line Ever
My daughter and her 87 classmates lucked out at their St. Mary’s School Commencement Sunday: Their speaker was Betty Ray McCain. Betty, a 1950 St. Mary’s Junior College grad, is not only a pioneering example for young women and one of the state’s most accomplished leaders, but also one of the funniest people in…
Read MoreEditorial Boards
The CIA has water-boarding. The N&O has editorial-boarding. I sat in on an N&O editorial board meeting Wednesday that starred Dr. Bill Atkinson from WakeMed (full disclosure: my client) and Dr. Bill Roper from UNC Health Care. I felt like I was back in a campaign debate. The N&O story stressed the…
Read MoreBirthday Blooper
I take great pride in my fact-checking, proofreading and copy-editing. After all, my first grown-up job at the N&O was as a copy editor. (I started out as a copyboy, which is newsroom-speak for errand boy.) And I had taken great pride that, since its publication in November, no one had found a typo…
Read MoreAfraid of the Voters
It’s revealing when politicians – specifically, Republican legislators – clearly believe they are better off when fewer people vote. That’s the conclusion you have to draw from their efforts to suppress early voting in North Carolina. (See Jim Morrill’s story in the Charlotte O and N&O.) Actually, the Republicans are right. The GOP…
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