Posts by Gary Pearce
This is Adult?
Erskine Bowles said his deficit-commission’s recommendations would help start an adult conversation in Washington. So the first thing the Senate does is extend tax cuts, which we can’t afford, and unemployment benefits, which we also can’t afford. Both make wonderful sense. But voting for popular things without paying for them is what got…
Read MorePerdue’s Budget Choice
In the next few weeks, Governor Perdue will make a decision that could determine whether she is reelected in two years. She can go either of two ways in handling the budget and the new Republican legislature. She could work with the Republicans to cut nearly $4 billion. The political goal there would…
Read MoreGOP: The Challenge and the Opportunity
Transitions are when winners strive to show they’re ready to take over. As Senator Richard Stevens of Cary, co-chairman of the Senate transition team, told the N&O, “The goal is to be ready day one.” Rob Christensen reported that “Republicans are hiring staff, choosing committees and committee chairmen.” They set up eight…
Read MoreThe Media and the Governor
Governor Hunt and I were in Wilmington last night for a book signing, which one TV station used to pursue a feud they apparently have with Governor Perdue over her accessibility to the media, or lack thereof. The same day, I got a call from a veteran Raleigh reporter complaining about the Governor: “I…
Read MoreThe Coming Electorate
Want to know what North Carolina’s electorate will look like in another, say, 10 years? Look at what the public-school population looks like. The N&O reported recently that, for the first time, minorities make up a majority of the WakeCounty school population. And note: Hispanic students, now 14.6 percent of the enrollment…
Read MoreTen Years After
Ten years ago this month, Mike Easley was elected Governor of North Carolina. Today … well, you know. I’ve been reminding people this week that I was a Dennis Wicker man in the 2000 Democratic primary. Despite that, I never disliked Easley. But I recall one thing from the campaign that may have…
Read MoreSenator Berger Responds
A reader passed along my post on taxes – “A Whiff of a Waffle” (see below) – to Senator Phil Berger. The reader received this response from the incoming Senate leader: “No waffle. No extension of temporary taxes. Phil.” All righty, then.
Read MoreWho’s Next?
The Mike Easley affair had so much foreplay and so little climax that everybody was left frustrated. His enemies gripe that he got a slap on the wrist. His lawyer says he was “trashed” by The News & Observer. The N&O’s editor fervently defends the coverage. After nearly two years of big investigations,…
Read MoreA Sour Note
Bob Etheridge hurt his reelection campaign by losing his temper on a Washington, D.C. street when accosted by Republican dirty-tricksters. He hurt his lasting reputation by showing a singular gracelessness when he conceded to Renee Ellmers: “The combination of the national tide that swept the country, massive amounts of secret corporate cash funding…
Read MoreGary’s Book Tour
I’ve been doing a series of book-signings across the state to promote my Jim Hunt biography. My publisher, John F. Blair Publisher in Winston-Salem, asked me to write something about the tour for their blog. It follows Halfway through my tour, I’ve concluded that book-signings are God’s way of rewarding authors for all the angst, anguish and…
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