Posts by Gary Pearce
Tax That Fellow Under the Tree
The current debate in Raleigh over higher impact fees reminds of a political-consultant friend who liked to tweak his politician clients. When the politicians agonized about whether to support any tax increases, my friend would suggest – with a straight face: “Tell them you support higher taxes on foreigners who don’t live in the United…
Read MoreRepublican Redistricting Hypocrisy
Three Republican House members from Wake County waxed indignant this week about Speaker Jim Black. According to The News & Observer, the Three Musketeers “rolled out a list of reforms Wednesday that they say would limit the speaker’s power and open up how the chamber operates.” “North Carolina desperately needs to transform our state government…
Read MoreSchool Bond Supporters Need to Listen Up
Some supporters of the Wake County school bonds are unhappy with my blog – which was reprinted in The News & Observer Sunday – saying the bond issue is dead with the voters. I’m not their problem. Their problem is the voters. And – more specifically – their problem is a failure to realize that…
Read More1984 in Raleigh
If you haven’t seen the hilariously clumsy censorship job that the North Carolina Department of Labor tried to do on a newspaper story, click here to read about it. Not long ago, my daughter’s seventh-grade class read George Orwell’s 1984. After she told me about it, I borrowed her copy and reread it. Winston’s job…
Read MoreThe Election System is Rigged – Against the Voters
Apparently we Democrats have lost our best hope of beating Congressman Robin Hayes. Iraq war vet Tim Dunn has withdrawn from the field of battle. So the odds are that – once again – 100 percent of North Carolina’s congressional delegation will return to Washington next year. Just as – nationally – some 98 percent…
Read MoreRaleigh’s Trash Policeman
Raleigh City Councilman Thomas Crowder – like Barney Fife – wants to nip it in the bud. He’s targeting a problem that “is drastically affecting the quality of life” in the Capital City. Gangs? Drugs? Overcrowded schools? Traffic congestion? No. Trash cans that – in Crowder’s opinion – are being left on curbsides too long.…
Read MoreWake School Bonds DOA
The Wake County school bond issue is dead. Done. Over. Stick a fork in it. That’s the only conclusion I can reach after reading the Chamber of Commerce poll released this week. To me, the killer is the third question in the poll. It’s a standard polling question: Do you think the Wake County schools…
Read MoreThose Darned Bush-Bashers
President Bush and his coterie are notoriously dismissive of people who question them. So here is a news quiz taken from separate stories in Wednesday’s New York Times: (a) What political figure said that– contrary to the President’s claims – Bush’s Medicaid drug plan has experienced startup problems? (b) What political figure said that –…
Read MoreWhat Now for Capital News?
The McClatchey chain, which bought The News & Observer from the Daniels family some years back, now has bought the entire Knight-Ridder chain. Knight-Ridder’s biggest paper in North Carolina is The Charlotte Observer. As they always do, the corporate execs promise that this will mean nothing less than a golden age for readers. Bull. The…
Read MoreThe PR Wars
I served an eight-year tour of duty as Governor Jim Huntâs press secretary (1977-1984), and it was the hardest job I ever had. So Iâm reluctant to pass judgment on other press offices. But the North Carolina mainstream media is making much of this being âSunshine Week.â And I thought the attached article deserved some…
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