General
A Lit Stick of Dynamite
There’s a lit stick of dynamite – and one unanswered question – being blithely passed from hand to hand in the backrooms of Raleigh: Who will the State Senators and Representatives make pay to cleanup Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds – which Duke says is going to cost $10 billion and which, Duke also says,…
Read MoreDangerous Terrain for an Optimist
The Governor sent his budget over to the Senate. And as Rodney Dangerfield used to say, He got no respect. It was DOA. The Senate sent its budget over to the House. And it got no respect either. DOA, again. The House sent its budget to the Senate. And met…
Read MoreNot Joshing Around
I know that people in the Governor’s Office read this blog. So please pass this message on to Governor McCrory: Josh Ellis needs some time off. Josh, the Governor’s communications director, responded rather sharply to my blog yesterday about McCrory’s new Governor’s Teacher Network (GTN). (See “McCrory’s Make-up Test.”) Josh’s email is below,…
Read MoreBefuddled?
The news from Iraq was puzzling. West of Baghdad, ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) was whipping our allies the al-Maliki government. At the same time, next door in Syria, President Assad was bombing our enemy ISIS. Meanwhile, in Washington, President Obama was asking Congress for $500 million to send…
Read MoreMcCrory’s Make-up Test
Governor McCrory acts like a man who had a serious health scare and now vows to eat right and exercise. His main exercise is running away from the state Senate as fast as he can. Clearly, the Governor has seen the Senate’s poll numbers on education. He doesn’t want to catch that bug. …
Read MoreA Year Later…
Last year (after their big victory in the 2012 election) as soon as Republican State Senators and State Representatives got to Raleigh they went to work to cut spending and it was almost like a competition: The House would announce it had cut a hundred million dollars. And the Senate would top that…
Read MoreCorporations Vs. The People
This is one of the oldest battles in our Republic. And you ain’t seen nothing yet. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision ignites a battle over women’s health care, which will command center stage. But it’s really just part of the long-running battle over the proper relationship between corporations and the government/the people.…
Read MoreWho Captured Whom?
As much as I admire the Old Bull Mooses’ single-minded pertinacity, I’ve been unkind lately to the State Senate but at dinner last night Conor, who may be the last of the Jessecrats, set me straight. I’d written – a couple of days ago – how the Democratic political wizards around Raleigh believe the…
Read MoreThe Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!
Maybe Chad Barefoot really believes Putin reared his head and Russia reached its tentacles into the anti-fracking forces in North Carolina. Or maybe it’s just a cynical attempt to raise money from a Fox-fed mob of ignoramuses. Or maybe it’s a desperate overreaction to a poll showing that voters don’t like fracking. …
Read MoreOld-Fashioned Back Room Politics?
The other day while I was having lunch with one of Raleigh’s Democratic wizards he said, You know a lot of people believe the Senate Republican Caucus has captured the Chamber of Commerce and turned it into an appendage of its political committee. I said, How’s that? and he explained the Democrats, rooting through…
Read More