General
McCrory: The Un-Easley
Governor McCrory’s style reminds me of Mike Easley: as in, the exact opposite. Easley was notoriously private. He hated being out in public and going to events. Which is bizarre in a politician. But Easley had real beliefs and convictions that he stood up for: smaller class sizes, early-childhood education, economic development in rural…
Read MoreNew Dogs, Old Tricks
Daniel Gilligan, a bright young Democratic policy consultant from Raleigh, offers an analysis of Republican and taxes: “Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have got themselves all worked up over a humdinger of a ‘new’ idea. They want to get rid of that ‘antiquated’ and ‘Depression era’ tax code we got lying around,…
Read MoreWe Have a Weiner
Every session, some legislator does something astoundingly bone-headed. This year we have Rep. Bryan Holloway, R-Stokes. Holloway told WRAL’s Laura Leslie and Mark Binker that he had nothing to do with the embarrassingly sophomoric and allegedly sexist preppy-fantasy blog “Wasp 101.” Leslie and Binker listed the coincidences between Stokes and blog author, “Richard.”…
Read MoreGeorge Holding’s Hypocrisy
Congressman George Holding – probably thanks to Carter – had a clear message in his campaign: “Cut Spending Now.” But not now, it turns out. And not for himself. Holding’s ads said: “Cut Spending Now.” His yard signs said: “Cut Spending Now.” In his speeches and debates, he said: “Cut Spending Now.” By George,…
Read MoreThe Last Word on Iraq
Just after we invaded Iraq ten years ago, having lunch with a businessman, I said, Well, they say we have to do it to stop terrorism but I wonder if it’s not about oil too. He laid down his fork. Looked up. Don’t kid yourself. It’s all about oil. Well, I thought, getting…
Read MoreDays of Rage, Rays of Hope
Moral Mondays show there is still passion on the Democratic side of North Carolina’s political wars. Away from the headlines, there are more strong signs for a Democratic comeback. There’s a long, deep bench of future candidates. In no order, and no doubt leaving out many good ones, there are Roy Cooper, Janet Cowell,…
Read MoreHow Did We Come to This?
There’re some strange doings going on over in the General Assembly. For decades, free markets have been an article of faith with Republicans. We don’t like government manipulating markets to pick ‘winners and losers.’ But when Tesla Motors sold eighty fancy electric cars over the Internet in North Carolina, the Automobile Dealers Association…
Read MoreSqueal Like a Pig
Thirty-four years ago, in 1979, I tagged along on Governor Jim Hunt’s trade mission to China – the first for a North Carolina governor. The goal: get the Chinese to buy more North Carolina products, like pork. Now, we’re selling them more than pork; we’re selling them Smithfield Foods. “We’ve gone whole-hog,” Ferrel Guillory…
Read MoreIt’s the Education, Stupid
In today’s superheated politics, a bit of understatement can be a powerful thing. Exaggeration and overstatement get you headlines, but they don’t necessarily win the hearts and minds of swing voters. Democrats might remember that as they rail at the Republican-run state government. Crying wolf at every outrage – and there’s a new one every…
Read MoreLust and the Professor
Lust has undone more men than most any other sin and, about a year ago, over in Chapel Hill, it turned an aging professor into a drug runner. Professor Paul Frampton was born in a working class family in a working class neighborhood in England, earned three degrees from Oxford, earned a Ph.D. in…
Read More