Issues
$48 a Month
Up in Washington there’s a big rhubarb going on over Republicans cutting $60 billion in government spending. ‘Heaven forbid,’ the newspapers are reporting, ‘workers will have to be furloughed.’ ‘Horror of horrors,’ the editorialists add, ‘the government may shut down.’ Every agency from Social Security to Homeland Security is moaning and predicting…
Read MoreTrial Lawyers
To my chagrin I haven’t written a syllable in weeks but at least the reason makes a curious story; – for a month I’ve been camped out with a tribe of trial lawyers, trying to explain the foibles of politicians in general and Republican politicians in particular. I’d like to say how I came…
Read MorePie in the Sky
The most recent Elon Poll showed why politics is hard. Asked whether they support higher taxes or job cuts to balance the state budget, a majority of North Carolinians just said no. They don’t want either. No, that’s not logical. But voters don’t have to be logical. This dilemma was captured recently…
Read MoreNot Cairo
Overheated and over-caffeinated cable blowhards have been blowing hard about the amazing parallels they see between protests in Madison, Wisconsin and protests in the Middle East. From the right: dangerous anarchists on both continents are threatening the very foundations and stability of society. From the left: courageous patriots are standing up for their…
Read MoreA Stunning Stat
Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Public Life at the UNC J-School, gave me a stunning statistic from a report he worked on. It sums up how suddenly and dramatically the 2008 economic crisis hit North Carolina: “From April, 2008 to February, 2009 (a ten-month period), the state unemployment rate rose from 5…
Read MoreThe Voters’ View
A focus group this week brought into clear focus the opportunities and challenges facing North Carolina Democrats and Republicans. A couple of participants said they’re feeling more optimistic about the direction of the state. Why? “For the first time in a hundred years, we have a legislature that understands where the revenue comes…
Read MoreA Healthy Debate
Set aside the predictable posturing and apocalyptic doom-saying from both sides. North Carolina’s budget debate is a debate we need. Governor Perdue’s proposed budget is a classic North Carolina Democratic progressive budget. It’s a balance of program cuts, higher revenues and protection for education. It’s essentially the same approach that Democratic governors and legislators…
Read MoreEthics Questions for WTVD
Steve Daniels of WTVD last week broke the story about the FBI’s “political corruption probe” of Governor Bev Perdue some 15 years ago. But Daniels left out an interesting angle: his own. Daniels interviewed Frank Perry, whom he identified as a former FBI agent. But Daniels didn’t tell us that Perry is “director…
Read MoreEarth to Tillis
Mr. Speaker, didn’t you guys learn anything from the Democratic scandals of the last decade? Lesson 1: Don’t stiff-arm Andy Curliss and the N&O. Ask Mike Easley how that worked out. Lesson 2: Don’t have a closed-door “policy committee” meeting at the Legislative Building to hear from special-interest lobbyists. Lesson 3: Especially when you’re…
Read MoreJob Killers
Yesterday I gave Republican legislators credit for a fast start. Today I wonder whether they picked the right fight to start with. Republicans say they were elected to cut spending. But Democrats denounced “the Republican job killing plan.” That’s “job killing” as in Obama’s “job killing health care reform.” Democrats already are getting into the…
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