Issues
Elections Matter
A supporter of the new Wake school board held up a sign at this week’s hearing: “Elections matter.” At the health-care summit President Obama told John McCain: “The election is over.” They’re right. And Obama should ram through health-care reform just like the new school board majority is ramming through its new policies.…
Read MorePayback Time
WakeCounty is North Carolina’s most Democratic county. President Obama carried the state in 2008 because he racked up a 60,000-vote margin in this county alone. But two big and bitter battles yesterday showed what a split county this is – and that there are no final victories in politics. The votes – the…
Read MoreRascal on the Loose
Sometimes you come across a rascal who’s got so much brazenness and old-fashioned nerve you just can’t help but admire his audacity – throw him in a briar patch and he’ll land on his feet and end up owning the place. That’s why it’s hard not to keep an eye peeled to see what…
Read MoreThe New WRAL
Jesse Helms is probably rolling over in his recording studio. WRAL, the station that used to run Helms’ editorials opposing desegregation, is now running editorial messages opposing resegregation. That’s how much Jim Goodmon has changed the station. (Does anybody remember when WRAL used to sign off at night by playing “Dixie” instead…
Read MoreOpen Wide
President Obama may be setting up Republicans for a classic one-two punch. First, the left jab: an open, public “discussion” where he challenges Republicans to put their ideas on the table. That’s what they said they wanted, isn’t it? Then, the right uppercut: ramming a health-care bill through using something called “reconciliation.” …
Read MoreDiagnosis Confusion
The N&O/WTVD poll on health care left me totally confused. The poll, done by Mason-Dixon, “found that 51 percent of registered voters in North Carolina think Congress should not change the U.S. health care system this year. Thirty-eight percent think that lawmakers should take action.” But then the story went on: “The poll…
Read MoreA Pretty Bad Mistake
Sometimes a story floats in over the transom that’s just too incredible to pass up; – this one came at the expense of Bank of America, which certainly doesn’t need any more headaches after being sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for fraud, plus a whooping $16 billion. Charlie Cordosa, who used…
Read MoreErskine to the Rescue
Can Erskine Bowles save America? Can history repeat itself? I was about halfway through the book The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With the President, by Taylor Branch, when I heard that President Obama will name Erskine and another Great Compromiser, former Senator Alan Simpson, to lead a national commission on the budget deficit. …
Read MoreThe Fox
The legislature handed Lanier Cansler $200 million more to spend this year than last year and he promptly spent it all plus $250 million more – so, now, his department’s in the red and he’s pointing fingers at everyone in sight saying it’s their fault: The Obama Administration, the flu, the recession. …
Read MoreMystery Solved
Now we know why Mike Easley was so, well, weird. He wasn’t just Governor. He was Secret Agent Man. Instead of a number like 007, he had a nom de guerre: Ckin Regnad. This explains the need to keep his whereabouts secret and constantly change his schedule. It’s why he had to conduct…
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