Issues
Old-Fashioned
Four separate reports – two done for the State Medicaid Department, one done for federal Medicare, and one by the non-profit Community Care of North Carolina filed with State Medicaid – all said CCNC saved taxpayers millions of dollars by reducing Medicaid costs. So what did the Old Bull Mooses in the Senate do? They…
Read MoreThe End of Bullying
The rhubarb had a keystone cops air but what started it was deadly enough: A combination of a bully and power. By nature he wasn’t particularly unkind and, in the past, he hadn’t enjoyed bullying but he had the power and he’d used it before to punish Congressmen who’d crossed him and he’d gotten away…
Read MoreTwo Religions
His father was a carpenter and his mother a five foot blonde with hair down to her ankles and they’d divorced three years before he was born. His father remarried, abused his second wife, and divorced again when he was fourteen. After the second divorce he dropped out of school in the 9th grade, drank…
Read MoreThe Obamacare Subsidy
When a fellow goes on the Obamacare Exchange to sign up for health insurance he’s asked: Do you qualify for a subsidy? Click here. 515,000 lower-income North Carolinians clicked and qualified but any day now the Supreme Court may decide – in the King vs Burwell case – those subsidies are illegal. And, if it…
Read MoreA Mistake
Despite being heavily outnumbered by the Iraqi Army ISIS rolled right into Ramadi and after the Iraqis skedaddled the Secretary of Defense told CNN it sure looked like our allies had lost the “will to fight.” Then Baghdad announced it had stopped retreating and was counter-attacking – then Baghdad announced it had Ramadi surrounded –…
Read MoreWake Commissioners Split
Democrats may have 7-0 control of the Wake County Commissioners, but they are far from unanimous on school funding. In fact, they are engaged in a classic political debate: Do you move fast when you’re in control, at the risk of losing the next election? Or do you play a long game, moving slower now…
Read MoreA Quagmire
The Senate Bull Mooses have locked horns with the Opossum Drop Caucus over in the State House;—for years the Bull Mooses have hollered Medicaid spending was out of control and soaring but that turned out not to be so – that the Bull Mooses were simply spinning a yarn to accommodate their friends the MCOs…
Read MoreStraightening Out the Mess?
Former Ambassador John Bolton said the state of Iraq no longer exists and Chris Wallace shot back , One, what does that mean? Two, what are the ramifications? You could go back four thousand years and not unscramble all the knots in what used to be Mesopotamia – the Sumerians were conquered by the Assyrians…
Read MoreA Dust Up
It’s unusual to see a dust up in front of the TV cameras on NC Spin but when Brad Crone said Medicaid spending has been stable for three years the usually soft-spoken John Hood shot back, Brad’s incorrect. Crone leaned back, told Hood he needed to look at the audit reports that showed Medicaid spending…
Read MoreWinning Wars, Losing Wars
Seventy years ago, America (and allies) had beaten Nazi Germany and were battering Imperial Japan – after three and half years of war. Forty years ago, America pulled out of Vietnam. After 11 years of war. Today, we’re still fighting – and not winning – a War Against Terrorism. After 13 years of war. Why…
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