Issues
Running in Circles
These days just about every politician in Raleigh is saying (as often as he can) how he wants to spend more money on schools and give teachers raises. But what if the root of the problem with schools isn’t money. This is a bit simple but the prime movers in public education are:…
Read MoreSpillover
Business and industry got exactly what they wanted when Governor McCrory and DENR Secretary John Skvarla took office. Then they got exactly what they didn’t need when Duke’s coal ash spilled into the Dan River. Suddenly, “customer friendly” sounds like “polluter friendly.” The U.S. Attorney raises the threat of criminal indictments. And The New…
Read MoreVollermort
The internal politics of the North Carolina Democratic Party are a mystery to me, so I’m lost when people ask, essentially, “WTF is Randy Voller up to?” So I refer you to an insightful piece by an observer I trust: Bob Geary with Indy Week. Geary begins: “After a stormy year as state Democratic…
Read MoreKeep ‘em here, Send ‘em home
Immigration, the newspaper says, is ‘bedeviling” Congresswoman Renee Ellmers. It’s also bedeviling Speaker John Boehner. And half the Republicans in Washington. It’s a knotty problem. Part of the politicians have decided it’s best to send every single illegal immigrant back to where they came from – but no one’s quite sure how to…
Read MoreIn the Line of Fire
Politics 101 used to say that getting in the news was good for politicians. Not today. The new rule is: If you’re in the spotlight, you’re losing. The more you’re in the news, the lower your poll ratings. When the government shutdown dominated Page 1, Republicans plummeted in the polls. When Obamacare took…
Read MorePollution and Profits
This is not what you call an ideal corporate PR juxtaposition. The Page One headline screams, “Damage from Dan River spill still unfolding.”From a Duke Energy power plant. On the business page, the headline says: “Duke Energy earnings up for 2013.” In true corporate PR fashion, Duke’s CEO announces the profits. An underling is dispatched to…
Read MoreTaking Them to School
Jim Hunt still drives Republicans crazy. Governor McCrory and GOP leaders scheduled their pay-raise rollout in Jamestown just as Hunt’s Emerging Issues Forum was starting in Raleigh. They wanted to steal the spotlight. But they just spotlighted their own shortcomings. Just as Hunt was saying ALL teachers should get a raise, McCrory & Co.…
Read MoreBig Casino
It sure seems like Wallace Cheeves down in Greenville, South Carolina has had his share of ups and downs. Right out of college, Cheeves went to work for the video ‘poker king’ of South Carolina. Then he went a step further and opened his own video poker company – which went out of business when…
Read MoreDown, Boy
Some Republicans probably would like to get Sen. Bill (Mad Dog) Rabon a rabies shot – or get him fixed, if you know what I mean. Rabon’s now-famous rant just shows that, in politics, the worst wounds are self-inflicted. Rabon diminished his own stature, put his bosses in an awkward spot and gave folks…
Read MoreSnow Days
As a boy easily bored in school, I loved snow days. We lived in one of the world’s great sledding locales, just off Canterbury Road in west Raleigh. Every crossing street – Churchill, Lewis Farm, Grant – is a steep hill both ways. We spent hours going down them, going home long after dark. …
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