Issues
How Politics Works
Back in 2005, Governor Mike Easley pulled strings and got his wife a job at North Carolina State University running what he called a ‘speakers series;’ then the Governor pulled more strings and got his wife a new job paying more, $170,000 a year; then the Governor’s string-pulling landed on the front page of the…
Read MoreGender-Neutral
Years ago when I enrolled at the University of North Carolina, I arrived on the campus and to my delight I found I had been assigned to the first ever co-ed dormitory. Then, my first night on campus, at orientation the powers that be introduced us to the wonders of birth control. We were all…
Read MoreGetting Rid of Tarbabies
Pat McCrory’s just captured the biggest tarbaby in North Carolina. State government has never been a paragon of efficiency but after twelve years of Mike Easley and Beverly Perdue and pay-to-play politics it’s become an unusually broad and deep quagmire. The state’s Medicaid claims processing contract is an example: Years ago when Mike…
Read MoreBoehner Offers a Compromise
The day after the election House Republican Leader John Boehner faced a tough question: Would he compromise with Obama or not? It was a Hobson’s Choice. Either way he was walking into a political minefield. In the end Speaker Boehner threw what looked like a compromise on the table – in effect, saying to…
Read MoreDivided We Stand
On the day after, we’re as split emotionally as we are politically. Democrats celebrate President Obama’s historic reelection. America has now twice elected a black man to the highest office. His win validates his policies: the stimulus, auto bailout and financial reform. Health care reform will survive. He will fill Supreme Court vacancies. He…
Read MoreNewby, O’Conner and Judicial Conduct
Here’s more fuel for the Paul Newby redistricting-recusal fire (see my blog yesterday). A lawyer notes recent comments by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner and the contents of the N.C. Code of Judicial Conduct. O’Conner, a Republican appointed by Ronald Reagan, has strongly criticized SuperPac participation in state judicial races, the…
Read MoreShould Newby Recuse Himself on Redistricting?
Looking at the big money backing Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby, a knowledgeable lawyer warns: “There would seem little doubt now but that Justice Newby will have to recuse himself from any redistricting case that might come before the high court.” The lawyer says Newby may also have to recuse himself from cases involving…
Read MoreModerate Mitt
The presidential race turned around when Mitt Romney turned into a moderate in the first debate. Who knows if he is really the moderate of October or the “severe conservative” of the primaries? My guess is that he’s an unprincipled son of privilege who, like George Bush, is trying to live up to an…
Read MoreMcGovern, Helms and Hunt
For an epic election loser, George McGovern had a big impact on North Carolina politics. Like Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt. If not for McGovern’s landslide loss to Richard Nixon in 1972, North Carolina never would have had a Senator Helms. The Nixon tide swept Helms into Washington. It also brought a Republican, Jim…
Read MoreNo Contrition in Sight Anywhere
The election in North Carolina has moved from old fashioned elbow-throwing into a more interesting topic – sex. When she lived in Pennsylvania Debra Goldman was a volunteer firefighter – then she moved to Raleigh, ran for School Board, won in the Republican sweep in 2009 and now she’s running for State Auditor. …
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