North Carolina – Republicans
Vetoes and Districts
Anyone surprised that five Democratic House members voted for the Republican budget has forgotten that no animal in the wild has a more finely honed survival instinct than a politician. The media has reported the budget goodies the “Party of Five” received. And there is talk about Jim Crawford getting an Appropriations chairmanship, etc,…
Read MoreFoolishness and Politicians
House Speaker Thom Tillis landed himself in a mess by picking the worst time on earth to pass out $30,000 a person pay raises to his staff. The whole thing, given the timing, looks just plain crazy. On one hand Tillis is telling voters the legislature’s so flat-on-its-back-broke it has to cut budgets to…
Read MoreThe Perdue Difference
Two members of Governor Perdue’s staff took issue with my view that Republicans have successfully minimized the differences between their education budget and hers. I invited them to spell out the differences. They obliged with an analysis headed “Setting the Record Straight: Perdue Budget Would Invest More Than a Half Billion Dollars More in Public…
Read MoreThe Bright Side
I just knew there was a pony in the pile of manure that is the new state budget. And, thanks to Laura Leslie at WRAL, I found it. From the start, let me confess: This is all about self-interest. You see, we own a small condo at Nags Head. And one of my…
Read MoreLosing Round One
When I fled the country just before Memorial Day, Governor Perdue had the upper hand in her PR battle with the GOP over the budget. But she lost it. She lost the battle – at least in the short term – because she couldn’t get the votes to sustain her veto. In politics, like…
Read MoreThe Biggest Contract in State Government
It’s the biggest contract in state government. The $265 million Medicaid claims processing contract. And it’s awarded by Secretary Lanier Cansler’s department. For years the contract was managed by EDS Corporation, but during Cansler’s first stint at DHHS (when Mike Easley was Governor) the contract was awarded to another corporation – ACS Corporation. Which…
Read MoreWhat I Missed
Here’s what I gleaned from two days of catching up with the news of the past two weeks: John Edwards got indicted. And promptly dug himself a deeper hole by jumping in front of the cameras. The aptly named Anthony Weiner imploded online. Newt Gingrich imploded at sea. (“Imploded” may be to 2012…
Read MoreCansler Strikes Again
Lobbyist turned Cabinet Secretary (and No-Bid-Contract-Awarder) Lanier Cansler has landed himself back in court. Sued for the third time. What’s got Cansler in a mess this time is his predilection for nursing homes – he seems to be about the only person in North Carolina who thinks it’s better to put an elderly person…
Read MoreScreaming Bloody Murder
The Democrat head of the State Board of Education has gotten himself worked up into such a state about the Republican budget and the Republicans ruining public schools he’s one step from either bursting an artery or starting a riot. To hear him tell it Governor Perdue’s budget will bring light to education and…
Read MoreBehind the Curtain
Speaker Thom Tillis slipped up and left a microphone on during a ‘behind closed doors’ Republican Caucus, so every word he said was beamed straight into the press room at the General Assembly where reporters listened agog to the leaders in the legislature making high-level policy. Policy #1 – On redistricting, House Republican Leader…
Read More