North Carolina – Republicans
Washed Up
A political tsunami brings ashore strange creatures from the deep. Witness some of the Republicans in the legislature. A serious Senator, Neal Hunt, comes up with a good idea that could repair burnt bridges for Republicans: pardon Reconstruction Governor W.W. Holden, who was impeached for standing up to the Ku Klux Klan. …
Read MoreWho’s the Legislator with a Gun?
Someone in the State House sure does like handguns. First, legislators sponsored a bill to allow folks to carry concealed pistols in bars and restaurants. Now there’s a bill to require cities to allow concealed guns in parks. And Representative Mark Hilton is sponsoring a class in the legislature on carrying concealed guns. Legislators…
Read MoreRedistrict the Right Way!
This is an urgent open letter to Republican political consultants in North Carolina: Now is the time to come to the aid of your profession. Your party is in charge of redistricting. The lonely eyes of all political consultants – Democrats and Republicans – turn to you. I’m not talking about partisan…
Read MoreReforming DENR
The easy story line is that rapacious Republicans are out to gut North Carolina’s environmental protections. Not so fast. In fact, Governor Perdue might want to jump on this train while she’s restructuring state government. There are economic developers and business people who are responsible on environmental issues AND convinced that DENR…
Read MoreA Mystery
Governor Perdue’s against ending end-course tests in high schools, she empathically told the newspaper. But, then, she took a breath and said there’s no way she’ll veto the Republicans’ bill to eliminate the tests. Then she took another breath and said she won’t sign the bill either. Instead, she’s going to sit on her hands…
Read MoreThe Republican Rush
I’m the last person most Republicans would listen to for advice. But I’m struck lately by the concerns I’ve heard from serious and nonpartisan people about the GOP’s ambitious legislative agenda. As one veteran at the legislature observed: “If the Republicans try to do everything now, there won’t be a later for them.” …
Read MoreThe Oldest Story in Politics
As Claude Rains said in Rickâs Café in Casablanca, Iâm shocked, just shocked. Itâs like the world turned upside down â here on Talking About Politics. Iâm defending trial lawyers and Garyâs defending negligent doctors. The issue of âmedical malpractice reform,â in a unique way, boils down to hard-edged questions about personal responsibility⦠and…
Read MoreAnother View on Med Mal
I do consulting work with doctors and hospitals, and my view of medical-malpractice reform differs from Carter’s. First off, personal-injury lawyers aren’t opposed to reform just out of tender hearts and a passion for justice. They’re looking after their bank accounts. Second, a lawyer who is a skilled courtroom performer can hit the…
Read MoreAnother Quagmire?
Well, the United Nations has voted to go to war with Libya only it doesn’t call it a war it calls it a ‘no-fly zone’ – which is political double talk for filling the skies over Libya with American or French or British fighters blowing up Libyan tanks and artillery and air-defense batteries. The…
Read MoreThe Party Caucus
Once years ago at one of Jesse Helms rallies a local Republican official – one of the old-line party stalwarts Jesse used to call ‘pachyderms’ – cornered Jesse and pointing his finger started upbraiding him for not toting the party line up in the Senate and not voting the way the Republican leaders wanted him…
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