Upside Down

Who said foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds? Republicans in North Carolina certainly appear untethered by consistency when it comes to the relationship between government and the private sector.   Nationally, Republicans are in a frenzy about the Obama administration’s policy toward business.  Socialism, they thunder. The very idea of the federal government…

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Reading the Sunday Paper

Tom Fetzer is a smart guy. I’m thinking of endorsing him for state Republican Chair. That’s because he would be good, and I don’t want a good GOP chair. I figure my endorsement would be the kiss of death. Tom has a gimmick in his campaign: help put The News & Observer out of business.…

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A.I.G., Alcoa and Taxes

Well, Obama’s after A.I.G. hammer and tongs. Which is fine. More than fine. But there’re also a couple of overlooked questions worth considering: Like why didn’t the Washington genius (and it’s beginning to look like it was Treasury Secretary Geithner) who poured $170 billion into A.I.G. have the good sense to tell A.I.G. up front,…

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Bev’s Budget

I give Governor Perdue and her staff an A+ on message management. They pulled off a neat three-step strategy: Spend weeks warning people how awful the budget cuts are going to be. Then devote her State of the State speech – and the next week’s media events – to saying education would get more money.…

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