North Carolina – Republicans
Patronage Shocker
We all are shocked – shocked, I say – that Governor McCrory and the Republican Party are putting political cronies in state jobs. Like that has never happened before. I’m reminded of the Jim Hunt supporter who wanted to get a state job for a local boy. The Governor’s patronage chief, Joe Pell, asked,…
Read MoreBlindness
Back in the throes of winter the State Auditor audited the North Carolina Medicaid Department and reported it had the highest administrative costs of just about any state Medicaid Department around – which sure sounded right because, as just about everyone knows, North Carolina’s Medicaid program has been a bollixed mess for years. But…
Read MoreCan the Potty Jokes
Spend $230,000 in taxpayers’ money fixing up the private bathrooms at the Executive Mansion? You could hear howls across the state when that news leaked. (Get it? “Leaked”?) OK, time out. No more potty humor. This has already been a headline-writer’s dream: “Flushed,” “in loo of,” “down the drain,” “taxpayers take bath.” Let’s deal…
Read MoreAnarchist Alert
The legislature’s gendarmes were searching in all the wrong places. General Assembly Police Chief Jeff Weaver revealed this week that his 18-officer department is collecting intel on “anarchists,” including Moral Monday protestors. The Chief and his sleuths are on alert for people who are “against government.” Here’s a clue, Inspector Clouseau: You’ll find…
Read MoreEt Tu, Tommy?
A Republican legislator did a fine job of stating the case against Governor McCrory and the Republican legislature: “It makes it awfully difficult…to hear from teachers making $30,000 a year and not receiving raises in five years, and you hire someone one year out of college with an English degree and pay him $85,000.” …
Read MoreDoctor My Eyes
So all the DHHS scandals are based on a report that was doctored to mislead legislators and taxpayers. The $87,000 salaries for young campaign aides, lucrative contracts for political allies, eyebrow-raising sudden exits by top department officials and sweet severance payouts. All that is based on the McCrory’s administration claim that it inherited a…
Read MoreEyeball to Eyeball
Houston, we have a problem. Last weekend, in Asheville, Roy Cooper threw down the gauntlet. He’s running for Governor. This isn’t quite a tsunami or earthquake. But Democrats now have a bona-fide candidate (with name identification and money) standing eyeball to eyeball with Governor McCrory – pouring gas on the fire of the…
Read MoreGet the Congressman Some Coffee
The government is shut down, so Congressman George Holding got some shuteye. On camera. At the moment one of his Republican colleagues declaimed, “It’s about time to do what’s right for the whole country,” the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina was catching a few winks. CSPAN’s camera caught him. Unfortunately for Holding, he was…
Read MoreSomething’s Not Quite Right
I opened the newspaper yesterday morning and stared at a picture of a lonely fellow standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, putting up a sign that said: Closed. The headline above the picture said: “Government starts shutting down” – and the story explained Social Security checks will be late, parks shuttered, and 800,000…
Read MoreObamascare, Day 2
The story in the Onion summed it up: “Man Who Understands 8% Of Obamacare Vigorously Defends It From Man Who Understands 5%.” How you feel about Obamacare probably correlates about 100 percent with how you voted in the 2012 election. Unless you already found out you pay more or less for insurance. I’m double-sold.…
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