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This from our Shameless Self-Promotion Department:   Carter and I did an interview with Don Gonyea, National Political Correspondent for NPR.  Part of it ran in a story about Senator Kay Hagan’s reelection race.    And I was interviewed on Chris Fitzsimon’s News & Views on WRAL-FM. It’s on the NC Policy Watchwebsite.

Even Republicans are puzzled about why Governor McCrory vetoed the two bills he did.   Why pick a fight you’re going to lose? Unless there’s a big upside, and there’s not here.   Both of the bills he vetoed had passed the House, his only real ally on Jones Street, with veto-proof majorities and bipartisan…

Why do Republicans feel compelled to insult, dismiss and condescend to women in North Carolina?   The latest: Governor McCrory dismissing Ann Goodnight’s pointed and powerful letter to the N&O (reprinted in full at the end of this blog).   The Governor sniffed at the letter to Al Hunt of Bloomberg News: “Ms. Goodnight, he…

Yes, Newt Gingrich is nuts. But sometimes even a nut sees reality. And last week he summed up why the Republican Party is on the road to disaster:   “We are caught up right now in a culture – and you see it every single day – where as long as we are negative, as…

A veteran business lobbyist takes aim at both The N&O and the legislature – and makes a noteworthy point about how government in Raleigh today works – or doesn’t:   “The N&O’s story last week about Blue Cross Blue Shield’s diminished influence at the General Assembly was badly reported, unfair to BCBS and confirmed that…

When the Raleigh City Council abruptly and mysteriously fired City Manager Russell Allen, you knew there had to be some major urban policy matter involved.  Yep: parking places.   Now, politicians will put up with a lot. You can attack them, smear them, call them names, criticize their ideas and vote against them. That’s all…

With Republican legislators pushing drug tests for welfare recipients, let’s look at two Southern states’ experiences.   For a year, Georgia has encouraged businesses to alert the agency if a job applicant fails a drug test, so that the state can deny them unemployment benefits. How many people have the tests caught?   Exactly one.…

Now that the Case of the Not-Blueprint Memo has been solved, Democrats and progressives can move on to important issues like what Republicans are doing on education, Medicaid, unemployment assistance, tax reform and … hold on, what’s that?   Never mind. Apparently, we will move on to the new state Democratic chairman owing almost $290,000 in…

Why do congressional Republicans keep jumping off the cliff – and taking the country with them? Don’t they see the political trap that President Obama has sprung on them?   You could enjoy what they’re doing to themselves politically if you didn’t hate what they’re doing to the country economically.   Here’s just part of…

When I read that Richard Ben Cramer died this week, I pulled down my dog-eared copy of “What It Takes” and started to read it. Again.   If you’ve never heard of Cramer or his book, get it.  Read it.  You’ll thank me.   It’s about the 1988 presidential campaign, but it’s timeless. Through 1,000-plus…