Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Who’d have thought it was possible – the Internet sweepstakes poker parlor folks have offered ‘to put $500 million’ in the state treasury – if the legislators will just see the light and let them stay in business. Whoever heard of anybody volunteering to pay half a billion dollars in taxes? You have to…
Read MoreChairman Randy Voller continues to embarrass himself and the North Carolina Democratic Party. Now it’s for saying Republicans are “raping” North Carolina. After numerous Republicans committed political self-immolation last year by talking loosely about rape, you would think any man in politics would have the good sense to avoid the word. Not Voller. …
Read MoreRaleigh Republicans’ once-united front is fraying. There was Rep. Larry Pittman’s non-apology apology to Speaker Tillis (“I’m not sorry I said it; I’m sorry I got caught.”) One wit noted that it read like a hostage letter. Was he waterboarded? Then there’s renewable energy. Some Republicans chafed at the pressure behind the bill to…
Read MoreSharp-eyed readers no doubt note I goofed in “Foxx at the Wheel” (below): Mel Watt was named to head the Housing Finance Agency, which is not a Cabinet appointment. Blame Twitter. I had seen a tweet about “Watt to Housing.” I misunderstood. It’s like what The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart said recently when a…
Read MoreLiddy Dole rode DOT to a Senate seat from North Carolina and a presidential race. Where will it take Anthony Foxx? Such is the power of a President: Obama elevated Foxx to the head of the political line in North Carolina. He is now a clear contender for Governor or Senate. He is the…
Read MoreIs this what Governor McCrory means by government serving its customers? It’s certainly as blatant a statement of pay-to-play as has ever been made. Sweepstakes operator William George of Rock Hill, S.C., who gave $4,000 to McCrory’s campaign, told AP: “We didn’t give them money because we liked them. We just knew they were…
Read MoreRaleigh has never seen this kind of one-party control. Hold on, you say – especially my Republican friends: Democrats had one-party control for over 100 years. No, not like this. For most of those years, the Democratic Party was two parties. Think Terry Sanford and I. Beverly Lake. Or Jim Hunt and…
Read MoreUp in Washington, Senate Leader Harry Reid and House Leader John Boehner and a handful of politicians have been sequestered in secret meetings, trying to agree on a solution to one of Washington’s most burning problems: How to exempt Congressmen and their staffs from ObamaCare. Then, to their surprise, word of the meetings leaked…
Read MoreWithin just a few days last week, the Perdue campaign-fund serial wrapped up, Sweepstakesgate ramped up and Governor McCrory cleaned house at the Board of Elections. Grab a big bag of popcorn and settle in. This will take a while. Especially since a majority of the previous board called for an investigation. And especially…
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