Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
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…
I love Public Policy Polling – and the almost-daily poll fix they give me. But I take issue with a recent analysis. PPP found that Senator Kay Hagan’s approval rating was up – to 39 percent, with 38 percent disapproval. According to the N&O: “Pollster Tom Jensen attributed Hagan’s improved standing to some more conservative…
It’s hard to make heads or tails of this: The Republican Legislature raises taxes on hospitals $215 million – and the hospitals are delighted, tickled to death. In fact, newspapers report, the legislature raised the ‘tax’ at the request of the Hospital Association. The explanation gets even stranger. And more confusing: The $215 million…
Should the legislature merge and cut Smart Start and More At Four? As the Geico guy might ask: “Is stirring up Jim Hunt a good idea?” Republican legislators apparently are hearing an earful from Hunt already. Those who weren’t around when he was Governor will learn what one legislator back then told one of…
The Wilmington Star News has branded the unkind words ‘pay to play’ on Senate Republican Leader Harry Brown, who’s put his political clout behind ‘groin-building’ to help wealthy homeowners who need seawalls (groins) to keep the beaches in front of their vacation homes from vanishing. The Star News attack on Brown was straightforward: It…
Watching television coverage of the nuclear-plant crisis in Japan is a classic case of TMI. Not Three Mile Island: Too Much Information. Too much confusing, alarmist, over-heated and incomprehensible information, to be precise. The coverage also reflects the trend toward anchors and correspondents being drama kings and queens rather than Walter Cronkite. The New York…
Last year, the state received $10.5 billion in ‘Stimulus Funds’ from the Obama administration – a staggering number equal to one-half the state budget. This year, the state faces a $2.7 billion dollar budget deficit. Does that sound a bit like fiscal mismanagement? The state gets a $10 billion windfall from Washington last…
Tony Tata obviously learned something about politics in the military, as well as good offensive strategy. When he started as Wake schools superintendent, he disarmed critics by meeting with them. Now he has proposed a budget that is austere, but avoids classroom cuts. In other words, the same political strategy as Governor Perdue.…
Well, the legislative freight train called ‘Legal Reform’ has barreled out of the State Senate and over into the State House: The other day a passer-by spotted a parade of lobbyists (from Insurance Companies, the Medical Society, the Hospital Association, the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Chamber of Commerce) sauntering into Speaker Thom Tillis’ office beaming…
The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…
A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…
Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…