Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Pass any ethics law you want. Set up any ethics board you want. The best ethics protection remains The News & Observer. Getting a copy of the Easleys’ settlement statement at Cannonsgate (can there really be a –gate in this story?) is an amazing coup. As shown by Wade Byrd’s threat to sue the…
There’s plenty of hot news lately. Iran’s close to building a bomb. ACORN operatives got caught on film trying to figure out how to bring young girls from Honduras to Baltimore for what sounded a lot like a prostitution ring. And the Republican National Committees are going all out to elect a…
Excuse the big yawn from many Democrats at the news Elaine Marshall apparently will run for Senate. I say apparently because, as the N&O noted, her consultant announced her candidacy. She was not available to speak for herself. Not a good sign. And not the sign of a committed candidate. Yes, she is…
As if Governor Perdue’s not singlehandedly doing enough to sink the Democrats next election (with her 25% Favorable to 50% Unfavorable) former Governor Easley is lending a hand. Not even P.T. Barnum pulled off what Easley ahs done: Going to a real estate closing to buy a half-a-million dollar lot with borrowed money…
Never underestimate a President who can talk eloquently about moral issues. It’s easy to forget that. We haven’t had a President who could do it for 20 years – since Ronald Reagan left the White House. The Bushes could hardly put together a coherent sentence. Yes, Bill Clinton could talk a blue streak.…
One of the great falsehoods peddled by Jim Hunt-haters – and repeated in a recent comment on this site – is that he cried after Ted Kennedy’s speech to the 1980 convention. Sorry, haters. It didn’t happen. I was there. Standing beside Hunt on the floor of Madison Square Garden during Kennedy’s…
Watching President Obama give a speech is sort of like it used to be watching Reggie Jackson play baseball – I’m no Yankees fan but at times watching Reggie (like in the World Series game when he hit three homeruns) could be pretty amazing. Plus, President Obama has guts, which is about the rarest…
One of the smartest people I know in the health-care field is Bill Atkinson, CEO of WakeMed. Not long ago, he made a point that gets little attention in today’s debate: That most American families – no matter how well off – are one major illness from financial ruin. The debate seems to…
Governor Perdue has plenty of education-budget headaches – like whether local school districts are laying off teachers. Getting less attention is the near-panic among health and human-services advocates over draconian state budget cuts. Especially with North Carolina facing swine-flu fears, an aging population and serious mental-health needs. Budget reform – whatever that…
Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote…
Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had…
Jim Hunt would like James Talarico winning the Democratic primary in Texas. Like Talarico, the late…