Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Now that President Obama has signed the stimulus bill, the real free-for-all begins – both financial and political. The most popular people in Raleigh today are Dempsey Benton and Gene Conti. As DOT secretary, Conti has road money to spend. As Governor Perdue’s stimulus czar, Benton will oversee the rest of the windfall from Washington.…
Most everybody in America has figured out by now the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street are fallible, but no matter how much cupidity there is in board rooms and executive washrooms it’s beginning to look like Congress is still king of the hill when it comes to waywardness. The other day a conference…
I wonder if Abraham Lincolnâs shoes are big enough to fit both his feet and Barack Obamaâs? Before the ink dried after the election, Obama said, like Lincoln, he was going to appoint a âTeam of Rivalsâ to his cabinet. He rode to his inaugural following the same route as Lincoln. Took the oath with…
Several times during the presidential campaign, opponents and commentators dismissed Barack Obama as “Obambi.” John Edwards privately told friends he thought Obama was weak. The Clintons believed he was too soft. So did John McCain. At every turn, Bambi turned out to have sharp teeth. His path is littered with his opponents’ bones. But now…
The governor’s been doing a lot of talking lately about cleaning up the probation mess and Senator Phil Berger’s just announced he’s taking her at her word and introducing a bill to help. First, Senator Berger wants the legislature to pass a law to make it legal for all “probation and law enforcement officers…
How key was North Carolina in the 2008 election? Well, it’s possible the stimulus package might not have passed the Senate if Kay Hagan hadn’t beaten Liddy Dole. The bill passed 61-58, with the help of three Republicans. Without Hagan, the vote might have been 60-59. Cut it that close, and President Obama might not…
It’s always seemed there might be a little bit of hoax about the Wake County School Board’s ‘diversity’ policy – that the policy was really about race and not academics (as the board has argued for years). The board has made its case like this: It says it buses students based on their family incomes…
As an NFL quarterback, Health Shuler had a reputation for making bad throws. As a politician, he may have just thrown himself out of the 2010 Senate race. Shuler voted against the stimulus bill in the House, one of a handful of Democrats to cross party lines on the vote. That’s not inconsistent with the…
Most times, to me a Jamaican voodoo doctor rattling chicken bones makes as much sense as an economist, and I’d say there is a greater probability the voodoo doctor’s predictions will come true. The fact is I simply do not understand economics. It’s as much a mystery as astrology. Or tarot cards. Or a scientist…
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…