Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
Tony Rand rolled out a sure-fire crowd-pleaser last week: limit the number of days legislators can collect their expenses. Voters love it. Good-government types extol it. Legislators can hardly vote against it. But some people question – privately – the wisdom behind it. Are shorter legislative sessions by definition better? In whatever your line of…
Gene Conti’s pick of N&O veteran Ted Vaden as deputy DOT secretary for communications revealed three things: Conti (caveat: a good friend) will be a good secretary. He understands that DOT will benefit from some disinfectant and sunshine. The N&O, like many daily papers, looks like a sinking ship. The age-old media suspicion of “flacks”…
Yesterday, reading a report in the paper about all the bills introduced I got the impression the state legislature is a hotbed of activity – so last night at dinner with a state representative I said, It looks like you all have been pretty busy. He frowned, I don’t know where you got that idea…
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…
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…
A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…