Carter Wrenn
Gary Pearce
I asked a retired friend, who occasionally serves as a substitute teacher, why the School Board was determined to push for a tax increase when three independent polls show it losing overwhelmingly. He told me an interesting story about the dress code in the Wake County Schools. He said students ignore the dress code and…
Wake County Manager David Cooke wants to increase property taxes three cents. The way the politicians describe this type of tax increase, they say it’s “only” a $45 increase on a $150,000 home. Let’s look a little closer. On top of Mr. Cooke’s three-cent tax hike, the Wake County Board of Education wants a 3.9…
President Bush’s immigration speech showed just how far he has fallen. And it happened when – in my opinion – he actually is trying to do the right thing. (There, that’s my nod to bipartisanship this week.) On gay rights, Bush is the monkey to the right-wing organ grinders. Even though Laura disagrees – publicly!…
WRAL-TV and The News and Observer have taken a poll on the Wake County School Bonds. They found voters: Favored a $625 million bond with no tax increase 64% to 28% Opposed a $998 million bond with a tax increase 59% to 27% Opposed a $1.15 billion bond with a bigger tax increase 57% to…
Us Southern Democrats have worried a long time about being totally abandoned by the national party. This election could accelerate that trend. Especially if Democrats win control of the U.S. House by knocking off vulnerable Republicans in the Northeast. Various reports show that districts won by John Kerry – but that still have GOP congressmen…
Governor Easley’s sneaky streak breaks out every now and then. To hear the Governor tell it he’s going to do two things with the State’s $2 billion surplus: increase some needed spending and cut taxes. What’s sneaky – and what he’s not talking about much – is that his tax cut is only a fraction…
Congressman Brad Miller’s opponent, Vernon Robinson, last week sent out one of the wildest, most over-the-top, most clever, most irresponsible, most expensive and – I hope – least effective mailings I’ve ever seen. And I thought nobody could top the stuff Carter and the Congressional Club used to send out about Jim Hunt. Now, Brad…
In 2000, George and Jeb Bush relied on Katherine Harris, Florida’s Secretary of State, to recapture the White House for the Bush family. That made Katherine a hero with Republicans and anathema to Democrats. She rode the notoriety right into the U.S. Senate race in Florida this year. But her behavior has been so wacky…
Few would argue (with the exception of the members of the House Democratic Caucus) with the proposition that Jim Black, after a year of ‘pay to play’ scandals, is now the most unpopular man in North Carolina. A series of hearings, investigations, and exposes has left the heretofore sure-footed House Leader battered and bruised. But…
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…
Gwyn and I just returned from a 12-day journey through 1,000 years of history in Germany…