Budget Mania
It hasn’t taken long. Now that we know what the House, Senate, and Governor all propose for the state budget, the work begins trying to pound the square peg through the non-existent hole. The Senate plan appropriates $19.4 billion for FY 2011-12, slightly more than the House plan’s $19.3 billion, but $500 million less than …
Red, White and Blue
With Memorial Day approaching, it is appropriate to take a moment to reflect on what it means to be patriotic. It should come as no surprise that there are wildly varying ideas about what “real” patriotism looks like, how it differs from nationalism, and whether any of it is really a healthy idea to being …
Gifted?
“Stupidity is a gift from God – use it wisely.” While we’re pretty sure Pope John Paul II wasn’t specifically speaking about the GA in Raleigh, but you could be excused for thinking that to be the case. We’ve seen plenty of examples of stupidity lately in the General Assembly, but not so much the …
Busking (for change)
When it comes right down to it, we elect legislators do make the decisions we cannot. But what happens when the legislators can’t seem to make a decision either? Crap like this. This week the House Government Committee decided it was a good idea to approve a donation box to be added to your next …
Diverse Redistricting
It’s been awhile since we spent some time on the Wake County School Board debacle, and in some respects things have calmed down a bit on that front. But since it is a redistricting year, things are getting dicey once again. The Board of Education will meet this evening to discuss the redistricted election maps …
Snake Oil
Since we are squarely in the middle of state budget battles in Raleigh, I thought it might be a good idea to step back from the politics of it all for a quick second and really appreciate the irony of the situation. John Morton, the father of false options, would be proud of the work …
Convinced Yet?
Lest you actually believe that conservatives in Raleigh have your best interests at heart, let’s just review the havoc wrought in the past 48 hours, shall we? Two votes to push the insurance-industry-sponsored health care exchange bill one step closer to law, forward motion on a bill that severely restricts the rights of women seeking …
Under Our Noses
For those committed to a fair and just North Carolina, Halifax County schools have always been a problem. The construction of the school districts in rural county, located right by the Virginia border, is in many ways a perfect example of what was, is, and will continue to be wrong with public education in North …
Ignored
Do you know how many 37,000 of something is? To give it a bit of context, we are talking the population of entire cities, or the number of patent applications filed in India last year, or, closer to home, the number of unemployed North Carolinians who have been waiting almost a month for their unemployment …
Double Take
North Carolina managed to both add a signification number of jobs last month, while simultaneously having the third-highest unemployment rate in the nation. How the heck did that happen? The simple answer: we really need to add more jobs. Let’s take a look at the numbers. North Carolina’s jobless rate remains near all-time high levels …