Revenue trend doesn't merit panic
North Carolina has collected less state revenue so far than projected for the 2017-18 fiscal year, to the tune of about $134 million. Alarm about this would be premature — we’ve learned in recent... Read More
NC Spin Articles
Where's the money for smaller classes?
Editorial by Greensboro New-Record, November 26, 2017. It’s a great idea: Reduce class sizes in primary grades and make sure every child learns to read. What could go wrong? Quite a bit, it turns... Read More
We've arrived at a national moment of truth
Seven years and almost $7 trillion in new debt ago, we released a bipartisan package of tax and spending reforms as co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. At the... Read More
A welcome takeover
Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, November 28, 2017. It should not be surprising that the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services has temporarily taken over daily operations of Cardinal... Read More
Scrapping protections that work
While people across the country are closely following the pending GOP tax reform scheme, the sexual harassment and assault allegations and whatever the president is tweeting, they aren’t following... Read More
Testing our endurance
Testing is expected as part of education. Important questions remain unanswered concerning testing in NC public schools. NC policymakers need to re-evaluate the frequency, quantity and appropriateness... Read More
Moving UNC system offices out of Chapel Hill
In the last few months the UNC Board of Governors has proposed a lot of controversial moves for the university system. One of the latest might be the most perplexing – even to members of the board... Read More
Underfunded and failing
By every objective measure, we are underfunded and we are failing.” That’s how Larry Armstrong, longtime attorney for the Halifax County Board of Education, summed up the task before Gov. Roy... Read More
Lesson from my toppled hero, Charlie Rose
Stunned. North Carolina lost another monument. It came like a flash. And I am still reeling. Charlie Rose was one of North Carolina’s nationally best-known and most admired people. He was right up... Read More
Duke Energy should pay some coal ash costs
Editorial by Jacksonville Daily News, November 28, 2017. This is how business works (the really short and oversimplified version): You add up all the costs of doing what you do — labor, utilities... Read More
