The tenure trade-off
Editorial by Salisbury Post, June 1, 2014. We’ve entered the most difficult time of the school year for teachers — the time when lawmakers bat around ideas about how to pay them for educating our... Read More
NC Spin Articles
McCrory says Medicaid budget has $60 million shortfall
Federal regulators have rejected a plan from Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration to tax some managed-care Medicaid providers as a way to draw down more federal money for the state budget. The result... Read More
Support grows for moving SBI to Public Safety Department
by Craig Jarvis, News and Observer, June 3, 2014. Support for moving the State Bureau of Investigation under the governor’s control solidified Tuesday, as the proposal picked up support in the House... Read More
'Mean' Republicans may be NC's last, best hope against economic ruin
Close your eyes and you can almost see the Democrats’ vision for North Carolina. In this corner are expanded Medicaid benefits; in that corner are 99 weeks of unemployment insurance – though why... Read More
NC Lawmakers must face up to the fallout of disastrous tax cuts
After overhauling taxes last year in a way that significantly reduced state resources and shifted the tax load away from the wealthiest taxpayers and profitable corporations and onto ordinary North... Read More
Let's pay legislators more if they give up their job security
Our state legislators haven’t gotten a pay raise in years. Their salaries are among the worst in the country. I’m for giving them more. A lot more. But not without some strings attached. I’m... Read More
Bad bill of the week: SB 730 - Medicaid expansion
This week’s bad bill would subject half a million North Carolinians to an already overcrowded Medicaid system and strain its already skyrocketing and bloated budget. Senate Bill 730, sponsored by... Read More
Tax for teachers?
As Democrats look to counter Senate Republicans on teacher pay, they should look outside the revenue box. The 11 percent raise/end tenure plan caught the headlines and seemed to catch Democrats... Read More
Don't wreck state's auto insurance
Editorial by Jacksonville Daily News, June 2, 2014. North Carolina’s auto insurance system is not broken, and consumers should be wary of the “fix” prescribed by a coalition of insurers seeking... Read More
Fracking caution slow
One might expect legislators to be leery of big energy companies after Duke Energy spilled 39,000 tons of coal ash into a river that flows right through the Senate president pro tem’s hometown. But... Read More
