Carolina Journal Since the beginning of this year, there have been no net new jobs created in North Carolina. In fact, using the latest data from the monthly survey of employers, there were about... Read More
I am a teetotaler who believes that my fellow North Carolinians should be free to buy and consume the alcoholic beverages of their choice from the vendors of their choice. They don’t currently... Read More
It’s hard not to play along when children come up with cute untruths. Back when one of my now-grown sons was just an Opie Taylor-like tyke, for example, he used to tell me matter-of-factly that if... Read More
North Carolina Republicans has gotten right what Republicans elsewhere have gotten very wrong: how to construct sensible tax cuts and honest, conservative budgets. Liberal critics aren’t inclined to... Read More
I have been writing a regular column on North Carolina politics and public policy since 1986. Over three decades of writing about and talking to politicians in Raleigh, few issues have come up more... Read More
The average pay received by public school teachers in North Carolina this year was $49,837, up four percent from the 2015-16 school year. That was the largest pay hike for teachers in the United... Read More
When it comes to electoral strength, is demography destiny? Leaders of both major political parties often seem to think so. Republicans in North Carolina and across the country have enjoyed... Read More
The past six years have brought significant change in North Carolina government and policy. Conservatives tend to like the budget restraint, tax cuts, school choice initiatives, and other reforms that... Read More
Sports analogies are overused in political analysis, I admit. But for some purposes, there’s no better description than the example of two teams squaring off in a ball game. In North Carolina... Read More
While North Carolina legislators and Gov. Roy Cooper haven’t yet received the report on state income taxes paid or refunded by the April deadline, they shouldn’t count on a positive “April... Read More
