The continental divide
The two events held back-to-back on the National Mall spoke to the division in America. President Donald Trump took the oath of office and delivered an inaugural address targeted to the same people who elected him, not the country as a whole. The next day, 500,000 or...
Thanks, Obama
Ten years ago, if you had asked me if we would see an African-American president in my lifetime, I would have said probably not. But if you had asked me twenty-five years ago, I would have thought that was impossible. Yet, today we’re watching the final few hours of a...
Unfunded mandates
I’m old enough to remember when Republicans pummeled Democrats for unfunded mandates. Unfunded mandates are regulations or requirements passed by legislatures or Congress without the money to pay for them. That’s exactly what Republicans are doing to our public school...
Uncharted territory
North Carolina is in uncharted political territory. Not in well over 100 years has a GOP-controlled legislature welcomed a Democratic governor. When the Republicans took power in 2010, Democrat Bev Perdue still had two years left in her term. In 2012, the legislative...
Breaking the political system
With Republicans now trying to undo Obama’s legacy, we should also remember THEIR legacy from the Obama years. In an effort to make Obama a failed president, they broke our political system. Mitch McConnell played a long game that finally gave Republicans both Houses...
Obamacare repeal is about ideology, not health care
Soon, it looks like we’ll be saying good-bye to Obamacare. Republicans are rejoicing. Democrats are despairing. The 20 million or so people who got heath care coverage because of the program are panicking. Republicans like Paul Ryan call the program a disaster and...
Failing up
According to Politico yesterday, “Former Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday officially launched the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, billing it in a speech to the Center for American Progress Action Fund as the center of Democratic rebuilding in the...
Repeal suddenly doesn’t look so good
Back in 2006, Democrats ran on reforming the health care system because that was Americans’ top domestic priority. Premiums were skyrocketing and costs were rising at a rapid pace. More than 15% of the country had no insurance and the number was rising. Other people...
What does Putin have on Trump?
I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist. I’ve ridiculed 9-11 Truthers and Birthers alike. That said, I believe Vladimir Putin has something on Donald Trump. I don’t think Trump is a Russian agent in the traditional sense, but something is certainly out of whack with...
Make North Carolina great again
For most of the latter half of the 20th century, at least from 1960 on, North Carolina was a state on the move. In contrast to its southern neighbors, North Carolina took a moderate approach to social issues and focused on building a modern economy. In doing so, it...
