Calling a spade a spade
The most insidious lies that Republicans are telling right now are the ones about public education. It’s their Achilles Heel and they know it. In the 1990s and early ‘00s, Democrats pounded them for their opposition to higher teacher salaries, lower class size and...
Some of the people all of the time
Make no mistake. The Republican spin machine is out in force trying to cover up the damage they’ve done to public education. The truth-challenged Governor Pat McCrory was leading the charge, claiming that the education budget was more than last year. He was backed up...
Worth the fight
When I look at the registration numbers in legislative districts under the Republican redistricting and then look at the margins in the 2012, everything I know about politics tells me that Democrats can’t take back the General Assembly in 2014. For me, numbers don’t...
Cookies
Yesterday, Pat McCrory gave a plate of cookies to a group of women protesting in front of the governor’s mansion. It angered the protesters and lit up traditional and social media sites. The women sent the cookies back and considered the gesture condescending,...
One term
Yesterday, Pat McCrory signed into law the anti-abortion law that he pledged not to sign when he was a candidate. Yesterday, WRAL joined the News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and several other news outlets in calling it what it was--a broken promise....
Awakening the giant
Republicans have taken North Carolina into unchartered territory and in the process awakened a portion of the electorate that doesn’t want to be there. A cross-section of North Carolina’s population is proud of its reputation as a moderate, enlightened state and are...
From shenanigans to scandal?
Like everything else about Kieran Shanahan’s foray back into public service, his leaving it stinks. Not that he left. But the sorry excuse for leaving and the governor’s denial that anything was amiss. Shananhan’s resignation came on the same day that his chief...
Setting benchmarks
Back in May, Greg Lacour said in Charlotte Magazine that North Carolina was becoming a petri dish for the American far right. He’s exactly right and now, we know for certain how far they will take us. They did damage but they are not finished. They have not eliminated...
Stately competition
It would be great if the North Carolina legislature took the same approach to education as they did to taxes. Ever since the GOP took control of state government, we’ve heard the same tired line about North Carolina not being competitive with other states. They...
No respect
Need more proof that Pat McCrory can’t get no respect? Witness his visit to the legislature yesterday. Supposedly, he went over to rally support to lift the moratorium on fracking. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to meet with him. According to an article by Travis Fain,...
