Medicaid expansion is the “moral test of our government”
The budget standoff continues this week. Republicans in the legislature are still waiting for an opportunity to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto. Democrats, though, are standing firm. The budget really reflects the values of the two parties. Democrats believe the...
Scaring voters to the polls in NC-09
Donald Trump is coming to North Carolina again. This time, he’s coming to rally the troops for Sen. Dan Bishop in the special election in NC-09. Last time he was in the state, he drew national attention when the crowd started chanting “Send her back!” after he...
It was never about states’ rights
I grew up hearing conservatives insist that their opposition to integration was not about racism. It was about states’ rights. They argued that the federal government had no business telling states how to manage themselves. They routinely claimed the 10thAmendment...
An odd coalition opposes the death penalty
Across the country, states are abolishing the death penalty. With the exception of a few states like Texas and Tennessee, executions are extremely rare. Officially, 21 states have abolished capital punishment but numerous others have de facto moratoriums. Opposition...
How to lose to Trump Again
Mark Halperin, a very prominent journalist who got caught in the #MeToo movement, is set to release a book called “How to Beat Trump: America’s Top Political Strategists on What It Will Take.” He interviewed 75 Democratic strategists and the blow back has been fierce....
NYT’s 1619 project
The New York Times launched an ambitious and controversial series of essays called the 1619 Project. 1619 is the year African slaves arrived in Virginia and began the legacy of slavery that has haunted the country ever since. The 1619 Projects contends that...
NC special election update
On September 10, North Carolina will hold two special elections for Congress. In NC-03, Republican state Representative Greg Murphy faces Democrat Allen Thomas to replace Walter Jones, Jr. who died earlier this year. In NC-09, Republican State Senator Dan Bishop faces...
Black voters, Biden and redemption
Jonathan Capehart, an African American columnist for the Washington Post, recently wrote about an annual family reunion his family holds in Severn in northeastern North Carolina. This year, Capehart used the experience to take the pulse of black Democrats in the...
It’s not doxing. It’s transparency.
Last week, Congressman Joaquin Castro, brother of presidential candidate Julian Castro, released the names of people who contributed to Donald Trump’s campaign. Critics screamed that Castro was “doxing” Trump supporters. The Civitas Institute says Castro is trying to...
Time for a reckoning
This morning The Atlantic published an article about the transfer of millions of acres of land from African-Americans to corporations in Mississippi. It comes on the heels of a story published in the New Yorker by ProPublica writer Lizzie Presser about black families...
