Unfortunately, the Voter ID amendment will pass
Democrats should resist the urge to make opposition to the voter ID amendment that’s speeding through the legislature a centerpiece of their fall campaign. If it’s on the ballot in November, it will pass by large margins. A loud and high profile campaign opposing it...
Unintended consequences of deregulation
In their fervor to cut regulations and budgets, Republicans forget that most regulations and programs were enacted for good reason. The latest example of reckless repeals came with a steep price. Mudslides in western North Carolina killed five people and damaged...
Party like it’s 2018
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians held primaries last month that decided their nominees for most offices in the November election. In June, our two new parties will hold conventions to determine their nominees. The Green Party will hold its nominating convention...
Rigging the justice system
The Republicans’ authoritarian instincts have been on full display during the short session. First, they passed a budget chock full of pork and policy without any debates or amendments. Now, they’re about to redistrict the judiciary to make it more political and more...
Yes, Virginia, there is Medicaid expansion
In a bipartisan move, our neighbor to the north voted to expand Medicaid, making it the 33rd state to take advantage of Obamacare. Four hundred thousand people in Virginia who lack health insurance will now be covered. Put this win in the elections-have-consequences...
Dismantling state funding for public schools
The Republicans in the legislature are taking an unprecedented approach to ramming through a budget drawn behind closed doors and unopen to debate or amendments. Cynics who watch the legislature say the budget is always drawn behind closed doors. Maybe so, but it’s...
Affirmative action for conservatives, or rigging the university system
Joe Knott, a member of the UNC Board of Governors, penned an op-ed whining about the lack of conservative professors at UNC. He cites an article by another conservative whiner, UNC business school professor Michael Jacobs, as evidence that we lack intellectual debate...
Plundering the poor
When North Carolina Republicans took power, one of the first things they did was change the tax code to benefit the wealthiest people in the state. They followed the same principles that the Reagan revolutionaries followed, shifting the tax burden from the rich to the...
Moore and MUGOs
In all the hoopla around school safety and gun violence, one group of citizens has been unrepresented: mentally unstable gun owners (MUGOs). While victims of gun violence get undue sympathy, support and, yes, news coverage, MUGOs have almost no voice. Fortunately,...
Republicans harmed our growth; Apple could start to fix it
There’s more evidence that Republicans are bad for North Carolina. Since they’ve taken control, our growth rate has slowed from 18.5% in the first decade of this century to 11.4% projected for this decade. While some of the slow down might be blamed on the Great...
