Does hunger cause people to work harder, or to make better decisions as to how to spend what little money they may have? OK, let’s say the pangs of an empty stomach – or the thought of one’s children enduring those pangs – might engender focus on doing what one needs to do. “Les … [Read more...] about Crossroads for Food Aid
Teachers Walk the Talk
Most people would agree that a young person’s success in school tilts the odds in favor of success in life. Most people would agree that students are more likely to succeed when they’re guided by skillful teachers. So how to explain the stark reality that public school teachers, … [Read more...] about Teachers Walk the Talk
Trapped in the Coverage Gap
Isn’t the federal Affordable Care Act supposed to help low-income Americans obtain the health insurance coverage that has been out of reach for millions? To be sure, that’s the idea at the heart of the law everyone now refers to as Obamacare. And despite frustrating hang-ups in … [Read more...] about Trapped in the Coverage Gap
Shutdown’s Pain Spreads
Once the budget snarl in Washington finally is untangled and the federal government is back up and running – hopefully in time to avoid a perilous default on the country’s debt – some of North Carolina’s poorest residents will be among those sighing with relief. But what happens … [Read more...] about Shutdown’s Pain Spreads
Shutdown Scenario: The Hunger Brink
The political stakes and motives are plain to see. President Obama and his Democratic allies on Capitol Hill are locked in a desperate struggle with the Republicans who control the U.S. House. Neither side wants to be painted as villains in the sorry saga of the partial federal … [Read more...] about Shutdown Scenario: The Hunger Brink
Tragic Combination: Guns and Mental Illness
Let’s hope this isn’t the case, but recent history suggests that President Obama is not done with a duty that surely is among the most difficult and heart-wrenching aspects of his job. When groups of innocent Americans are gunned down in the all-too-familiar pattern we refer … [Read more...] about Tragic Combination: Guns and Mental Illness
Health Law Navigators and Naysayers
Many Americans without health insurance coverage look forward to the coming weeks and months. Starting Oct. 1, they’ll be able to enroll for coverage under the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature health care initiative. Folks who don’t make much money – strangely and … [Read more...] about Health Law Navigators and Naysayers
Capital’s End-of-Summer Fallout
Call it the year of North Carolina’s Big Right Turn. A conservative General Assembly, with a conservative governor in tow, veered away from the moderate consensus that had set the tone of Tar Heel politics for decades. Taxes were cut for high-end earners. Public schools were put … [Read more...] about Capital’s End-of-Summer Fallout
Heed the Governor on Drug Tests
When the General Assembly during its recently concluded session turned out one misguided bill after another – to hold down the racial minority vote, weaken environmental rules, cut taxes for the well-off, squeeze spending on schools – Gov. Pat McCrory went along for the ride. He … [Read more...] about Heed the Governor on Drug Tests
Back to School Amid Tight Times
Of the many public policies North Carolina has followed across the decades, none has brought greater dividends than the state’s commitment to invest in education at all levels. No other policy has done more to support the state’s economy by attracting and nurturing businesses … [Read more...] about Back to School Amid Tight Times
Court Tests for New Election Law
North Carolina’s new voter ID law also cuts the period for early voting and makes other changes in election rules. Does the law discriminate against some voters on the basis of their race? Or is it targeted at Democrats, with any downside for African-Americans simply reflecting … [Read more...] about Court Tests for New Election Law
Elections bill: Return to senders
Gov. Pat McCrory has said he’ll soon dispose of the 30 or so bills remaining on his desk following the General Assembly’s July 26 adjournment. He can either sign them into law, let them become law without his signature or veto them. Will the Republican governor take a hint from … [Read more...] about Elections bill: Return to senders
Three for the Governor’s ‘No’
If Gov. Pat McCrory goes along with the General Assembly’s partial “disassembly” of state environmental rules – and if North Carolina loses significant ground in the battle against pollution, as likely would be the case – he won’t be able to say he wasn’t warned. Fourteen of … [Read more...] about Three for the Governor’s ‘No’
Short Rations for Schools
The teachers were upset. And with North Carolina now embarked on a program of aggressive backsliding in its commitment to public education, who could blame them? Teachers, many of them wearing distinctive red t-shirts, helped swell the crowd of several thousand at the July 29 … [Read more...] about Short Rations for Schools
More Damage as Session Ends
The General Assembly has adjourned its 2013 session after a final cascade of disappointing and disturbing bills that now await review by Gov. Pat McCrory. Among the bills approved are ones that will make it less convenient for many citizens to vote and that weaken regulatory … [Read more...] about More Damage as Session Ends
Voter ID: We Get the Picture
Democracy can become a farce if the rules by which votes are cast are skewed so that the voices of some citizens are muffled. That is the troubling prospect facing North Carolina as legislators move to require would-be voters to show photo identification and to trim the period … [Read more...] about Voter ID: We Get the Picture
Squeeze on Education Spending
A budget to carry North Carolina state government through the next two years is poised for approval in the General Assembly. It represents a triumph of diminished expectations. That is not because less money would be spent than if appropriations continued at currently … [Read more...] about Squeeze on Education Spending
Voter ID Showdown Looms
With the end of the 2013 legislative session in sight, Republicans in the General Assembly are making a final push to adopt photo identification as a requirement for voting. The Senate Rules Committee is expected early next week to consider a revised and in some respects … [Read more...] about Voter ID Showdown Looms
Tax Cuts Take Shape
It could be said that the elephant – symbol of the Republicans who control North Carolina’s General Assembly and governor’s office -- has labored and brought forth a mouse. But this is a mouse with sharp teeth. After weeks of effort, the legislature’s Republican majorities and … [Read more...] about Tax Cuts Take Shape
Lines in the Wind
North Carolina Republican legislators seem to be a little conflicted when it comes to their opinion of the federal Voting Rights Act. How many of them would disagree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority and allow the Act to continue to be enforced as Congress … [Read more...] about Lines in the Wind
Tax Cards on the Table
The saga that North Carolina legislative leaders like to describe as tax reform could be at the beginning of the end. Or is it the end of the beginning? After weeks of jockeying with the House, and with Gov. Pat McCrory sending signals of his own, the Senate now has approved a … [Read more...] about Tax Cards on the Table
Let ‘Environment’ Bills Wither
It was a sure bet that the Republican majorities in both houses of the General Assembly, working in tandem with a new Republican governor, would seek this year to cut taxes and reduce government spending. After all, that’s what they campaigned on. Those misguided efforts would … [Read more...] about Let ‘Environment’ Bills Wither
Closer to Voter ID
North Carolina Republican leaders who were waiting for a signal from the U.S. Supreme Court to forge ahead with a photo ID law for voters have gotten their wish. Sadly, the upshot is likely to be that the pool of low-income, elderly and minority voters will shrink. In partisan … [Read more...] about Closer to Voter ID
Punishing the Jobless
Upwards of 70,000 jobless North Carolinians are about to see their finances go from bad to worse as they lose their unemployment benefits. Those are the benefits that can help families rocked by the Great Recession muddle through, paying the mortgage or the rent, keeping a car in … [Read more...] about Punishing the Jobless
State’s Priorities in Play
North Carolina’s state government leaders will make some heavy-duty decisions over the next few days. A new state budget is supposed to be in place by July 1, and the Republicans who control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office take pride in meeting … [Read more...] about State’s Priorities in Play
Judges and Campaign Cash
The law setting up the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund is clear about its goals. Chapter 163, Article 22D of the General Statutes aims “to ensure the fairness of democratic elections in North Carolina and to protect the constitutional rights of voters and candidates from the … [Read more...] about Judges and Campaign Cash
Tax Reform: Not So Simple
A funny thing happened to House Bill 998, the Tax Simplification and Reduction Act, on its way through the state Senate. It got simplified. House Republicans had approved the bill in an effort to make good on their party’s pledges to cut taxes and shrink government. With … [Read more...] about Tax Reform: Not So Simple
Tax Cuts’ Painful Costs
“Moral Monday” demonstrators at the General Assembly bring a wide range of grievances. They charge the legislature’s Republican majorities with failing to uphold the interests of North Carolinians who count on robust public education programs as paths out of poverty and doorways … [Read more...] about Tax Cuts’ Painful Costs
Racial Justice Revisited
The death penalty is troubling on many levels. Among them: The public must bear the extraordinary costs associated with death penalty trials and appeals. The penalty’s effectiveness in deterring other murders is ambiguous at best. There is no margin for the kind of errors that … [Read more...] about Racial Justice Revisited
Jailhouse Justice
For all the Christian emphasis on forgiveness and redemption, many if not most churchgoers likely are comfortable with the old maxim, “Do the crime, do the time.” Law-breaking has its consequences in a just society, as it must. Still, the maxim can be dreadfully simplistic. How … [Read more...] about Jailhouse Justice
Senators Choose to Cut
The North Carolina General Assembly has no more critical task than enacting budgets that set state government’s scope and mission – programs to serve the public that must be financed with money from taxpayers. How much to spend, and where? Who pays? As they answer those … [Read more...] about Senators Choose to Cut
Talking on Water
We can’t go about our business as a society without messing up the environment to some degree. The challenge is to keep that damage to a minimum, ideally through steps that limit it at the outset. North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission has had the task of … [Read more...] about Talking on Water
Voting Rights NC: Legislative Seminar Workshop
[powerpress] The Council’s 2013 Legislative Seminar on April 11 featured a workshop about voting rights. It was provided by Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a group that advocates for voting rights and for proper safeguards against the … [Read more...] about Voting Rights NC: Legislative Seminar Workshop
Tax Reform Cookies
There's no telling how the tax cookies will crumble by the time the 2013 General Assembly closes shop. But chief bakers in both the House and Senate seem intent on some manner of "reform." In sync with Gov. Pat McCrory, they’ve signaled their desire to cut income tax rates, and … [Read more...] about Tax Reform Cookies