Did Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina legislature raise taxes on poor and middle-income families to give tax breaks to the wealthy?
Published: Wednesday, January 22nd, 2014 @ 4:44 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Sometimes our problems loom so large and seem so complex we can easily be disheartened or depressed about our state's future. And once sworn-in, our elected officials are constantly sworn at, like it is some kind of sport.
Published: Thursday, January 16th, 2014 @ 6:43 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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The year 2013 saw the greatest changes in state government in the past fifty years.
Published: Thursday, December 26th, 2013 @ 12:04 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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East Carolina University students who live outside of eastern North Carolina must go the extra mile when they travel home for the holidays. If flights are unavailable locally, that extra effort often means facing heavy Raleigh-bound traffic and racking up high costs in airport parking fees.
Published: Wednesday, November 27th, 2013 @ 11:12 am
By: ECU News Services
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For North Carolina liberals intent on recovering some political power in Raleigh, a funny thing happened on the way to a quorum: reality intruded on their most-cherished claims about the two biggest issues in North Carolina politics.
Published: Tuesday, November 26th, 2013 @ 2:25 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Despite the fact that the term has no meaning, politicians from both major parties and partisans of various ideological stripes tend to use it regularly when discussing budget issues. "Our budget plan includes full funding for community college enrollment." "We're rallying to restore full funding...
Published: Thursday, November 7th, 2013 @ 4:28 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Nor can the fault be laid solely at the feet of George W. Bush, or North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, or former governors Bev Perdue and Mike Easley.
Published: Thursday, October 31st, 2013 @ 6:08 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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After the 2010 elections put North Carolina's legislature in the hands of Republicans for the first time in more than a century, state policy began a turn to the Right - that much is indisputable.
Published: Thursday, October 24th, 2013 @ 12:00 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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North Carolina's film tax credits are currently slated to expire at the close of 2014. Accuracy requires use of the word "currently" to underscore the fluidity of the situation.
Published: Friday, October 18th, 2013 @ 12:44 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The North Carolina Supreme Court has never ruled that the state constitution requires the delivery of early childhood services to all preschoolers, or even to all low-income preschoolers.
Published: Thursday, October 17th, 2013 @ 10:48 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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In case you've been too busy with real life to keep track of the political dramas of the past two weeks, here's a brief recap.
Published: Tuesday, October 15th, 2013 @ 5:23 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced today that Purdue Pharma Manufacturing L.P. will build a new facility in Durham County.
Published: Wednesday, September 25th, 2013 @ 4:57 pm
By: Stan Deatherage
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This summer I took calls from dozens of reporters across the country. A couple of questions were repeated time and again: How could North Carolina Republicans have moved so far to the right? How have the state's politics polarized so much when the Democratic Party barely has budged from its...
Published: Wednesday, September 18th, 2013 @ 2:10 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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If Beverly Perdue is not the worst governor in North Carolina's long history, she is at least the worst in recent memory. She even managed to surpass her predecessor, convicted felon Mike Easley.
Published: Monday, September 16th, 2013 @ 4:31 am
By: Thom Goolsby
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After our reporting came out, the AP confirmed that - as we said - (1) Harris is being advised by longtime Robin Hayes advisor Tom Perdue and that (2) a formal campaign announcement will be made on October 2.
Published: Saturday, September 14th, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
By: Brant Clifton
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Don't look now, but North Carolina's long-maligned highway system is showing signs of significant improvement.
Published: Thursday, September 12th, 2013 @ 10:56 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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100,000 new residents call North Carolina home each year. From 1990 to 2010, our population grew by 44 percent and vehicle travel increased 63 percent.
Published: Thursday, September 12th, 2013 @ 5:43 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Word is out on the street that Charlotte area pastor - and Southern Baptist Convention player - Mark Harris will formally announce his campaign for US Senate on October 2.
Published: Thursday, September 12th, 2013 @ 8:25 am
By: Brant Clifton
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Don't look now, but North Carolina's long-maligned highway system is showing signs of significant improvement.
Published: Monday, September 9th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Republican Gov. Pat McCrory took it on the chin twice this week as the General Assembly, controlled by his fellow Republicans, voted to override the only two vetoes stamped by the first-year governor.
Published: Thursday, September 5th, 2013 @ 5:42 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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When Watauga High School opened in 2010, Governor Bev Perdue declared that the school was "what education is all about."
Published: Thursday, August 29th, 2013 @ 7:27 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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When the July jobs report for North Carolina came out last week, showing an uptick in the unemployment rate, all the usual suspects said all the usual things.
Published: Monday, August 26th, 2013 @ 11:10 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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An ancient Chinese philosopher once said: "If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit."
Published: Sunday, August 25th, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
By: Brant Clifton
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I was out at a social gathering last night, when I overheard a conversation that bothered me. These were some folks I know - low info voters who are moderate to conservative in their politics - who I know voted for Pat McCrory in 2012.
Published: Thursday, August 22nd, 2013 @ 8:52 am
By: Brant Clifton
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In late June, the Draft Mark Harris committee was touting the hiring of Tracy Bengtson - a Mecklenburg County grassroots activist who was a key player in the election of Lt. Gov. Dan Forest - as political director.
Published: Sunday, July 21st, 2013 @ 3:36 am
By: Brant Clifton
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Since Barack Obama took office in 2009 promising to end and reverse the effects of the Great Recession, Republican politicians and conservative critics have relentlessly pointed out how weak the economic recovery has been by historical standards. One popular rhetorical tactic has been to use a...
Published: Monday, July 15th, 2013 @ 7:26 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Contrary to recent media reports, North Carolina has taken out federal loans to operate its underfunded unemployment insurance system, and it is the state's obligation to see that $2.5 billion debt is repaid, said Dale Folwell, state assistant secretary of employment security.
Published: Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 @ 2:59 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Families know the fight and closure are long from over, but they are relieved the Racial Justice Act will be no more.
Published: Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 @ 12:09 pm
By: Civitas Insitute
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We here at the Observer have contended for sometime now that care should be taken by government officials before they take risks with taxpayers' money.
Published: Monday, May 27th, 2013 @ 8:57 am
By: Beaufort Observer Editorial Team
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Three associates of former Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue -- New Bern attorney Trawick "Buzzy" Stubbs, Morganton businessman Charles Michael Fulenwider, and former Western Piedmont...
Published: Sunday, April 28th, 2013 @ 8:39 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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The mission statement of Dix306.org, a lobbying group pushing to preserve a lease struck in December between the Perdue administration and the city of Raleigh, reads...
Published: Saturday, April 13th, 2013 @ 11:32 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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A Wake County grand jury Monday suggested one of Democratic former Gov. Bev Perdue's donors obstructed justice by violating campaign finance laws. In a presentment (PDF download), the grand jury asked Wake County District Attorney...
Published: Thursday, April 11th, 2013 @ 4:30 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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A legal-issues think tank is calling for privatization of the state's ABC stores, even suggesting that the current government-controlled system might violate the N.C. Constitution's ban on monopolies.
Published: Tuesday, April 9th, 2013 @ 7:56 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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