Are you dumber than an elected official? That could be the name of a new TV game show based on the results of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute annual Civic Literacy Test. According to ISI’s November 20th press release: More than 2,500 randomly selected Americans took ISI’s basic 33-question test on Civic Literacy and more than [...]
Monthly Archives: November 2008
- 1Nov25
Feds Chip-in to Fight Online Child Predators
Word comes from Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes that the U.S. government has given a $500,000 grant to 6 neighboring piedmont counties to set up a regional task force to hunt for online child predators. Incidentally, the grant goes to some of the more conservative sheriffs in the state: Terry Anderson (Alamance), Sam Page (Rockingham), [...]
- Nov25
Healthcare: Longer Waits, Rationing of Care Coming
In this article, National Center for Policy Analysis President John Goodman tells us that any of the national health care proposals currently being offered up will increase a government rationing of care. Goodman notes: there is a common pattern among all the health care proposals coming from the left: they envision expanding Medicaid and lowering the age of [...]
- Nov25
NC Now on Right Track?
One of the more interesting items to come out of our post-election poll was that more NCers now think the state is headed in the right direction than off on the wrong track. 42% said right direction to 41% for wrong track. In our poll taken the week before the election it was 30-58 in [...]
- 1Nov24
All Roads Lead to Fayetteville
When $270,000,000 goes to the sixth largest city in the state, even liberals and newspaper cartoonist are bound to notice. Senator Tony Rand and his boy, DOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett have made sure that they have represented their hometown as much as possible. Even fellow Democrats like Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker are crying fowl. The [...]
- Nov24
Damage Control, Part II
In addition to the nice puff piece mentioned below, Gerlach also submitted this letterto the editor of the Herald Sun in response to my op-ed. (right-hand column, fifth letter down – password may be required). Allow me to respond to some of Mr. Gerlach's assertions. I write to respond to Brian Balfour's ill-informed guest column regarding [...]
- 3Nov24
Stan Norwalk, WCPSS and the Facts
From an email distributed last week by Wak County Commissioner-elet Stan Norwalk: Subject: Cuts in County Contribution to WCPSS education budget.Importance: High I need your help to stop any further cuts in the County's contribution to the WCPSS budgert. First, please read this article in todays N&O. Wake schools may have to lay off employees ###A [...]
- Nov24
Damage Control
Oh look at this… Less than a week after Civitas' Brian Balfour pens an op-ed in the Durham Herald Sun calling for the shuttering of corporate welfare behemoth Golden LEAF, a glowing profile piece just happens to be written by the Associated Press to run in many papers across the state. That's just a coincidence, [...]
- Nov24
Framing the Debate
In light of Chris' "cost" vs. "saved" post, this Freeman article discusses the importance of word choice when it comes to public debate. Take the word “generous.” When I think of someone being generous, I think of the dictionary definition: magnanimous, kindly. But the term is often used to describe government programs that forcibly take [...]
- Nov23
“Costs”? How About “Saved” Taxpayers?
I'm getting pretty annoyed at the mainstream media continuing to frame the capping of the gas tax as a "cost" to the state. The latest, is this AP article entitled, "Gas tax limit means $600 million lost for state." Why is it not written, "Gas tax limit means $600M savings for taxpayers." Apparently, the press [...]