Does anyone else find it ironic that while the NC legislature prepares to hit taxpayers with new taxes in excess of a billion dollars it continues to fund an air force in excess of 60 aircraft including a corporate jet for executive transport? And I am not including the National Guard in this number.
Monthly Archives: June 2009
- 1Jun30
Little Benefit from Being a Moderate
Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com has an interesting analysis of the median voter theorem in which he says that being a so-called moderate elected official is only worth a roughly 2 percentage point advantage. Certainly the median congressmember is important: by definition, it's that marginal vote you need to get a majority. But where do the [...]
- Jun29
Another Incentives Failure
Dell, Google, now Inspiration Networks joins the list of unfulfilled incentive promises. Thankfully, this one is South Carolina's problem, not ours. But it is just one more example of the folly of the incentive game. South Carolina pledged $26 million in incentives to Inspiration Networks, a non-profit religious broadcaster, to move its campus from Charlotte [...]
- Jun29
NC charter schools get help from a new friend…
North Carolina’s cap on charter schools keeps thousands of students from attending the school of their choice. This morning's News & Observer tells us the state’s cap may also cost the state millions in federal innovation grants. Encouraged by the positive results of many charter schools, the Obama administration is encouraging states to expand their number. [...]
- 3Jun29
Something Smells Fishy
Clearly we live in a nation where people are free to speak their minds. Darn if we actually use them. As Chris Fitzsimon earnestly points out in his June 26 post on NC Policy Watch, The Follies, all Republicans present during the vote to fund a $25 million North Carolina Aquariums Fishing Pier in Nags [...]
- 5Jun26
Is This Anyway to Run an Election?
I must admit I didn’t know what to make of the folly coming out of the nominations made by the Wake County Democratic Party to the Wake County Board of Elections. The N&O just left me with too many questions: Why would the Wake County Democratic Party choose, as one of their three nominees, someone [...]
- 3Jun26
Cap us, Tax us… Anything Else?
Fueled by aggressive House Democrats, the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), also known as Waxman-Markey, is expected to come up today on the United States House floor. The reality of this pseudo “save-the-earth” energy bill is that it produces the largest tax in American history. The intent of the bill is to drive [...]
- 2Jun26
Pork for Super Pier Ad
Here is the first glimpse of something I think you will be hearing a lot more about in the near future:
- Jun26
Follow the Money
Funny what wins praise among our ruling class these days. Seems the White House is giving North Carolina an "atta-boy" for how rapidly they are spending our money. The White House says North Carolina is getting the job done on highways. North Carolina has exceeded the federal deadline to obligate 50 percent of their highway funds [...]