With one $25 million-dollar pier currently under construction in Nags Head, Dare County and Aquarium officials have shifted focus to the next of the three proposed piers. Partnered with the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, the next “$25 million-dollar pier” will be located in Emerald Isle on land donated by the town. At a meeting [...]
Monthly Archives: February 2010
- Feb26
Thank You Dell
Graciously, Dell has decided to keep its doors open until July of this year. You remember Dell, the company that the state gave in excess of $250 million worth of tax incentives and promises to in late 2004 to lure into the state. With only five years gone by since Dell opened its doors here [...]
- Feb26
Justice? You decide.
I imagine there were a few people shaking their heads this morning when they read about the punishment – or lack thereof – that was handed out to State Sen. R.C. Soles (See: news article). Yesterday Sen. Soles pled guilty in a Columbus County Courthouse to a misdemeanor assault with a weapon charge and paid [...]
- Feb26
Governor’s Office in Spin Mode
Just yesterday, I blogged about one of Gov. Perdue’s senior advisers warning that two to three thousand state employee jobs may be cut this year due to another massive budget deficit. I concluded with this comment: That last line no doubt triggered an emergency alarm at SEANC headquarters. Those SEANC folks must have given the Governor’s office [...]
- Feb26
Hot Flashes, Dead Bugs, and Cocaine for Monkeys
No, that’s not the title of some new whacked-out reality show on an obscure cable network. Rather, it is the title of the Civitas Institute’s list of The 10 Worst Federal Stimulus Projects in North Carolina. Check it out and see what your tax dollars and your children’s debt are funding.
- Feb26
Stimulating North Carolina
According to NCRecovery.gov, North Carolina will receive approximately $8.9 billion from President Obama’s stimulus plan passed in February 2009. It ought to be easy for Governor Perdue to create jobs in North Carolina will all of that money. But the unemployment rate for North Carolina was 11.2% last month according to the Bureau of Labor [...]
- 1Feb25
Gov. Perdue: State Employee Layoffs Likely in 2010
In front of a gathering of NC mayors in Wilmington yesterday, Gov. Perdue warned those in attendance about the budget difficulties facing the state this year: It will be another bleak budget for the state this year, Gov. Bev Perdue warned a group of mayors meeting in Wilmington on Wednesday. Laying off more state employees, [...]
- Feb24
President’s New Health Care Plan Creates Poor Starting Point for Bipartisanship
The Health Care Summit kicks off tomorrow and President Obama already unveiled his new health care proposal earlier this week. The Summit is meant to be bipartisan meeting between Republicans and Democrats and an opportunity to find common ground and share reform ideas. That sounds lovely. However it will certainly be difficult to find any [...]
- 1Feb24
Looming Payment Cuts to Medicare Physicians
On March 1st Medicare payments to doctors are scheduled to be cut by at least 21 percent. The reasoning is that cutting provider costs will contain Medicare spending and provide a clear and veritable means to fund expensive health care reforms being proposed by President Obama and the Democratic majority. Even though these types of [...]
- Feb24
Tax Reform Coming to NC?
Today’s joint meeting of the Senate and House Finance Committees once again focused on reforming North Carolina’s tax code. The oft-repeated goal of the committees is to broaden the base and lower rates; in other words tax more economic activity but do so at a lower rate. Today’s focus was on North Carolina’s personal income tax, [...]