20 lawmakers have sent a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper and Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin asking for an investigation into Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s (BCBS) postcard campaign to get people to contact Sen. Kay Hagan to oppose the public option. Apparently these 20 feel BCBS’s actions are at the least “bad public policy” [...]
- Nov23
And the winner is…
The winner of the inaugural Bad Bill of the Year tournament is — SB 848. This bill would allow illegal immigrants access to community colleges and the university system, sponsored by Sen. Charlie Albertson (D-Duplin). It cruised to victory over the other finalist, HB 120 — public financing of municipal elections — by a 63%-37% [...]
- 2Nov19
Exlcuding Unaffiliateds a Bad Idea
It appears that there are some within the NC GOP that want to go back to the days of excluding unaffiliated voters from the party’s primary elections. This would be a bad idea for a number of reasons. 1. The numbers of voters registering as unaffiliated is exploding. Just in the past month, new unaffiliated [...]
- 1Nov18
So Why Did They Raise Taxes?
In August, we were all told by the leadership of the General Assembly that $1.1 billion in tax increases were necessary in order to stave off massive, destructive cuts to “critical” state services. Apparently we were lied to. According to the Gov. Perdue’s budget director, the state has about $600 million socked away for a [...]
- 2Nov16
Crickets
That’s the only sound you will hear coming out of the left-wingers today as another NC based business decides to expand its operations in our neighbor to the south. According to the AP: A research firm that develops advanced textiles for the automotive, aeronautics and defense industries says it will open a new facility in [...]
- 1Nov12
Republicans Lead Generic Ballot
In only the second time in our nearly four and a half years of polling at the Civitas Institute, Republicans lead the generic legislative ballot here in North Carolina. Our latest poll has it at 40.7% Republican, 37.8% Democratic. Coincidentally (or not?) the only two times the Republicans have led the generic ballot has been [...]
- Nov11
Does She Really?
Gov. Bev Perdue is honoring veterans today by pandering for military votes telling businesses that they should hire more veterans by participating in a new program called “I Hire Military.” That’s great and all, but has the Governor noticed unemployment in North Carolina is 10.8% (8th highest in the nation)? Nobody is getting hired, military [...]
- Nov10
SEIU Ignores NC Campaign Laws
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) which is the mother-organization of the state employees association (SEANC) apparently feels it is above the law when it comes to complying with North Carolina’s campaign finance laws. The SEIU’s political action committee, like all PACs, is required to file regular reports with the NC State Board of Elections [...]
- Nov09
Rand Helped Reshape Parole Board
Sen. Tony Rand, who announced last week that he was stepping down from the NC Senate to become Chairman of the state’s Parole Board played a large part in reshaping the board to its current configuration. In 2005, Rand introduced S 897 which changed the makeup of the parole board from three full-time members to [...]
- 1Nov05
NBA vs. NFL
So let me get this straight, Rush Limbaugh isn’t acceptable as a small piece of an ownership group for a National Football League team, but this guy is allowed to own an NBA team and nobody says a word? Los Angeles Clippers owner and real estate mogul Donald T. Sterling has agreed to pay a [...]
- 1Nov05
Rand’s Departure Not About Money
Some in and out of the the media have speculated that Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand’s move from the Senate to the Parole Board was partially motivated by the significant pay increase he would receive. His Senate salary is around $17,000 per year while the Parole Board pays in excess of $100,000. From an examination [...]
- 1Nov04
The Raleigh Clothing Police are out for Cabbies
This has to be one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a very, very long time. There is now a dress code for cab drivers in Raleigh. Seriously. Short shorts, miniskirts, short dresses, T-shirts, tank-tops and flip-flops can no longer be worn by cab drivers under a dress code the Raleigh City Council approved [...]
- Nov03
Site Selection Magazine Rebuttal (Again)
Once again the Governor’s office and NC Department of Commerce feel the need to celebrate the state’s ranking as most likely to give out corporate welfare by Site Selection magazine. And once again, I will point the readers to a piece written by our own Brian Balfour that seriously calls into question these supposed rankings [...]
- Nov03
Revisiting Golden LEAF
Yesterday, the NC Auditor’s office released a new audit detailing some deficiencies in the operations of the Golden LEAF Foundation. Of note: There is a risk that potential conflicts of interest or political influence play a role in Golden LEAF investment decisions. For example, in 2002 Golden LEAF invested $30 million with an investment company [...]
- 1Nov02
On the Elon Poll…
I was trying my best not to dignify the results of the latest Elon “poll” with a response, but since the media seems to simply parrot their results without any scrutiny on their methodology, I feel the need to respond. 1. First, let’s discuss who is sampled. Elon polls all North Carolina households. So as [...]
- Nov02
Burr Leads Marshall by 10
In our latest poll, we have Sen. Richard Burr leading NC Sec. of State Elaine Marshall 43.7% to 33.0%. Burr is leading among Republicans 79-6 and among Unaffiliateds 47-24. Marshall leads with Democrats but by a much smaller margin 57-17. In fact, Burr’s hardcore support — those who say they are definitely voting for him [...]
- Nov02
Final 8!
We’re down to the final 8 of the Bad Bill of the Year tournament. The matchups keep getting tougher as the bills keep getting worse. Vote now!
- Oct28
If It Walks Like a Duck…
The Daily Tar Heel breaks a story today that UNC President Erskine Bowles leads the board of directors of a real estate development company that just won a no-bid contract from a UNC controlled group to redevelop property in downtown Chapel Hill. UNC-system President Erskine Bowles leads the board of directors of the company that [...]
- Oct26
Civitas Poll: Perdue Less Popular Than Easley
With the State Board of Elections set to convene history-making hearings into the campaign finances of former Governor Mike Easley, a new poll released shows current Governor Bev Perdue is thought of more unfavorably than Easley by the voters of North Carolina. When asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Bev Perdue [...]
- Oct22
Only 36% of Americans Think Global Warming is Human Caused
New poll results from Pew show that a shrinking number of Americans think human activity is the cause of global warming. Only 36% think it is so, down 11 percentage points from last April. Even better, the number who think global warming is not happening as seen an increase of 12 percentage points to 33%. [...]