News

Friday Interview: Exposing Myths About Blackbeard the Pirate

RALEIGH — If you’ve spent any time learning about pirates, you’ve likely heard of Blackbeard. Author Kevin Duffus says what you think you know about Blackbeard might be very different from the true story. Duffus wrote the book The Last Days of Black Beard the Pirate. In 2012 he addressed the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society on the topic “Blackbeard and his Carolina Pirates: Bloodthirsty Rogues or Hapless Marionettes?” Duffus also discussed Blackbeard with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.

CJ Staff
News

JLF’s Budget For Growth Spends $1 Billion Less Than McCrory Over Two Years

RALEIGH — North Carolina legislators could save nearly $500 million in the next budget year, and more than $1 billion over two years, while ending corporate income and inheritance taxes and replacing the personal income tax with a consumed-income USA Tax. That's if they follow the John Locke Foundation's alternative to Gov. Pat McCrory's first budget proposal. The JLF plan also would lower the state sales tax rate from 4.75 percent to 4 percent and reduce the franchise tax by 60 percent in 2014-15.

CJ Staff
Video

JLF’s Terry Stoops discusses N.C. legislators’ interest in teacher tenure reform

Dr. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation director of research and education studies, discusses N.C. legislators’ interest in reforming the state’s existing public school teacher tenure system. Stoops offered these comments during an interview with Donna Martinez for Carolina Journal Radio (Program No. 518).

Dr. Terry Stoops
News

House Committee Gives OK to Voter ID Bill

RALEIGH — A key House committee gave its blessing to a voter ID bill after grinding through hours of debate on Wednesday. The bill, which passed the House Elections Committee by a 23-11 vote, would require voters to provide an approved photo ID by the 2016 elections.

Barry Smith
News

Blue Cross Policy Holders Could Pay More Under Federal Exchange

RALEIGH — Because Obamacare requires that insurers pay the government a 3.5 percent fee to sell their plans on the exchange, all Blue Cross policy holders would pay higher premiums if the giant insurer is selected to provide insurance plans on the federal health exchange that will operate in North Carolina, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina officials.

Dan Way
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Opinion

Opinion

Low debt burden aids North Carolina

Because I’m a fiscal conservative, you might think I reflexively oppose government borrowing. You’d be mistaken. I believe that public finance and toxicology share a common rule: the dose makes the poison. That phrase is traditionally attributed to Paracelsus, a physician and philosopher of the German Renaissance, but the underlying notion, that something can be...

John Hood
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Elections

Opinion

Should NC reform its primary system? The case to return to 40% threshold

In a Carolina Journal poll conducted shortly after the November elections, 43% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the 2024 primaries, stating that they did not produce the best candidates for the general election. While 46% were satisfied and 10% were unsure, the significant level of dissatisfaction highlights potential issues within North Carolina’s primary system.

Donna King
News

Trump nominates Bishop to be deputy director for budget at OMB

"Dan has been a tireless fighter for our MAGA Movement in the House of Representatives on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees," Trump said in a press release issued Tuesday night. "Dan will implement my cost-cutting and deregulatory agenda across all Agencies, and root out the Weaponized Deep State."

Theresa Opeka
News

Democrats want federal court to address GOP challenge of 60,000 NC ballots

The North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday to ensure challenges of 60,000 ballots in the state's latest election are addressed in federal court. Republicans filed the challenges with the State Board of Elections. The challenges could affect the outcome of the state Supreme Court race between Democrat Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin, along with a handful of state legislative contests.

CJ Staff
News

Griffin asks Appeals Court to order decision on election protests by Tuesday

Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin is turning to North Carolina’s second-highest court for an order that would force state election officials to make a final decision about Griffin’s election protests Tuesday. The State Board of Elections had planned to hear oral arguments about the protests the following day, according to a document Griffin filed Friday with the state Court of Appeals.

CJ Staff
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Videos

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai responds to AG Jackson’s lawsuit over SNAP benefits

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson joining Democratic counterparts in other states in a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. It focuses on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 31, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
Video

Locke’s Donald Bryson discusses SCOTUS case dealing with Trump’s emergency tariffs

Donald Bryson, John Locke Foundation CEO and Carolina Journal publisher, discusses the US Supreme Court case addressing President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs. Locke filed a joint amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of emergency tariffs. Bryson offered these comments during the Oct. 28, 2025, episode of Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight.”

Donald Bryson
Video

Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes NC congressional redistricting plans

Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the North Carolina General Assembly’s plans to redraw the state’s congressional election map. King offered these comments during the Oct. 17, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Donna King
Video

Podcast: Revolutionary Roads

As the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in 2026, this podcast explores North Carolina’s pivotal role in the nation’s founding — from the War of Regulation to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and beyond. This 10-episode series, hosted by John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson, features guests with...

Video

The Debrief: Legislator arrested, Iryna’s Law aftermath, Oct. 7 remembered

This week on The Debrief, a Guilford County legislator’s arrest on sex-related charges prompts quick reaction from colleagues. Gov. Josh Stein chose an unusual way to signal his signing of Iryna’s Law. We discuss the governor’s video message and get expert analysis of the law’s potential impact. We also highlight a possible federal response. Lawmakers at the...

Video

Locke’s Mitch Kokai analyzes congressional hearing in Charlotte after light rail murder

Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation senior political analyst, discusses the congressional hearing conducted in Charlotte in connection with the high-profile Iryna Zarutska murder. Kokai offered these comments during the Oct. 3, 2025, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”

Mitch Kokai
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Culture

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Civil Society

Opinion

For healthy civil society, politics needs to stay in its lane

Political and cultural causes are important. They motivate us to make the world around us better and hone our sense of justice. Also, the excitement of fighting the good fight can be, for lack of a better word, fun. But everything has its time and place. And even if we think a particular political issue...

David Larson
Opinion

Flashback: North Carolina’s Easter Monday tradition forged on the baseball diamond

On Good Friday state offices will be closed in North Carolina for Holy Week, along with 10 other states. However, that has not always been the case in North Carolina. The Monday after Easter — rather than Good Friday — was a legal holiday in North Carolina for 52 years, and for many years before...

Dallas Woodhouse
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