New budget strikes a balance
Legislative leaders recognize that while they have already enacted significant tax reductions, additional measures will boost the economy in the long run, particularly those that encourage capital investment.
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Opinion (Page 5)
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Lower property taxes mean more money for consumers, businesses
For North Carolina counties, fiscal 2018 starts July 1, meaning counties have to pass and publish budgets. They also have to set property tax rates for the coming year, which are really important for county governments. The most obvious reason is property taxes make up just more than half of…
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Does UNC ‘need’ a course on big-time sports?
Students ought to use their four years in Chapel Hill as basic building blocks for a lifetime of personal and professional growth as citizens and scholars.
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Budget builds on conservative success
Since 2010, when Republicans won their first majorities in both legislative chambers in modern times, they’ve consistently pursued a conservative approach to fiscal policy and state government.
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Do million-dollar earners really get a tax break 85 times as large as working-class families?
Lowering the state income tax rate and increasing the standard deduction do not produce the effect Gov. Roy Cooper claims.
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Divergent opinions and the power of independent thought
The News & Observer of Raleigh and The Charlotte Observer have offered up a wonderful example of the power of free and independent thought. The example, in the form of a pair of wildly disparate editorials, was probably an accident and most likely elicited audible gasps and groans from the staffs…
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Midterm spread favors the Democrats
In the modern era, the party not in the White House has almost always gained seats in the North Carolina legislature in midterm elections.
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Repeal Certificate of Need so patients have better access to health care
Patients deserve better access to both life-saving and life-preserving health-care treatments. Which means physicians, hospitals, and other health care facilities should be able to invest in their communities to address unmet patient demand for critical services such as kidney dialysis units, cost-effective surgery, neonatal intensive care units, nursing homes, and much, much, more.
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PARODY: Solar farms, vineyards entwine to promote agritourism
The North Carolina Solar Power Association is battling the perception that utility-scale solar installations, also called solar farms, are “just plain ugly,” the group’s spokeswoman, Caitlyn Vines, told Carolina Journal. The group announced a two-phase campaign, named “Sun to Sip,” linking the state’s solar farms with its vineyards and wineries.
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Good government built on honesty and openness
“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Credited to Louis Brandeis from Harper’s Weekly in 1913, it was true then, and it’s true today. Shedding light on government leaves it transparent, open, accessible, and accountable. It’s also harder to do bad things when you know someone is watching. I’ve…