Official data understate growth rate
When adjusted properly to count all income, including government benefits, the poverty rate has fallen from about 14 percent as recently as 1982 to less than 4 percent today.
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Opinion (Page 5)
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What teachers do in the summer and other mysteries
Have you ever heard “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper or “See You in September” by The Tempos? Perhaps you’ve watched “Summer of ’42,” “Adventureland,” or “Dirty Dancing.” The pervasiveness of summer vacation in music, film, and TV is indicative of the remarkable role it plays in the life of Americans.
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On alcohol reform, state lawmakers have finally started to listen
State lawmakers, to their credit, have started to listen. The loudest proponents of alcohol reform in North Carolina — lawmakers such as Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson, and Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance — now have their colleagues’ unwavering attention. Finally. Breweries and wineries…
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How to resolve budget impasse
Unlike recent budget stalemates in Washington, the face-off between Gov. Cooper and legislative leaders in Raleigh hasn’t produced a government shutdown.
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Shifting the gerrymandering focus to distorted districts
Redistricting reformers hurt their cause by focusing almost exclusively on partisan outcomes.
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Cooper’s Medicaid demand won’t work
Most conservatives oppose the Medicaid expansion as a matter of principle, not just as a matter of fiscal prudence.
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Medicaid expansion and job creation: Bad economics, good special interest politics
In December 2018, I wrote the following: “As a general rule, the public and politicians should never view economic impact studies as anything more than an attempt by special interests to manipulate public opinion for their own benefit.” There is no better example of this than the study underwritten by the Cone…
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SCIF scuffle highlights different priorities for taxes, spending
It's no surprise that many Democrats balk at a proposal to shift current state government funding priorities.
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Context needed on school spending
If we are ever to make the best use of resources devoted to education, we need to find a better, less accusatory way to talk about school spending.
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Paying for schools faster, cheaper, better
Imagine if you could buy a home with no debt. Wouldn’t you do that? State government has the option to do something similar with the State Capital and Infrastructure Fund, but Gov. Roy Cooper prefers debt. Both the legislature and the governor agree the…