North Carolina voters set the table this month for November’s congressional elections, and they narrowed the field in the contest for a swing seat on the N.C. Supreme Court. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson dissects the voters’ June 7 primary choices. He also discusses how those choices might affect the fall campaigns. Politicians and pundits on the ideological left have focused much of their attention in recent years on income inequality. That focus is misplaced, according to Tyler Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University and director of that school’s Mercatus Center. Cowen reframes the inequality debate and focuses on more important challenges involving opportunity. State lawmakers are interested in raising North Carolina’s standard income tax deduction. That policy choice is also known as raising the zero tax bracket. You’ll hear highlights from a recent legislative debate on the topic. Critics of the Interstate 77 toll lane project north of Charlotte continue to make their case in the halls of the state Legislative Building. You’ll hear highlights from committee debate on the issue, including a warning from the N.C. Department of Transportation about the uncertainty linked to proposals to cancel the toll lane contract. The Affordable Care Act’s failures continue to multiply. Katherine Restrepo, the John Locke Foundation’s health and human services policy analyst, reacts to the latest bad news for the 2010 law popularly known as Obamacare.
Special primary sets stage for fall election battles
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