Citizens for a Sound Economy

Legends of the Indigent Left

Left-wing donors are pledging more than $80 million to create or expand think tanks and advocacy groups to combat the "potent conservative infrastructure.” Misunderstandings abound.

Rough Sailing for Navy Landing Field

RALEIGH — Thanks to a court order, Washington and Beaufort counties are hanging tough in their fight against a U.S. Navy landing field — although to read some of the published reports, one might get the impression that the area was inhabited only by tundra swans, rather than farmers trying to save their land and livelihoods. The injunction bars the Navy from “directly or indirectly” taking any further steps to develop the field. The judge’s comments suggest that the Navy didn’t do its homework before announcing in 2003 that it was pursuing development of a field where carrier pilots could practice landings far from the congestion surrounding the Oceana, Va. and Cherry Point air stations.

Bob Fliss

New Taxpayer Group Opens in NC

RALEIGH — A national taxpayer advocacy organization based in Washington opened its third state chapter Tuesday in North Carolina. The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which will develop grassroots activism promoting limited government and individual freedom, established other chapters in Texas and Kansas. “Americans for Prosperity will fight to end the out-of-control growth of big government programs,” former state Rep. Carolyn Russell, NC co-chairman of AFPF, said at a press conference. “When I was a legislator, I introduced the taxpayer protection bill of 1997 that limits the state spending to the growth in the economy. That safety net would have prevented North Carolina from the deficit it now faces.”

Paul Chesser

Citizens Protest More NC Taxes

RALEIGH — Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee announced their latest budget proposals Wednesday morning, including higher taxes on cigarettes and alcohol products. Committee hearings began Monday afternoon. Representatives from state agencies, from the mammoth Department of Public Instruction to the tiny Bladen County Hospital, gathered in Raleigh to ask the committee for additional funds at best, no budget cuts at worst. The committee did not expect the 70 members of Citizens for a Sound Economy who attended the meeting and spoke out against higher taxes and the lottery. “I think we caught them off guard, which is exactly what we wanted to do,” said CSE’s Rheta Burton.

Jenna Ashley Robinson

Taxes and Vanishing Dreams

RALEIGH — Many North Carolina communities are raising taxes with little apparent regard for the economic consequences, say taxpayers. “The people who pile these taxes on us have little or no regard for people who are aged,” one said. “How far can it go in this country before people realize it can’t go any further?” North Carolina, once considered a low-tax state, now carries the highest individual and corporate income tax rates in the Southeast. Nationally, North Carolina now has the 25th highest tax burden as a percentage of income, according to the Tax Foundation. That represents a huge jump up the list from 1998, when the state’s overall tax burden ranked 36th.

Donna Martinez

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NC Cities Go On Annexation Binge

CHARLOTTE — In 1990, the city of Charlotte had a population of just under 400,000. By 2000, its population had grown to about 540,000, a 35 percent increase over the decade. Most of the city’s growth came from annexing 68 square miles of land. Under North Carolina law, Charlotte did so with ease and without the consent of those annexed. In addition to the state’s largest city, many other North Carolina municipalities regularly make use of annexation. Raleigh, Jacksonville, and Fayetteville each added at least 35,000 to their populations during the 1990s by overtaking nearby areas.

Michael Lowrey

It’s Tax Day in North Carolina

As taxpayers rush to meet the income-tax deadline, and many in North Carolina convene at the General Assembly, state lawmakers are preparing a "gift" for them.

Pumping Revenue from Property Taxes

Boxed in by state budget deficits, sluggish sales tax receipts, Medicaid mandates, and politicians’ unwillingness to cut or hold the line on services, counties are raising property taxes more frequently to make ends meet. By Donna Martinez.

Donna Martinez

NC House Campaigns, Pt. 4

The Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, including large swaths of territory on both sides of I-85, has become one of the state’s most strongly contested political battlegrounds. This will be true in 2002 House races in at least three cases.

Is It Need or Greed?

On Wednesday the state legislature was treated to "dueling rallies" – a protest against high taxes and a demand for more Smart Start funding. Who had the moral high ground?