Farmers across the country, including North Carolina, are “taking it on the chin” when it comes to diesel and fertilizer prices, which have risen to unprecedented levels. The U.S. is dependent on and a major importer of foreign fertilizer.
All in Opinion
OPINION: Ted Budd's really good week
Congressman Ted Budd just finished his second-best week of the primary election with a wave of public opinion surveys showing him surging in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate and a high-profile rally with former President Trump.
Briefs aim to sway judge in long-running N.C. school funding legal dispute
Plaintiffs and N.C. Justice Department lawyers are urging a judge to order $795 million in new state education spending. Briefs filed Friday afternoon confirmed agreement from both groups about whittling down the size of a $1.75 billion spending order issued last fall.
Voters can still be persuaded
Some partisans I know insist political allegiances are so rigid that elections have become little more than turnout contests. Whichever party gets its base out wins. Persuadable swing voters used to exist in significant numbers, they concede, but are now about as hard to find as Bigfoot.
John Hood: Stay the Course on Tax Reform
Over the past decade, North Carolina’s tax code has undergone a dramatic transformation. Once rated by the Tax Foundation as having one of the nation’s worst business-tax climates, our state now has one of the best. Our top marginal tax rate on personal income, once the highest in the Southeast at 7.75%, is now 4.99%
OPINION: Preparing for energy security and sustainability
As Russian aggression disrupts stability around the globe, we feel it here at home. Our economy continues to experience the ripple effect of President Biden’s dependence on foreign oil.
ALEC chief economist says Cooper should thank legislature for rating
The 2021 governors’ report was released by the free-market-focused American Legislative Exchange Council in late March, and many conservatives were surprised that Democratic N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper received a better-than-average rating on his performance.
Let’s try building back faster
It’s an often-repeated tale, I admit, but I’m going to repeat it, again: the world’s largest low-rise office building, the Pentagon, was built in 16 months. Can you imagine a project even a tenth the size of the Pentagon being constructed that quickly today?
Murphy Calls on USMC Commander to drop charges against special forces operators
Rep. Greg Murphy, M.D. (NC-03) sent a letter to USMC Major General James F. Glynn urging him to drop manslaughter charges against two USMC special forces operators who were forced to defend themselves from a drunken aggressor while on deployment in December 2019. The full text of the letter can be read here.
Significant attention has been given to how we conduct and certify presidential elections ever since the events following the 2020 election - and for good reason. The existing procedures are far too vague and contributed to the confusion we witnessed in the months following the election.
OPINION: Call to end 'horse collar tackle' term and other outrageous stories
Below are a few recent stories that caught my attention. One of the more amusing recurring bits of news is media attempts to prop up the Biden administration. It's not going well, obviously. Even Chuck Todd of NBC said Democrats face a "shellacking." Well over two-thirds of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Greenville, Pitt County schools urge N.C. Supreme Court to block red-light camera ruling
Greenville and the Pitt County school system are asking the N.C. Supreme Court to block a ruling throwing out the city's red-light camera enforcement program. The city and local school board filed paperwork Tuesday with the state's highest court.
Opportunity Scholarship defenders boost case for moving challenge to filing three-judge panel
The legal fight over North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program focuses now on whether a single judge or a three-judge panel should hear the case. Lawyers for the state and the scholarships' parent supporters have filed new briefs supporting the three-judge option.
Mountain Democrats seek to defeat Cawthorn … by winning Republican primary
In late March, a super PAC started by U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn’s 2020 Democrat opponent, Moe Davis, endorsed Wendy Nevarez in the Republican primary for N.C.’s 11th Congressional District. The American Muckrakers PAC — also known as the Fire Madison Cawthorn PAC — encouraged Democrats to switch their affiliation to unaffiliated and vote for Nevarez.
Lawmakers appeal N.C. court decision enabling felon voting
State legislative leaders want the N.C. Court of Appeals to block a ruling that could add 56,000 felons to the state's voting rolls. A trial court issued the ruling Monday. It would open up voting to felons on parole, probation, or other post-release supervision.
National election watchdog issues report calling for cleanup of N.C. voter rolls
A national group that focuses on election integrity issues is calling for North Carolina to clean up its voter rolls before the 2022 election. The group's latest report points to multiple areas that merit state election officials' attention.
Incentives package worth $1.2 billion draws electric car plant to NC
A Vietnamese automaker has announced plans to build a $4 billion electric-vehicle assembly and battery-manufacturing plant at Triangle Innovation Point in Moncure, about 30 miles west of the Triangle. To attract the newly formed company, the state and Chatham County promise to spend nearly $1.2 billion in incentives over the next 32 years. Meantime, VinFast is working to secure $1 billion in investment money to build the plant.
Criminal Justice Analysis Center launches new justice data portal
The Criminal Justice Analysis Center, housed within the Governor’s Crime Commission, announces the launch of the new Justice Data Portal, a centralized, interactive online clearinghouse of criminal justice data collected by agencies across North Carolina.
Conservatives see freedom as progress
Although the definition and priorities of American conservatism have been the subject of much debate among the chattering classes in recent years, most actual American conservatives will readily tell you what unifies their sometimes-raucous ranks: freedom.
Split three-judge panel rules felons can vote in N.C. once they leave prison
A three-judge Superior Court panel has ruled, 2-1, that felons who have completed their prison sentences in North Carolina must be permitted to vote. The ruling strikes down a 1973 state law that blocked voting by felons on probation, parole, or post-release supervision.