As a North Carolina business owner, I know how crucial small businesses are to our state’s economy. With over 1 million small businesses supporting nearly 1.8 million jobs, we are the backbone of innovation and job creation
All in Opinion
John Hood: Senator Tillis speaks truth on Ukraine
RALEIGH — There is room for reasonable debate about how the United States should respond to the current Russo-Ukrainian War and other challenges to our longstanding interests and alliances in Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, and elsewhere. Our leaders must allocate scarce resources across multiple priorities.
John Hood: North Carolina Lacks Unitary Executive
RALEIGH — The asymmetry is striking. In Washington, many Republicans take a maximalist position on the executive power of the president of the United States. All departments and agencies — even if created by Congress with the intent of limiting presidential authority over them — are as a constitutional matter subordinate to the president, who can fire their officers and overrule their decisions at will.
Op-Ed: The Importance of Stewarding NC’s Natural Places, Peatlands Restoration
By Senator Danny Britt. The fall and winter hunting seasons are an important part of my life, as they are for so many others. For duck hunting, cold and wet are two ideal conditions, and we’ve already had plenty of both here in eastern North Carolina as January and duck hunting season wound down to a close. Hunting is so much a part of our way of life that it’s enshrined in our state constitution.
Op-Ed: We must take action to combat obesity
With nearly half of the American population suffering from obesity, we must take action to combat this rising health epidemic. Nearly 93 million estimated Americans are affected by obesity and its ripple effects. In the next five years, it’s predicted this number will rise to 120 million
Keeping North Carolina Seniors Healthy Means Protecting Medicare Advantage
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about making government work better and lowering costs for Americans. As a former state lawmaker, I know that real solutions come from strengthening programs that deliver results—especially for seniors. Medicare Advantage is one of those programs.
John Hood: Let’s Change How the Legislature Works
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall earned at least two rounds of bipartisan applause at the start of this year’s legislative session. One was for assuming his new leadership post. The other was for releasing a House calendar for the next six months, complete with specific deadlines and a pledge to “give you some certainty in your schedule.”
Op-Ed: CFPB overhaul needs to include a look at past regulations
For those who followed abuses by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under President Joe Biden, the first few weeks of the second Trump Administration have been a revelation. From President Trump’s day one decision to freeze rulemaking, to the recent decision to replace Biden-era CFPB director Rohit Chopra, President Trump has lived up to his title as a pro-business and pro-deregulation leader.
John Hood: Federal Funds Bring Federal Strings
RALEIGH — President Donald Trump’s executive orders on education have some North Carolinians crying foul.
John Hood: New Committee Will Pursue Budget Savings
RALEIGH — Last month, North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall tapped Rep. John Torbett (R-Gaston) and Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) to lead a new select committee on government efficiency.
Op Ed: Both sides of the aisle can agree, pharmaceutical companies to blame
I have served the last six years in the North Carolina General Assembly and spent my career running an Independent Pharmacy in Stanly County. From basic prescriptions to life-saving cancer drugs, year-after-year Big Pharma raises prices on medications that people need – and at times, by more than 5,000 percent.
Hurricane Helene Revealed the Importance of Our Frontline Healthcare Providers
Amidst the destruction of Hurricane Helene—one of the worst storms in history and the deadliest flood event in North Carolina—our state’s hospitals, healthcare systems, and the courageous men and women who staff them worked heroically to deliver care to our communities.
John Hood: School Choice Was a Prudent Wager
RALEIGH — North Carolina and other states expanding their school-choice programs over the past few years are betting on the power of competition to promote educational opportunity and boost student outcomes. Is it a prudent wager? Recently published studies may shed some light on this important question.
John Hood: States should reclaim responsibilities
RALEIGH — Reacting a few days ago to President Donald Trump’s brief attempt to suspend payment on a broad swath of federal grants, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer warned that “virtually any organization, school, state, police office, county, town or community depends on federal grant money to run its day-to-day operations, and they’re all now in danger.”
John Hood: Washington Can Control This Weather
RALEIGH — The weather hasn’t been kind to North Carolina lately — so we really can’t afford the policy storm now brewing in the nation’s capital.
John Hood: State Should Keep Fostering Broad Growth
RALEIGH — As a proud native of the Charlotte area who has happily lived most of my life in the Raleigh area, I am overjoyed to report that North Carolina’s recent growth extends far beyond our two most-populous communities.
John Hood: North Carolina Should Prepare for Cuts
RALEIGH — Are we on the brink of World War III? Not necessarily, argue the coauthors of a new book, so long as we do what is necessary to deter revanchists threatening peace and freedom around the world. But America and its allies have already entered a new Cold War with the CRINK Axis — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and their client states in Eurasia and Latin America — and policymakers inside and outside Washington need to understand fully its implications.
Governor Stein: The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right
Dr. King was a visionary who held up a mirror to our country and showed us our flaws and our potential. Many Americans were not ready for the truth that he preached, and it cost King dearly. He was thrown in jail for organizing nonviolent protests in Birmingham, and he was hit with a rock while marching for housing integration in Chicago. His Montgomery house was bombed while his wife and seven-week-old daughter were inside, and the night after his Mountaintop speech in Memphis, he was tragically assassinated.
John Hood: To Make Homes More Affordable, Build!
RALEIGH — In places where the regulatory climate makes it easier to build new homes, it’s easier for people to find housing at affordable prices.
John Hood: Central Planning Fails in Health Care
RALEIGH — We live and work in a mostly free economy — but a spate of year-end stories demonstrated a prominent exception.