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Thom Tillis: Doing the bidding of insurance companies while pretending otherwise
You must admit, Sen. Thom Tillis is in a tough spot. After saying time after time that the Affordable Care Act is the root of virtually all that is wrong in the world, and voting repeatedly to repeal it, Tillis now finds himself face-to-face with an electorate that supports the ACA...
New report: GOP’s December tax giveaway is turning out to be just the disaster critics predicted
Donald Trump and congressional Republicans made a lot of promises about their $1.5 trillion tax giveaway that passed in December. They said millions and millions of workers would get wage hikes or bonuses. But it didn’t work out that way – only 4% of the nation’s 148 million employees got more money from their bosses.
Congress must act ASAP on two noncontroversial healthcare programs
When Congress finally passed a continuing resolution last month allowing the government to re-open, there was much rejoicing. In addition to agreeing that continuing basic government services is a good thing, lawmakers reauthorized the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which provides critical funding for more than 10 million children nationwide. Unfortunately, CHIP was but one in a long list of “must do” items that, for one reason or another, was left undone.
Vouching for vouchers
Another day, another giant backward step for the future of North Carolina. This morning we got the conformation of what we’ve been expecting to see for months now – North Carolina will be the latest state to consider school vouchers. In an “exclusive interview” with the John Locke Foundation, Paul Stam laid out his $90 million plan to bleed […]
Medicaid’s “tremendous impact”
Believe it or not, I agree with Pat McCrory. Completely. At a campaign stop on Wednesday, gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory joined the likes of Texas Governor Rick Perry and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in pledging not to implement the two most important part of the Affordable Care Act: state health exchanges and the Medicaid expansion. […]
The shameful misogyny of conservative expectations
Back when he was just an innocent young Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Bill Clinton remarked to a colleague, “Politics gives guys so much power that they tend to behave badly around women. And I hope I never get into that.” Lost somewhere in the “pelvic politics” of the past few weeks is exactly why politicians, […]
Flexing our muscles
Think about a healthy society the same way you think about a healthy body – vigorous exercise builds strong bodies and stronger minds. While we must individually keep physically healthy, as a society it’s good to flex our civic muscles once in awhile, and I’m not talking about protesting. Standing in a slow-moving line, in […]
Tillis family values
If anyone is looking to sublet some office space in the legislative building, you may want to contact Speaker Tillis – he has a few empty desks that he might be willing to part with. Not that I’m implying anything else is for sale in his office. Yes, Tillis is probably a bit lonely in […]
Not such a bitter pill
Whenever I think about health care reform, I am reminded of the song from the film Marry Poppins that goes “Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” You would think from the way Conservatives are always blathering on about the moral fiber of America breaking down because no one takes responsibility for […]
The Reds are Coming?
If you sell tin-foil hats, you may want to pay a visit to the Wake County Board of Commissioners– I think they may be in need of your services. I have to admit that I don’t spend a tremendous amount of time monitoring the goings on of the Wake Commissioners since we do work all […]
Eating his words
Saying Newt Gingrich is the best debater in the GOP primary race is like saying an elephant does a better cannonball than a mouse – sure, it’s true, but that really isn’t the point. The same can be said about what Newt keeps saying about President Obama: sure, more people are using food stamps than […]
Unfortunately, we reap what we sow
(Cross-posted from the Action NC blog) Conservatives are obsessed with cutting spending this year, no matter the collateral damage. Think early childhood education is important? Too bad – cut. Maybe higher-ed? Nope – cut. Healthcare for poor children? Cut. Services for seniors? Tough luck – cut. At a certain point, you have to wonder what […]