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New Poll Tests Easley v. Dole, Troop Surge
Public Policy Polling, an increasingly influential and prolific Raleigh-based polling outfit, has just released a poll that takes the temperature of likely voters on two highly interesting topics: 1) How would Governor Easley fare in a 2008 general election challenge of Senator Dole; and 2) voter attitudes on the war in Iraq. Here are two of the highlights: […]
Justice Center Hires New Director
After a long search, the N.C. Justice Center, North Carolina's most important anti-poverty advocacy group, has hired a new director. It was worth the wait. The choice, Melinda Lawrence, is an experienced civil rights lawyer with deep roots in the state's progressive advocacy community. She starts February 5. Read the Center's media release here.
Pro-Choice Event Honors Young and Old
Yesterday's Roe v. Wade commemoration (it was the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision) by Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina had a nice touch. The group presented an award for youth leadership to a young pro-choice organizer named Natalie Fixmer and honored the career of retired state lawmaker Bertha "B" Holt with the unveiling of a new "Legislative Courage […]
Welcome to The Progressive Pulse, the new NC Policy Watch blog
For some time now, NC Policy Watch has served as one of North Carolina’s most prolific and reliable sources of news, analysis and progressive commentary on state public policy matters. With a large and growing menu of products – daily commentaries in the Fitzsimon File, in-depth analysis in the Weekly Briefing, links to important news […]
State Government Spending
By Rob Schofield Here’s a new idea for raising some badly needed revenue to support North Carolina’s under-funded human services, public education and environmental protection infrastructures: the “Politician/Commentator Myth Tax.” Each time a self-righteous, blowhard talk show host or pontificating elected official blathers on about a topic about which he or she readily demonstrates him […]
Medicaid Costs and Malpractice Insurance
One of the most destructive and maddening phenomena in modern public policy debates is the “urban policy myth.” Whether it results from twisting an isolated anecdote (say, one wealthy person’s decision to move to another state) into the grounds for remaking the state’s entire tax code, or from repeating a half-baked piece of “research” from […]
In defense of price gouging: Apparently, they weren’t kidding
In last week’s installment of Radical Right Reality Check (Greed is Good?), we followed the ideological breadcrumbs from a John Locke Foundation missive known as the “Free Market Minute” all the way back to the 25 year-old musings of an obscure, California college professor that appeared to endorse the practice of price gouging by providers […]
Mercury, shmercury…
This month’s award for market fundamentalist nonsense goes to our anti-public solutions friends at the John Locke Foundation for their special report, “Fish Tales About Mercury: Why regulation of mercury is all cost and no benefit.” Among the zingers included therein: “…[R]egulation of mercury emissions is based on speculation, not any known poisoning incident” and […]
Not as Intractable as You Thought
Time for a Reality Check on the Immigration Issue Rob Schofield, editor Quick Take: Recent anti-immigrant nonsense emanating from the political wars deserves a response. A look at the facts and history surrounding the immigration debate shows that immigration is a serious issue, but not the extreme crisis it’s made out to be by […]