Donald Trump may strike a populist, anti-big business note a la Bernie Sanders from time to time. But he also has a tendency to gloat over his own cutthroat business […]
Who can blame North Carolina’s restaurant and hotel operators for wishing the whole House Bill 2 controversy would just vanish into thin air, as if it had never existed? They’d […]
When ultra-visible organizations with major economic leverage press for political change, sometimes the right thing to do is to tell them to take the proverbial long walk off a short […]
The folks in North Carolina who want to make it harder rather than easier for people to vote – a category that features top officials of the state Republican Party […]
The Republican Party developed a national strategy to seize and hold legislative power, and in North Carolina executed it with relentless precision. Six years into that process, however, the adverse […]
Even for ardent voting rights advocates, there’s little comfort to be gained from a federal appeals court’s finding that the N.C. General Assembly engaged in a multifaceted scheme to discriminate […]
There was a time, back in the range of 2008, when Pat McCrory looked as though he probably would do a pretty good job if elected as North Carolina’s governor. […]
The N.C. General Assembly’s 2016 regular session, which drew to a sudden close on July 1, will be remembered as much for what didn’t happen as for what did – […]
Sorry for the sugar-coating, but the state Senate’s attempt to enshrine its preferred tax policies in North Carolina’s constitution is arrogant, presumptuous, wrongheaded and profoundly undemocratic. Who will be penalized […]
There wasn’t a lot to like about what occurred the other day in a state Senate committee. First, legislative rules – notoriously rubberized – were stretched to the point where […]
Let’s face it. We, that would be all of us who proudly claim the title of American, must do more to forestall the situations and grievances and opportunities that can […]
Let’s assume the worst, which for the moment would mean that the N.C. Senate’s version of a new state budget sails through to enactment without change or compromise. The sun, […]
Well, did anyone really expect North Carolina’s General Assembly, in finalizing a new state budget, suddenly to see the light and swerve toward more effective, fairer government? The same General […]
Take heart, fair-minded North Carolinians. The state’s not-always-pristine but still vaguely operative image as a place where “the weak grow strong and the strong grow great” is in the process […]
A federal judge’s ruling that upholds changes in North Carolina election laws, despite their effect of making it harder for some citizens to vote, seems to rest on his conclusion […]
Here’s a funny thing about House Bill 2, the “bathroom bill” (now law) that’s causing North Carolina so much grief: The Charlotte ordinance that the General Assembly was in such […]
North Carolina’s House Bill 2 – rammed through the General Assembly and signed into law in less than half a day – manages to rope together a herd of provisions […]
Yes, it was a pretty neat trick — one bill that manages to expose many vulnerable North Carolinians to unfair, hurtful treatment, that threatens to put a dent in the […]
If Donald J. Trump successfully concludes his so-far-dominant push to become this year’s Republican presidential nominee, North Carolinians will have played a role. Some will view that role as a […]
After a panel of federal judges threw out North Carolina’s congressional district map because it trampled the rights of African-American voters, the General Assembly followed orders and redrew the map. […]
After a five-year exercise in seeking to put a lasting stamp on North Carolina government and policy, the General Assembly’s majority Republicans have provoked a parade of lawsuits challenging a […]
The Republicans who control North Carolina’s General Assembly are determined to draw election-district boundaries favoring their party’s candidates and promoting their conservative agenda. But when Republican voters are outnumbered by […]
With an eye toward the battles over redistricting that have roiled North Carolina politics for the last quarter-century, once again push is coming to shove. This time, the advantage lies […]
It was just one little comment, perhaps ventured with the flicker of a wry smile. But we can doubt that Tom Farr saw the humor in being ribbed by a […]
The ongoing legal challenge to North Carolina’s voter ID rule, now playing out before a federal judge in Winston-Salem, could end up reminding us that it’s not the job of […]
Few of the decisions made by the men and women of our General Assembly are so prone to self-serving, partisan abuse as the setting of boundaries for voting districts. When […]
For those of us who want to see North Carolina governed with the interests of all its residents in mind – not mainly the interests of the well-off and privileged […]
In the game of bridge, when a trump card is played to win a trick, that’s known as a ruff. In the game of politics, when Donald Trump uses tricks […]
Photo by I. Prickett, UNHCR Against the toxic brew of fear and political opportunism that has enveloped America’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis stand principles of compassion and common […]
The notably dapper Thom Goolsby, member of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, made a mark of sorts with his put-down of the NAACP-led Moral Monday protest movement […]
The senators and representatives who make up North Carolina’s General Assembly let their 2015 session run on far longer than it should have. Let’s be glad that the curtain has […]
These closing weeks, or days, of the General Assembly’s session are sometimes known as the silly season, when weirdness is the watchword at the maze-like Legislative Building on Raleigh’s Jones […]
The proverbial elephant labored and, against all hopeful expectations, brought forth a mouse. The “elephants” who run the Republican-controlled General Assembly labored and now have brought forth, if not a […]
When North Carolina legislators by the narrowest of margins 10 years ago approved a state lottery, capping a long debate over the wisdom of state-sponsored gaming, they set aside warnings […]
Even while North Carolina was still in the grips of the Great Recession, with thousands of residents suffering the slings and arrows of joblessness because they were caught in the […]
North Carolina has two legislative bodies, the 120-member House of Representatives and the 50-member Senate. They’re set up to be equal in power, although it could be said that the […]
With its misguided “Taxpayer Protection Act” scheme, the state Senate looks to put a crowning touch on its efforts to turn North Carolina into a veritable Promised Land for conservatives, […]
The principle of judicial restraint is a wonderful thing. It helps keep judges – as they go about their business of determining whether laws are constitutional – from horning in […]
Don’t be surprised if, during the General Assembly’s closed-door negotiations to craft a new state budget, enterprising reporters manage to pry loose some of the juicy (or gory) details. Keeping […]
Republican legislators can hardly get around the fact that their 2013 overhaul of North Carolina election laws is likely to inconvenience some groups of voters more than others. For example: […]
Regarding the state of affairs within the N.C. General Assembly these days, one little set of numbers tells a big story: 112-0. That was the margin by which the House […]
Over and over, we heard North Carolina’s stringent voter identification law, enacted by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2013 over the protests of voting rights advocates, described as simply a “commonsense” […]
Their timing, as it turned out, was less than impeccable. The gun-rights boosters who are pushing N.C. House Bill 562 ran up against some common-sense objections that resulted in two main […]
Gov. Pat McCrory tried to warn his fellow Republicans who call the tunes in the General Assembly. The rule of law was at stake, McCrory said, and the state would […]
North Carolina’s General Assembly has muddled through many undistinguished moments since conservative Republicans took charge four years ago. Now, with an ongoing cascade of wrongheaded decisions, it’s adding to that […]
Anticipation of an unpleasant event – gallows humorists usually cite the prospect of being hanged – is said to concentrate the mind. Although 17 months will pass before North Carolina […]
For a boatload of lofty, noble and wise sentiments, look no farther than the opening fanfares of Chapter 113A, Article 1, N.C. General Statutes. The reference is to a law […]
Let’s admit it – we were fooled. We never realized that the N.C. House of Representatives, with Republicans firmly in charge, was a nest of liberals. At least that must […]
The rooster crowed. The sun came up. The rooster puffed his feathered chest as he beheld his magnificent handiwork. Phil Berger led the state Senate in cutting taxes. Revenues nudged […]
The last person to be put to death by the State of North Carolina – in other words, put to death on behalf of all of us who live here […]
With its self-imposed April 30 “crossover” deadline, the General Assembly can sidetrack bills that haven’t gained enough support to make them worth fussing with during the remainder of the legislative […]
There’s certainly no guarantee that the U.S. Supreme Court, in sending North Carolina’s election district scheme back to the state Supreme Court for review, eventually will find that the General […]
The Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar – its top-profile public event of the year – is meant to inform, and it’s meant to inspire. We’re not too bashful to say […]
Since taking veto-proof control of the NC General Assembly in the elections of 2012, members of the Republican majority have labored diligently to fix what they’ve regarded as a broken […]
“Racial gerrymandering strikes at the heart of our democratic process, undermining the electorate’s confidence in its government as representative of a cohesive body politic in which all citizens are equal […]
Call it an exercise in futility? Well, no. There may not be a chance in the world that the General Assembly’s Republican chiefs will let the latest proposal to expand […]
Photo by Dan Sears, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina system’s Board of Governors, in telling system President Tom Ross in January that he […]
The mission of the NC Council of Churches extends into many areas that highlight the links between faith and public policies. And of the various events and activities sponsored by […]
It’s easy to imagine what the conservative Republicans who rule North Carolina’s legislative roost were thinking: “Here we’ve gone to all the trouble to take control of the General Assembly. […]
One can say this about UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gene Nichol without fear of contradiction: He doesn’t seem to know when to keep his mouth shut or his keyboard quiet. Good for […]
The scheme ordered up by the conservatives who hold power in the NC General Assembly to assign a single letter grade to each of the state’s public schools – ostensibly […]
The Republicans who rule North Carolina’s General Assembly start the new year riding tall in the saddle – and yes, we can imagine GOP legislators tipping their Stetsons to salute […]
Of the many decisions and activities that unfold in the arena of public affairs, the ones that tend to show up on the NC Council of Churches’ radar are those […]
Perhaps you can fight fire with fire, but you can’t – or shouldn’t – attempt to fight terrorism with terror. That’s an ultimate takeaway from the U.S. Senate report detailing […]
North Carolina’s new U.S. senator-in-waiting, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, had what appears to have been the closest scrape among winning Republican Senate candidates in last month’s election. Tillis defeated […]
The decision last year by the conservatives who control North Carolina’s state government not to expand the state’s Medicaid program has left an estimated half-million residents out in the cold […]
There’s no getting around the fact that when North Carolinians went to the polls on Nov. 5, they gave a thumbs-up to the conservatives who’ve been in charge at the […]
For people who enjoy voting, North Carolina’s upcoming election promises to be a real treat. Federal, state and local offices are on the ballot. There’s no more straight-ticket voting for […]
When thorny constitutional issues are being hashed out in the courts, it’s a fact of life that the show isn’t necessarily over until SCOTUS sings, or declines to sing. The […]
October 9, 2014 Update: On October 8, the US Supreme Court handed down the final word about voting for this fall’s elections in North Carolina. It upheld the District Court’s […]
Perhaps the N.C. chapter of Americans for Prosperity was just trying to be helpful when it mailed out a bunch of “official application forms” to prospective voters. Thanks a lot, […]
North Carolina’s upcoming general election – Election Day is Nov. 4 – will be the first held under a revamped set of rules making it less convenient for some citizens […]
Our time to choose North Carolina’s 2014 general election will be held on Tuesday, November 4. Although this is an “off-year” election, without contests for president or governor, many important […]
The N.C. General Assembly during its 2014 session – a session so rife with disputes among the majority Republicans that it smoldered on and on – has left many sour […]
The debate is familiar: State government is too big. No, it’s too small. People in the too-big camp typically think government – the state agencies and institutions that North Carolinians […]
UPDATE: After this blog was posted, the final budget was unveiled and passed by the House and Senate. The large reductions in Medicaid reimbursement rates mentioned in the blog below […]
North Carolina legislators faced with vexing conflicts over a new state budget spent a solid week pawing and snorting at each other without a lot of movement on the main […]
If this year’s session of the N.C. General Assembly were a work of drama for stage or screen, the plot would be coming to a head. And we in the […]
Cyrus Baldwin King, a gentle spirit with an iron resolve, was a hero of North Carolina’s peace and justice movement. The Council of Churches is honored to join in the […]
With one final gathering that on June 25 drew more than 1,000 people to the heart of North Carolina’s state government, the NC NAACP and its allies say they have concluded […]
The NC Council of Churches aims to exert a positive influence on public policies that have implications for what is commonly known as social justice. What this often boils down […]
First it was Gov. Pat McCrory who tried to fashion a state budget giving teachers a badly needed raise while hamstrung by large tax cuts. Then the N.C. Senate took […]
For most North Carolinians, the myriad choices that comprise the state budget may affect the quality of their children’s education, or whether their favorite state park is kept in good […]
Say this much for the leaders of the North Carolina Senate and House: When they make up their minds on a course of action, they don’t mess around. The General […]
The North Carolina Senate could have gotten its 2014 session under way with a show of resolve to repair some of the damage from last year’s debacle. Just as one […]
If a session of the NC General Assembly can be compared to an opera — comedy, farce or tragedy yet to be determined – then the governor’s recommended budget might […]
North Carolina legislators may think they have their hands full trying to defuse the hot political issue of the moment – the state’s woeful pay levels for its public school […]
The motto of North Carolina’s General Assembly during the past few years could well have been something like “Never a dull moment!” That’s especially been the case as the economy […]
The turmoil in North Carolina’s public schools, caused by budget cuts and ill-advised policy choices, has gotten people’s attention. On Saturday, May 3, there’ll be an opportunity to take a […]
North Carolina’s public school classrooms these days seem to be running short of happy campers where they’re most needed — among the teachers whose noble job it is to lead […]
When the line to check in at a church-sponsored conference on a beautiful Saturday morning in April stretches out the door, it’s a sign that the event has generated an […]
There’s an election in the offing, and over the next few weeks candidates and their allies will be ramping up the rhetoric. North Carolinians settling in to watch some television […]
Are judges politicians? And why – even in a state such as North Carolina, where judges are elected by the public – does the concept of judges who also function as […]
Living in harmony with the world of nature has never been all that simple for us humans. One could say that the reported misadventures of a couple of folks named […]
The gory details are right there, laid out in columns of cold hard data compiled by the National Education Association. Each year, the national teachers’ group provides a comprehensive, state-by-state […]
He hasn’t put it quite this way, but what Gov. Pat McCrory seems to be saying – and who among us hasn’t offered the same excuse? – is that it […]
In recognition of our faithful call and of this time in history, the Council’s annual Lenten guide focuses on poverty and the ways we can respond to our sisters and […]
A newcomer to Raleigh sooner or later comes up against a riddle: How can the city have two First Baptist Churches? Here’s a non-surprise: The answer is rooted in the […]
It’s easy to imagine the response from legislative leaders to a new scholarly look at the impacts of North Carolina’s recent election law changes: “Get over it!” Those same Republican […]
