A Democrat majority of the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners on Thursday night conjured millions of dollars from thin air to bolster funding for county programs and services without having to hike property taxes in an election year. Flush with a sack full of phantom money, the board then proceeded to embark on a dizzying […]
Written by Philip M. Giraldi: The Tea Party phenomenon has attracted a good deal of both good and bad attention in the media. Though it would perhaps be a stretch to describe it as a movement in that it has only limited organization and focus, it does tap into a genuine disconnect between the American […]
Rifling through the city’s budget, a couple numbers stick out like peacocks in a sparrow’s nest: Mecklenburg County’s $2.9 million contribution to the uptown cultural arts facilities and the $11 million the county is slated to fork over to provide an uptown park for a development planned in First Ward, along with leveraging about $8 […]
The NC House, that is. Meck Deck directs our attention to the John Locke Foundation’s Locker Room, where Becki Gray dissects a House budget that is rife with one-time funding for recurring obligations, stuffed with $50 million in new corporate giveaways, and sets the stage for a $3 billion shortfall next year.
Much ado has been made over the NC 8th Congressional District race, which grows stranger by the day. With more plot twists than an indie film, this primary runoff election has it all: from The Big Guy to The Machine Gun, from threatened lawsuits to heroin, from the military-industrial complex to the sports segment on […]
There’s an old cliche when it comes to tweaking government budgets: If you want to add something, you need to cut something. Mecklenburg Commissioner Bill James is taking it to heart. James wants to increase funding for the Veteran’s Service Office, which is targeted to lose half its $1 million budget and seven of 14 […]
With Mecklenburg County drowning in debt and struggling to plug an $81-million budget gap, the City of Charlotte’s spending plan has managed to fly under the radar virtually unnoticed, despite being chock full of questionable expenditures that could stand a spotlight. Take, for example, the $602,000 that the city manager’s recommended budget allocates for so-called […]
Submitted by Craig Nannini: As one of the founding leaders of the Charlotte Tea Party and local activist, I am giving my personal endorsement to Harold Johnson for Congress. First off I would like to thank all of the candidates who threw their hat into the 8th district race. This race is exceptionally critical in […]
Most fashion trends fade as quickly as they appear. The 1960s produced Nehru jackets and bell-bottom pants. Multi-colored toe socks and leisure suits permeated the ’70s. Members Only jackets and parachute pants marked the Reagan era and black rain coats and unlaced boots ruled the ’90s. Fortunately, these trendy fashions came and went in relative […]
As Mecklenburg County commissioners sift through the rubble of the county manager’s recommended budget, looking for places to tap cuts that could help save teachers’ jobs, there’s one data set that ought to jump screaming off the page. As of last December, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools had amassed an astounding 109 Central Administration positions that cost the […]
