Economists greeted a dip in the state’s May unemployment rate, which ticked down to 10.3 percent, with an overwhelming blah, pointing out that most of the decline was attributed to temporary government hiring for the U.S. census. That and more than 42,300 folks didn’t so much find a job, as they simply exhausted their unemployment […]
The Executive Board of the South Carolina Democratic Party has upheld U.S. Senate primary election results that saw an unemployed, accused felon that few people had heard of before last week and even fewer people seem willing to acknowledge voting for, topple a former four-term state representative. Barring any unexpected twists – no guarantee in […]
Faced with an $800-million shortfall in its operating budget and a state unemployment rate that tops 10 percent, the N.C. Senate on Monday night voted 46-0 to approve $542 million in construction bonds for a variety of projects scattered throughout the UNC system. Some of the big-ticket items up for grabs: a $45-million football complex […]
If you’re anything more than a casual observer of conservative North Carolina politics, you know that this past weekend saw the 2010 NCGOP State Convention in Winston-Salem. As the marquee Republican event in the state leading up to what could be a historic mid-term election, most of the official attention paid to the event was […]
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.
And doing so at the alarming expense of the private sector, which from 2001 to 2009 lost nearly 50,000 jobs. At the same time, state government ballooned by adding almost 35,000 jobs, a staggering increase of 12.3 percent, according to a recent report by the John W. Pope Civitas Institute. “The growth in state government […]
Possibly right below the badges of Char-Meck police officers and firefighters, if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has his way. Reid, facing an uphill re-election bid in a state rife with union power and sway, is pushing federal legislation that would give public safety workers in North Carolina collective bargaining rights when negotiating for pay […]
Charlotte’s former boy mayor’s latest adventure in the political realm is the New Leadership PAC, which the site informs that McCrory established “to promote issues that he feels are critical to the future of North Carolina.” The organization purports as a goal identifying and supporting “future leaders and candidates” and concentrating on voter outreach efforts. […]
Taking a page from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ free- and reduced-price lunch program – latest motto, “We feed anybody, just ask” – the state is easing income restrictions for food stamp eligibility. The Wilmington Star-News has the rundown here. In a nutshell: The state’s federally funded Food and Nutrition Services program, commonly called food stamps, is currently […]
Leave it to the Democrat-controlled state Senate to pick right up where Gov. Bev Perdue left off, rolling out a budget that is filled with fantasy spending and does nothing to address the financial crisis North Carolina faces. Instead, the $19-billion monstrosity skirts any responsibility by pulling magic money from myriad hats, refusing to deal […]
