Opinion (894)
“I see you’ve written another book. What’s this one about?”
OPINION: State tax cut a must after citizens told to sacrifice
Written by Ray Nothstine
In the name of safety and at times part political theater, North Carolinians spent over a year following stringent emergency orders because of the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses shuttered, citizens lost their livelihood, millions eschewed social events or celebrations of any kind. Many young people are still hampered by mask mandates in schools. A silver lining amidst all that sacrifice, North Carolina is uniquely positioned coming out of this pandemic to offer state income tax cuts. Lawmakers must make it happen for myriad reasons.
OPINION: So, governor, who's playing politics now?
Written by John Trump - Carolina Journal News Service
If more people are getting vaccinated because of the governor’s handouts and giveaways, I sure can’t tell.
We’re about to learn a lot about economic recoveries. Back in 2009, Barack Obama, with a hefty Democratic majority in Congress, tried to pull us out of the Great Recession with a tepid relief program designed to attract Republican support. It led to a slow recovery, and when the GOP took control of the Congress and many state legislatures after the 2010 Republican wave, they instituted austerity policies to counteract Obama’s spending. Climbing out of that recession took almost all decade.
The self-styled investigative journalism outlet ProPublica recently published private IRS tax information — presumably embarrassing private tax information — for a host of ultrawealthy and famous Americans.
OPINION: Tillis's 'divide and conquer' directive still resonates with GOP
Written by Rob Schofield
It’s a common phenomenon for well-known politicians to become associated with, or remembered for, an inspiring or infamous utterance.
It's a tantalizing headline from investigative journalism group ProPublica: "The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax."
As a fiscal conservative who thinks government is generally too large and taxes too high, I am grateful for the gas tax.
OPINION: Mark Robinson understands that politics solves very little
Written by Ray Nothstine
Mark Robinson was rewarded by conservative voters for having the courage to take a deep dive into the culture wars. Most years, Republicans barely got their toes wet. Many Republicans believed the path to electoral success was to focus solely on economic issues while largely ignoring the left’s long march through the institutions. As long as the economic policy is right, “they’ll come around” was the oft-repeated strategy. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a conservative, understands that politics is deeply limited in the problems it can solve, a partial theme from a recent message he delivered Sunday, June 6, at Asbury Baptist Church in Seagrove.
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OPINION: Do as we say: Cooper passing out cash prizes in return for vaccine compliance
Written by John Trump - Carolina Journal News Service
Anyone who wanted a COVID vaccine has gotten a vaccine.
Up in Surry County, the local GOP leadership is making fools of itself. The county board of commissioners passed a ban on Coke machines on county property to show those bigwigs down in Atlanta that they weren’t taking lightly the company’s opposition to Georgia’s voter suppression law. But the Atlanta company doesn’t own the machines. A Charlotte-based company does and the move threatened jobs in the rural county.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are two of the richest men in the world, and while both are clearly brilliant titans of industry, neither of them achieved that status without multiple handouts from the government. Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX have received nearly $5 billion in government aid over the years in various forms — grants, environmental credits, tax breaks, discounted loans, and more — while Amazon received more than $3.7 billion in taxpayer subsidies at the federal level alone.
He’s baaaack. Well, sort of.
Former President Donald Trump emerged from his self-imposed Florida/New York internal exile this past Saturday evening by delivering a typically rambling and narcissistic speech at the 2021 North Carolina Republican Party convention in Greenville. It was his first such appearance outside of Florida since leaving the White House in January.
