Daily Archives: June 11, 2012
Highlights of a fiscally responsible budget
Highlights from the Senate budget: Balanced budget with no tax increases. Spends $127M less than the House and $758M less than the Governor wanted to. Uses recurring revenues to pay recurring expenses rather than relying on one-time money, tricks and gimmickry. Pays off $230M in Medicaid liabilities. Sets aside $100M in Rainy Day fund RestoresContinue Reading
Tax Breaks for All: Addressing Misconceptions
Today the News Observer ran the opinion piece entitled “Too much tax slack” arguing against the universal tax breaks for businesses enacted by the North Carolina Congress. The general complaint of this article centered around the relatively common idea that wealthier businesses and individuals save this money rather than spend it; to supporters of thisContinue Reading
A set of facts on NC sea level rise that are hard to dispute
The note below was written by Dave Burton in response to a blog post by William Chameides, Dean of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. If there were errors in Burton’s analysis surely Chamedes would point them out, don’t you think? The point of the bill is to conform policy to science Climate Movement activistsContinue Reading
New at CJO: Medicaid reforms raise concerns for developmentally disabled
Barry Smith reports for Carolina Journal Online about concerns linked to 2011 Medicaid reforms that could have unintended consequences for North Carolina’s developmentally disabled residents.
Putting ‘Our Best Foot Forward’
Despite claims to the contrary, North Carolina’s economy is struggling to an even greater extent than those of its neighboring states. Too many politicians and pundits are caught in the trap of viewing this state as a leader, when it’s actually a laggard. John Hood makes that case in his new book, Our Best FootContinue Reading
Politics as usual
As Cato’s Tad DeHaven observes here, most of the Republicans in Congress (who supposedly favor limited government) have teamed up with most of the Democrats, (who supposedly favor “the little guy”) to protect a barge load of business subsidies.
Excellent video opposes Obama’s “Julia” with a woman who doesn’t want dependency on the state
The Obama campaign (that is to say, pretty much the entire federal apparatus these days) thought it was doing something clever with its “Life of Julia” video, but watch this rebuttal and see which you find more convincing.