Category Archives: Transparency

Stossel on K-12 Education Spending

Written on April 22, 2013 at 11:32 am, by

This past weekend, John Stossel compared the increase of K-12 students to the increase of personnel in schools during 1950 till 2009. The show aired on Fox Business. The education BLOB— that immovable jelly-like ball of teachers’ and janitors’ unions, the school board bureaucrats, PTAs, etc.—just keeps growing. As the number of students increased 96%,Continue Reading

This weekend on Carolina Journal Radio

Written on April 5, 2013 at 7:03 am, by

A Durham resident’s curiosity might have uncovered a tax fraud scheme targeting residents in his neighborhood. Rick Henderson discusses the possible scheme during the next edition of Carolina Journal Radio. Speaking of taxes, you’ll learn why some members of the N.C. House are interested in killing North Carolina’s “death tax,” officially known as the estateContinue Reading

More open government bills files during Sunshine Week

Written on March 14, 2013 at 5:42 pm, by

As Sunshine Week approaches its conclusion, state Sen. Thom Goolsby has filed a couple more open government bills. One is a proposed constitutional amendment known as the “Sunshine Amendment.” It would write open government principles into the N.C. Constitution, requiring any new measures restricting access to meetings or public records to pass with a supermajorityContinue Reading

TABOR bill filed in NC House using JLF recommendations

Written on March 12, 2013 at 11:04 am, by

Yesterday the NC House filed a bill (HB 274) creating a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).  The John Locke Foundation has written about this multiple times and has called for this type of limit on state spending.   Thankfully, the NC House members who filed this bill took our recommendations and filed this bill using JohnContinue Reading

“You need to be doing it better and cleaner than the other guy”

Written on March 1, 2013 at 12:49 pm, by

The above quote is from Top Gun.   It is in the scene where Stinger tells Goose and Maverick that they have been chosen for the Top Gun flight school at Miramar.  You may recall that Goose and Maverick were not the first choice.  Fellow pilot Cougar was Stinger’s first choice, but Cougar had an in-flightContinue Reading

Common Core = Control

Written on February 18, 2013 at 5:37 pm, by

Robert Scott, former Texas Commissioner of Education, testified before a committee of the Georgia General Assembly earlier this month. Part one of his testimony, details his experience and knowledge regarding Common Core. It was then that I realized that this initiative which had  been constantly portrayed as state-led and voluntary was really about control. ItContinue Reading

‘World’s leading liberal voice’ blasts Obama administration’s approach to secrecy on drones

Written on February 15, 2013 at 9:31 am, by

Whatever you think of the Obama administration’s drone program, you have to question the secrecy surrounding it. At least that’s the stance Glenn Greenwald takes in a column for The Guardian, billed as the “world’s leading liberal voice.” Everyone in the world knows that the CIA has a targeted killing program whereby it uses dronesContinue Reading

Businessweek questions Obama’s interest in transparency

Written on February 12, 2013 at 7:06 am, by

The latest Bloomberg Businessweek reminds us that President Obama “likes to say his administration is the most open and transparent in history.” The actual record? That’s another story. On the White House website, he pledges to give citizens an “unprecedented level” of access to information and says agencies will “offer Americans increased opportunities to participateContinue Reading