The Latest

• “Americans are not rallying around Donald Trump during the pandemic”

  That’s the headline of a recent article in the Economist. It goes on to say, “His approval ratings have been remarkably flat compared with those of other leaders—and past American presidents,” and it provides this chart:  …

  Jon Guze, May 22, 2020, 36 words

• Help our cideries; don’t keep them shut down

  How can our policymakers help cideries? First, let cideries open and welcome the public back in. Our Carolina Rebound project proposes another sensible way to help cideries going forward.

  Jon Sanders, May 22, 2020, 520 words

  

• Guilford County school bond trimmed to $300m

  At last night’s contentious meeting, the Guilford Board of Commissioners approved a $300 million school bond that would go on the November ballot. The school system and liberal members of the county commission were hoping for a $1.6 billion bond to go before voters. The debate grew testy.

  Sam Hieb, May 22, 2020, 278 words

• Checks and Balances Must Be Respected Even in Emergencies

  Everyone in North Carolina is familiar with the executive orders Gov. Roy Cooper has been issuing to address the coronavirus outbreak. In the executive order he announced on Wednesday, he announced that restaurants and other businesses would be allowed to reopen at limited capacity. However, as our JLF’s Jon…

  Brenee Goforth, May 22, 2020, 454 words

  

• ICYMI: NCGA to consider universal licensure recognition

  In case you missed it during this busy week, a bill was introduced in the North Carolina Senate to create a system of universal licensure recognition in North Carolina. In a research brief this week, my colleague Jon Sanders wrote about the components of the bill. Sanders writes,…

  Jordan Roberts, May 22, 2020, 492 words

  

• Martin Center column examines higher education ‘earthquake’ out west

  Scott Yenor writes for the Martin Center about major higher education developments in Idaho. Idaho’s state legislature, together with a newly engaged state board and Governor Brad Little, has made an issue of the spiraling higher education costs. Tuition increases have fostered expansions of bureaucracy and mission creep, and…

  Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020, 336 words

  

• Could continued COVID-19 shutdown lead to a ‘mass casualty incident’?

  Tyler Olson writes at FoxNews.com about medical concerns surrounding the preferred government response to COVID-19. More than 600 doctors signed onto a letter sent to President Trump Tuesday pushing him to end the “national shutdown” aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, calling the widespread state orders…

  Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020, 305 words

  

• COVID-19 and Latin America: Protests could threaten American allies

  Joel Gehrke of the Washington Examiner highlights concerns about COVID-19’s impact south of the border. Latin American governments with close ties to the United States could struggle to weather a storm of political protests as the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, American officials and analysts fear. “If there was a…

  Mitch Kokai, May 22, 2020, 319 words