Donna Martinez

With the election over and thoughts turning to 2019, the next state budget cycle, and the work of the General Assembly, I hope we have a robust discussion about priorities — education for example. The current General Assembly has made K-12 education a priority. Let’s start with the…

Carolina Journal reports on Tuesday’s election results. Good night for North Carolina Democrats seeking to regain some power in the General Assembly. State Democrats accomplished a major goal in Tuesday’s midterm election, breaking the Republican Party’s supermajority in the General Assembly. Unofficial results show the GOP, which has a…

Reality bites. Here’s the impact — so far — of President Trump’s misguided tariff policies. U.S. businesses shelled out $4.4 billion in tariffs in September, a surge of more than 50 percent from the same month a year ago, according to the groups, which are operating under a coalition…

JLF Senior Fellow Joe Coletti previews an upcoming legislative committee meeting that will begin looking at questions raised by an agreement between Gov. Roy Cooper and companies building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. At issue is the $58 million Memorandum of Understanding announced by Cooper hours after the Department of…

Do these protesters really believe they are persuading anyone to rethink their views by doing this to Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn?  When Blackburn began her speech before a crowd of hundreds, she was twice interrupted, resulting in more chants. One woman in a wheelchair was pushed out…

Carolina Journal’s Kari Travis reports on the 3-person race for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court. The candidates participated in a forum earlier this week, hosted by the Triangle chapter of the Federalist Society. The candidates are Barbara Jackson, Chris Anglin, and Anita Earls. Democrats hold a…

According to the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, as reported by The Hill: The poll found Trump’s approval rating at its highest level for that poll yet, at 47 percent. Obama’s approval rating was 45 percent around the same time in 2010, according to a…

Some of my libertarian friends are advocates for legalizing recreational use of marijuana. I’ve asked them if they wonder about unintended consequences — like this. The report, issued by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said that car accidents reported to police in three states…