This morning Democracy NC sent out a press release detailing the extent to which Duke Energy funded the Republicans Governors Association—which, of course, helps elect Republican governors like Pat McCrory, who is up for reelection next year—throughout the latter half of last year, just as McCrory, a former Duke executive, and Republican legislators were devising […]
Jeffrey C. Billman
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Breaking: Wake County voters file federal lawsuit to stop redistricting law (updated)
This post has been updated to include additional information. A federal lawsuit filed this afternoon in Raleigh seeks to overturn a controversial law passed by Republicans in the General Assembly—because it was a local bill, it did not need the signature of Gov. McCrory, who opposed it and complained about the Legislature interfering in local […]
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A new report lays bare the effects of climate change on the N.C. coast
The data are in, and the numbers are unequivocal. After all the tumult, after the industry-fostered head-in-sand denialism, after the legislative tinkering to obfuscate the emerging reality, the truththe scienceremains the same: The coast of North Carolina, and especially the northern part of the Outer Banks, is sinking into the sea. This, of course, isn’t […]
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Happy Easter Weekend Reading: North Carolina’s Poor Are Screwed
This week saw the release of not one but two reports from the N.C. Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center looking at this state’s relationship to its least advantaged citizens. North Carolina’s Greatest Challenge: Widespread Struggles Remain a Grave Threat to Economic Growth and Us All, released April 1, talks about the state’s increasing poverty […]
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Advocates regroup after medical marijuana dies again in committee
The disconnect couldn’t be more apparent: 69 percent of North Carolinians believe doctors should be able to prescribe medical marijuana, according to a January Public Policy Polling survey. Yet last week House Bill 78, which would have legalized pot for those suffering from chronic conditions, died a quick, unceremonious death in a House Judiciary Committee. […]
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Surprise! The General Assembly wants to restrict abortion access (again)
You can say a lot of things about State Sen. Warren Daniel, the three-term Morganton Republican behind the General Assembly’s latest attack on abortion rights. You can say he’s severely conservative, completely at home among the far-right legislators who rode in on the tea party wave. You can say he wants to entrench his moral […]
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Wake County voters not so keen on the General Assembly’s redistricting plan
At a press conference this morning, the folks at Progress NC unveiled a new poll about the state Republicans’ remarkably transparent scheme to rejigger the Wake County Commission—ostensibly in the name of ending at-large elections, which Republicans deem “archaic” and “outrageous expensive.” The bill, filed in early March by Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Franklin and Wake, […]
