Almost two years ago, the new federal legislation that starts to fix our health system, the Affordable Care Act, was passed into law. Health care is such a large and complicated part of our economy that beginning the needed fixes has been almost like watching an oil tanker negotiate a three-point turn in [Continue Reading...]
As I was leaving my office on a recent evening, a coworker told me that one of her young nieces had called and asked why she is in love with her fiancé. She had playfully told her that it was because he builds things and likes what she cooks. It was a pretty [Continue Reading...]
A key challenge in an increasingly diverse state such as North Carolina is ensuring that all citizens have equal and unbiased access to the government that represents them. Regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or religion, all North Carolinians have an equal right to participate in the democratic process without fear of being excluded [Continue Reading...]
There are thousands upon thousands of migrant farmworkers in North Carolina throughout the year who maintain and harvest various such as tobacco, sweet potatoes and scores of others. Some of these migrant laborers are in the United States under the H-2A program – a visa program that brings in foreign workers temporarily for [Continue Reading...]
People of different political stripes frequently argue about the best ways to attack child poverty. More carrots? More sticks? Here’s a fact, however, that’s beyond dispute: Research shows that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the one of the most effective tools at our disposal for lifting children out of poverty. The [Continue Reading...]
In North Carolina, our constitution promises that exercises of government power will be limited to those “instituted solely for the good of the whole.” This is a solemn moral covenant as well as a legal obligation. Too often, we fail to live up to these ideals. We allow widespread poverty to exist, especially [Continue Reading...]
One of the bills that became law during the 2011 session of the North Carolina General Assembly is called the “Founding Principles Act.” The new law changes, expands (and presumably, seeks to improve) how the state education system deals with “civic literacy.” It’s too bad state lawmakers didn’t somehow make themselves subject to [Continue Reading...]
The North Carolina Racial Justice Act (RJA) is all about the relationship between our present and our history. The early history of our state was marred by the adoption of slavery with a clear institutionalized message race made a difference and a legal system formalizing the disparate treatment of African Americans and whites [Continue Reading...]
One of the most important things to distinguish North Carolina from many of its southern neighbors over the past half-century has been a robust and relatively consistent commitment to public investments in education, health, and safe communities. The new state budget, passed by the General Assembly despite Governor Perdue’s veto, represents a major [Continue Reading...]
As the recent battles over school re-segregation in various North Carolina school districts make clear, the use of race and poverty in school assignment remains a controversial issue. Some parties, including the former conservative school board majority in Wake County, even argued that it was even somehow forbidden. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of [Continue Reading...]
The recent spike in attacks on women’s basic reproductive health care, from birth control to cervical cancer immunizations to abortion care, by out-of-touch and extreme politicians is breathtaking in scope and intent. Take, for example, the issue of birth control as women’s preventive health care. At a recent hearing before a congressional subcommittee [Continue Reading...]
It’s doubtful you could find many North Carolinians who would argue that the state suffers from too little congestion, too few potholes, not enough crumbling bridges, or too many construction jobs. If state leaders follow through on threats to cap the state’s gas tax, however, (an action the state House has approved already) [Continue Reading...]
Blaming, maligning, and poking fun at the poor for political gain apparently is back in season. From candidates to commentators, a chorus of conservative voices blames the poor not only for their own dire straits, but also for the problems of the entire country. Consider Herman Cain (who officially suspended his presidential campaign [Continue Reading...]
Recently in Wilmington I met a friendly, outspoken older woman named Sylvia Colbert. Ms. Colbert is very active in her community and gets her health care through both the federal Medicare program and North Carolina’s Medicaid program. As an older adult with a low income, she qualifies for North Carolina Medicaid as a [Continue Reading...]
“Please excuse our mess”: It’s a sign that all of us have encountered at a construction site at one time or another. It tells customers and passersby that, despite the current disorder, a more impressive setting will emerge — hopefully in the near future. Looking back on the performance of the North Carolina [Continue Reading...]
