One of the very real consequences of the General Assembly’s recent budget cuts and North Carolina’s declining commitment to fund its public schools is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit our state’s best and brightest to our ever-shrinking corps of teachers. North Carolina has now fallen even further down the list [Continue Reading...]

The official end of the Great Recession was marked by economists in June 2009 but more than twenty-four months later there has been little improvement in the jobs picture. Last month, according to the latest data from the Employment Security Commission, North Carolina’s job deficit – a measure of the jobs needed to [Continue Reading...]

There has been a lot of talk recently about “partisan bickering” and what it is that divides us in this state and in this country. One of the many issues that very often come up during such discussions is the role that religion should play in making policy, including the issue of government [Continue Reading...]

The American economic picture remains very grim. The recovery from the Great Recession can only be called “tepid” – especially on the job creation front. New cuts in government spending resulting from budget shortfalls are only making matters worse by eliminating more jobs in the short run. At the same time, the nation [Continue Reading...]

As part of an ongoing effort to avoid complying with an important  court ruling, leaders of the Republican majority in the General Assembly have asked Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning to “clarify”  his recent order mandating that at-risk students be allowed to enroll in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NCPK) program. For [Continue Reading...]

Last month, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued new guidelines requiring all new health plans under the Affordable Care Act to cover the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods without charging co-pays or other out-of-pocket fees. In addition, the recommendation also includes covering, as preventive health care services, annual [Continue Reading...]

It had been a rough time for my family even before the doctor gave me the final diagnosis. The news wasn’t good: the health problems I’d been experiencing had a painful solution. I needed a vasectomy immediately, or I’d risk severe complications. Though I’d hoped to have kids one day, I made the [Continue Reading...]

According to recent polls, the vast majority of Americans, including even a majority of self-identified Republicans, feel that the wealthy are not contributing their fair share in taxes to support the nation’s public investments. Some conservative commentators say that underlying this widely held view is envy of the wealthy, but this couldn’t be [Continue Reading...]

The latest wave of anti-tax fever continues to spread across the nation. Vast amounts of economic and historical data from the past half century show that tax cuts, especially for the rich, do not produce sustained economic growth or more opportunities for the middle class. Yet anti-tax ideologues either brush off such evidence [Continue Reading...]

The budget woes that confront both North Carolina and the nation are of our own making; they are the result of policy decisions or indecisions that led to a catastrophic economic downturn and our faltering economic recovery. Unfortunately, despite the obvious and fundamental connections between our budget and tax decisions and our economic [Continue Reading...]

Like many programs, mental health services absorbed big cuts in North Carolina’s recently passed budget. There was a new 2% rate cut to Medicaid providers. This was on top of a prior 9% cut for many providers. This would be bad under the best of circumstances. Unfortunately, lawmakers made things even worse by [Continue Reading...]

With unemployment near 10 percent, it’s hard to believe anyone would say North Carolina needs fewer jobs. But that’s exactly what voices on the right continue to argue. The most recent example is state GOP chairman Robin Hayes. When North Carolina’s most recent joblessness numbers were released, we saw a spike in unemployment driven [Continue Reading...]

Prevention is as popular as puppies and rainbows. The idea of investing in health now to save money and lives later is mainstream and bipartisan. United States Sen. Richard Burr has even attacked federal health care reform by spuriously claiming that it does not put enough money in prevention. Despite the savings that [Continue Reading...]

For everyday people who know what it means to be snookered financially, July 21 is a day worth noting. On this date, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) becomes the official consumer cop on the beat, fighting predatory lending in its multiple forms. The office will craft important steps and procedures that [Continue Reading...]

There is no human need more basic than safe and decent shelter, yet thousands of people in North Carolina and throughout the country lack housing they can afford. The lack of quality, affordable housing is a huge hardship for low-income households. It prevents them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition [Continue Reading...]