Unlocking a budget solution

Three key things that state lawmakers should remember as they negotiate a final budget bill

It’s never easy putting together something as complicated and important as a state budget. Contrary to the image conjured up by anti-government zealots of cigar smoking, fat cat politicians happily carving up pork in posh surroundings, a majority of it is actually time-consuming drudgery carried out by serious and sober men and women.

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Let Perdue be Perdue

The governor’s six-month review (and recommendations for improvement)

Public opinion polls tell us that voters are a disgruntled group these days – especially when it comes to state-level politicians. That figures. Times are tough and many a governor has had to be the bearer of bad news about the need to cut services and raise revenues in order to balance their state’s budget. It’s a lot easier to be popular when state coffers are full – even if you had little or nothing to do with it.

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Bad news

How poor media coverage of the budget debate is misinforming the public

Covering the ins and outs of government and the political sausage-making that goes into the construction of state law and policy is, admittedly, a tough job. Even for Legislative Building veterans it can be a real challenge to grasp and keep up with the intricacies and vagaries of the lawmaking process. To produce accurate and informative stories that enlighten and make any sense to the general public? Well, that’s even tougher – especially given the pressure of deadlines and limited time and space.

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Wanted: A little courage when it comes to crime and punishment

North Carolina’s hypocritical approach to criminal sentencing continues to produce bad results

Few things are more irresistible to a politician contemplating reelection than a good old “get tough on crime” bill. Whatever your political party or constituency, there’s something intoxicating about having one’s name attached to a new law that “cracks down” on a particular class of criminal offenders. It’s almost like pulling a string in front of a cat: Shop such an idea around the legislature and chances are that you’ll have a dozen lawmakers begging to be your champion.

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Show us the way, Joe

It’s time for the Speaker of the House and his team to stand up and do the right thing on the state budget

It’s one of the great philosophical questions of democratic government and college political science classes. It goes something like this: To what should elected officials look when staking out their positions on the issues they confront – the desires of their constituents or the dictates of their own consciences? Is it better to do what one knows will please a majority of the voters tomorrow (or in the next election) or what one knows in one’s heart is “the right thing?”

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Recession remedies

An expert explains why, now more than ever, we need a new approach to job creation and retention

Here at NC Policy Watch, we’ve reported on many occasions about the flaws and foibles of the state’s traditional approach to “economic development.” To a distressingly large extent, state efforts in this area have been dominated by large, unfocused tax breaks like the wasteful and ineffective Bill Lee Act (now known as “Article 3J credits”) and large giveaways to individual companies (like Dell or Goodyear).

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Demanding the impossible?

In all the world of public policy, it’s hard to find a more controversial, hot-button issue than the public schools. If a “liberal” can sometimes be defined as “a conservative who thinks his rights were violated during a traffic stop or whose daughter has an unwanted pregnancy” then one definition of a “conservative” must be “a liberal whose kids don’t get assigned to the perfect, walking distance public school.”

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Death by deregulation

The news has been full of disturbing stories of late about innocent people being sickened – some grievously – as the result of shockingly callous behavior on the part of corporate profiteers. Last year, it was product after product (pet food, toys, etc…) from the People’s Free Market Republic of China. In recent weeks the issue has hit closer to home. First it was Georgia peanut butter, and then this week, medical syringes from Raleigh. [Continue Reading...]