Setting the Record Straight Archive

Business interests continue to call most of the shots at the General Assembly

One of the great myths of modern American politics is the one about the supposedly all-powerful environmental lobby. Spurred by the skillful propagandizing of corporate polluters, their high-priced lobbying and P.R. firms and loyal lapdogs over in the far-right think tanks, many Americans have come to accept the fairy tale that every lawmaking body stands at the ready - waiting for orders from a large and monolithic cadre of well-heeled environmental advocates.

Economic downturn and “scratch-off” controversy shine new light on the game’s dark side

There’s only so much you can do to make the lottery respectable. No matter how open or honest the people are who run it, the game still boils down to a hard and dirty truth: a public entity is administering a program that seeks to separate citizens from their cash.

The far right’s latest efforts to undermine public education

Last week in this space, we explored the right wing’s ongoing effort to characterize any public solutions to societal problems (especially publicly funded solutions) as “assaults on freedom.” Their simplistic syllogism goes something like this:

State lawmakers need to rethink their plans for state transportation policy

It’s quiz time. Imagine you are a visitor to North Carolina from another country and have been presented with the following facts about an issue of great importance that confronts the state – transportation:

The far right’s latest ill-informed complaint about human services spending

–Raleigh’s News & Observer ran a “Point of View” column this past week by a staffer over at the state Republican Party annex known as the J.W. Pope Civitas Institute. According to the author, North Carolina social “safety net” spending is out of control. Here’s the gist of his flawed reasoning:

One of the more impressive acts of a state political party chairman in North Carolina history took place recently. It occurred when Jerry Meek of the North Carolina Democratic Party told a giant multinational meatpacking corporation known as Smithfield Foods to keep its money when the company tried to make a contribution to the party.

One of the most important lessons learned by American progressives in recent years is that language matters. While there is no substitute for substance and commitment and being right, the way we communicate our positions is also vitally important. Political observer and linguist George Lakoff made this point repeatedly during his recent visit to North Carolina.

The success of the world environmental movement in awakening people everywhere to the profound dangers that confront our planet is clearly driving the market fundamentalists crazy. In the wake of the success of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” the far right has launched a counter-offensive in which it has thrown everything, including the kitchen sink, at those with the temerity to propose large scale public solutions to the environmental crisis.

Why are government regulators shirking their duty?

One of the most important series of newspaper reports in recent North Carolina history concluded today. “The Cruelest Cuts” is a collection of articles, photographs and videos that has been produced by a team of journalists at the Charlotte Observer. The series documents in painful detail the reality of life for the thousands of North and South Carolinians who toil in the poultry processing industry.

How and why legislators structure votes to dupe the public

Anyone who’s participated in the lobbying game for a while is familiar with what are often referred to as “structured roll calls.” This is the often cynical political game in which legislative leaders figure out the result they want and then work backwards to determine which lawmakers will be directed or permitted to vote in particular ways.

The ultimate strategy for progressives

Stung by recent election defeats at the national level and mortified at the disastrous policy results that have ensued, many progressives are thinking a lot these days about what it will take to recapture the momentum in American politics. The current contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is, in some ways, a microcosm of this broader internal debate.

Failure to help poor and unemployed may doom stimulus package

“When America sneezes, the rest of the world gets a cold.” One corollary to this tired old cliché from the world of economics might go something like this: “When America gets a cold, its poor and unemployed get pneumonia.”

More misleading propaganda on charter schools
By Rob Schofield

The debate over the benefits and drawbacks of charter schools continues. Proponents continue to advance charters (and the notion of “school choice”) as the be-all and end-all solution to everything that ails or has ever ailed the public schools. Skeptics worry that charters and “choice” have a lot more to do with re-segregating and privatizing the schools and, ultimately, transforming one of the most important unifying public institutions in our democracy into a consumer commodity than they do with improving it. […]

New Action for Children report reminds us of why troubled kids do what they do

By Rob Schofield

N.C. Policy Watch, Action for Children North Carolina and the N.C. Pediatric Society Foundation co-sponsored a special “Crucial Conversation” luncheon this week on the topic of juvenile justice. The focus of the event was the issue of how to treat young persons accused of crime: Should these kids – particularly 16 and 17 years olds – be treated in the juvenile justice system on the assumption that they can be saved from a life of crime or should they be transferred to the adult criminal justice system for the kind of punishment they could expect if they were 26 or 27?

Congressional predatory lending legislation puts North Carolina’s law at risk

By Rob Schofield

No act of the past decade has brought greater national attention and acclaim to North Carolina lawmakers than their groundbreaking efforts to attack predatory mortgage lending. The original 1999 reform legislation (which requires unbiased financial counseling before borrowers can be sold certain types of “high cost” loans) and its progeny have saved thousands of North Carolina families from the financial ruin and indignities that accompany losing one’s home and have served as a model for several other states.