Weekly Briefing Archive

Can state lawmakers keep up?

The news on the mortgage foreclosure front remains grim. In 1998, there were 16,661 mortgage foreclosures in North Carolina. Last year, the total was 49,754 and some experts expect this year’s number to approach 60,000. The grand total over the last decade exceed 340,000. California, Florida, Nevada and several other states are experiencing per household foreclosure rates that are even higher.

Could its success represent a “tipping point” for North Carolina?

A few years back, writer Malcolm Gladwell wrote a popular book called “The Tipping Point.” In it, he explored several different societal examples in which small changes on a small scale have accumulated and coalesced until, like a health epidemic, they reached a “tipping point” and suddenly spread explosively throughout a community. Some of Gladwell’s examples are bad (the AIDS virus, teen suicides), while others (the decline of crime in New York City, literacy amongst children who watch “Sesame Street”) are good.

Tired or primary politics insanity? Here’s another place to channel your energy

By Rob Schofield

Many North Carolinians are of two minds on the ongoing presidential primaries. On the one hand, some are sad that we have to wait until May. These folks wish that North Carolina was more involved in the process and could have a real say in who is at the top of the national ballot in November.

Lethal injection goes before the U.S. Supreme Court

By Rob Schofield

As one of the dwindling group of nations that still permits executions, the United States continues to wrestle with the fundamental question of how to carry out The Deed. What is the appropriate way to kill a person? Firing squad? Guillotine? Hanging? Cyanide?

…And Today’s Ideological Debate

By Rob Schofield (republished from Monday, December 18th for your reading enjoyment)

Quick Take:

• Recently, Governor Easley was labeled a “Grinch” by a conservative advocacy group for urging caution in the adoption of a new round of state tax cuts.
• A look at the facts, however, shows that Easley’s motivations were almost certainly anything but Grinch-like.
• In fact, it is the far right’s obsession with wealth and self-interest that conjures up unflattering holiday analogies.

Sometimes, you have to hand it to the spin-savvy ideologues on the far right. For all of their shortcomings in the realms of statecraft and public policy development, no one can camouflage an unpopular, regressive idea behind an honorable sounding name (“Contract with America,” “No Child Left Behind,” “Ownership Society”) better than the market fundamentalists of modern America. (more…)

New data confirm that the income gap continues to grow

By Rob Schofield

• New data from the Congressional Budget Office confirm that America’s income inequality has hit record levels.
• While incomes remain essentially stagnant for middle and lower income, they continue to soar for the richest 1% of households (by $180,000 in 2005 alone).
• In North Carolina, more than a third of the state’s residents have incomes of less than 200% of the federal poverty guideline (a very rough approximation of a “survival income” that equals $41,228 for a family of four).

So-called congressional “conservatives” show their real priorities

By Rob Schofield

Quick take:

• The current debate in Congress over the so-called “Alternative Minimum Tax” has served to highlight the difference between traditional conservative principles and those favored by modern market fundamentalists.
• While traditionalists favor a “pay as you go” approach to spending and tax cuts, market fundamentalists (like President Bush) adhere to a messianic belief in tax cuts at all costs.
• Absent unforeseen developments, a recent Senate filibuster seems to have ensured that the far right will retain the political high ground for the time being.

New reports confirm that it’s counter-productive to place 16 and 17 year-olds in our adult courts and prisons

By Rob Schofield

Quick take:

• Two new national reports were released last month on the subject of treating juveniles as adults in the criminal justice system.
• Both studies confirm what juvenile experts and advocates have long claimed – namely, that the practice of placing children in the adult criminal justice system is bad for them and bad for society.
• This Thursday, the group Action for Children North Carolina will release a new report that sheds additional North Carolina-specific light on the issue. The report will be released in conjunction with a special Policy Watch-Action for Children “Crucial Conversation” luncheon: Juveniles in Adult Prison: A Public Health Risk

Will transportation study group talk about anything other than more roads?

By Rob Schofield

Quick take:

• A special government study group known as the “21st Century Transportation Committee” will hold its second meeting today.
• Given the critical importance of transportation policy to the state’s economic and environmental futures, the group has the potential to be a powerful force for progress and new thinking.
• Unfortunately, early indications are that the group will devote most of its efforts to business as usual.

Ten things for which to be thankful from the state policy world
by Rob Schofield

In the spirit of this week’s holiday, this edition of the Weekly Briefing offers a list of ten developments from the world of North Carolina public policy that provide grounds for giving thanks.

Large and growing state seeks political leaders with courage to talk sense about immigrants and immigration

By Rob Schofield

Quick take:

• Despite a lack of concrete legislative proposals, immigration policy remains a dominant issue in the ongoing political debate.
• Unfortunately, most of the current crop of political leaders can be described as anti-immigrant crusaders, anti-immigrant opportunists or members of the mushy (and mostly silent) majority.
• A recent memo from a national group known as the Progressive States Network, however, lays out a different and more hopeful plan. North Carolina progressives should check it out.

Whatever happens with this week’s tax referenda, the demand for public services in North Carolina will continue to grow

By Rob Schofield

The administration gives the “SCHIP treatment” to Trade Adjustment Assistance and unemployment insurance

By Rob Schofield

Quick take:

• Two of the most important public safety nets for workers displaced by outsourcing and the rapid, ongoing shifts in the American and North Carolina economies are the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and unemployment insurance programs.
• Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee in Washington gave bi-partisan approval to a measure that would upgrade and modernize both programs.
• A recent Bush Administration letter, however, appears to confirm that the President will subject the legislation to the same extreme approach he has taken on children’s health insurance. As with SCHIP is appears that some North Carolina legislators will go along for the ride.

Expansion of SCHIP will come sooner or later

By Rob Schofield

Quick Take:

• Last week’s vote on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program was a tough defeat for progressives.
• Several factors, however, offer grounds for optimism about the proposal’s long-term prospects.
• Between the facts surrounding the issue, strong poll numbers, and the growing public support for intentional public solutions to societal problems, there is every reason to expect that last week’s defeat will be a temporary one.

Transportation Forum, Poll and Election Results Highlight Need for Thoughtful Approaches to Growth

By Rob Schofield

Quick Take:

• Those who favor more and better planning of North Carolina’s transportation and infrastructure needs received a boost last week.
• New poll and election results and a well-attended transportation policy forum combined to lend new momentum to their cause.
• Now that they have the momentum, it’s essential that planning supporters make the most of their opportunity.