North Carolina is one of the toughest places in the country to enter a new career — and that doesn’t auger well for our future economic performance.
All tagged politics
Op-Ed: Real Conservatives wouldn’t kick the can down the road on border reforms
The crisis on our southern border is an emergency that demands our nation’s full attention. It can no longer be ignored or swept under the rug.
John Hood: We’re sliding towards single payer
North Carolina is about to become the 40th state to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. The bill drew huge, bipartisan majorities of legislators.
Governor Cooper vetoes legislation eliminating sheriffs’ background checks for handguns
Governor Cooper made the following statement on SB 41:
"Eliminating strong background checks will allow more domestic abusers and other dangerous people to own handguns and reduces law enforcement's ability to stop them from committing violent crimes. Second Amendment supporting, responsible gun owners know this will put families and communities at risk.”
John Hood: When Politics Enters the Workplace
Should businesses weigh in on political controversies? According to a recent Gallup poll, the general public is closely divided on the question, with 48% in favor and 52% opposed.
John Hood: Index Confirms State’s Reddish Tint
No, I haven’t come up with the #ncpol equivalent of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In that famous science-fiction satire, the protagonist learns there is an “Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” — and its answer is 42. But the question itself is never revealed, and indeed it’s suggested that if both the question and answer were known simultaneously, the universe would cease to exist.
John Hood: Economic Freedom is a shock absorber
In a normal market, creditors demand higher interest from borrowers to whom they lend money for longer periods of time. That’s because these creditors are assuming more risk that they won’t be paid, and because a dollar of interest received tomorrow is usually more valuable than a dollar of interest received years from now.
John Hood: Adversaries need not be enemies
Nearly a decade ago, former Canadian politician Michael Ignatieff argued in the New York Times that democracy can only thrive when its practitioners respect the difference between adversaries and enemies. “An adversary is someone you want to defeat,” he wrote. “An enemy is someone you have to destroy.”
John Hood: Politicians should hold their tongues
When news broke on October 13 that five individuals had been killed in their northeast Raleigh neighborhood by a teenaged gunman, I’m sure we all shared feelings of shock, horror, and concern for the victims’ families, friends, and neighbors.
Mike Parker: Early voting underway in North Carolina
On Thursday, October 20, early voting started in North Carolina and will continue until November 5, 2022. I like early voting because it helps me avoid lines and do my civic duty. By the time you read these words, my wife Sandra and I will have voted. Of course, election day is November 8 this year.
John Hood: State Politics Snaps Back Toward Normal
This year’s U.S. Senate race in North Carolina is shaping up to be a highly competitive and expensive one — which should surprise no one who’s lived in our state or watched our politics for more than an instant.
Governor Cooper Lifts North Carolina’s COVID-19 State of Emergency
Governor Roy Cooper ended the state’s COVID-19 State of Emergency. With vaccines, treatments, and other tools to combat COVID-19 widely available, and with new legislation now providing the requested flexibility to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) and health care providers to continue to respond, the state is poised to continue comprehensive pandemic response without the need for the State of Emergency.
John Hood: How to read this column
One of the consequences of writing a syndicated column on politics and public policy for more than a quarter of a century is that I am constantly told what I think and why I think it.
Dan Perry: The direction of the Democrat Party
As a registered “unaffiliated” voter, I’ve tried to be opened minded about my voting priorities. I readily admit that I tend to be on the conservative side on most political issues. The basic reason being that in my opinion it was the conservative, common sense forward thinking of our founding fathers that formed the background for making us the greatest country the world has ever known.
Kristy Bock: States now get to decide the value of a woman's life
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the Constitution does not confer a right to an abortion which overturned rulings for Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, thus returning the power to make decisions on abortion to the states. This is in response to Dobbs, State Health Officer of the Mississippi Department of Health v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.