Displaying items by tag: government

RALEIGH — As Gov. Roy Cooper enters his second term as governor, he sees North Carolina dragged down not just by the COVID pandemic, but by racism, unaffordable health care, and unequal opportunity.

Thanks in large part to COVID lockdowns, this year has left vast wreckage in its wake, with ten million jobs lost, more than 100,000 businesses and dozens of national chains bankrupted or closed. Up to 40 million people could face eviction in the coming months for failing to pay rent, and Americans report that their mental health is at record low levels. But the casualty list for 2020 must also include many of the political myths that shape Americans’ lives. 

RALEIGH — Bar owners from six counties across North Carolina are going to court to challenge the governor’s executive orders shutting down their businesses. Their lawsuit seeks to have a key piece of the state Emergency Management Act declared unconstitutional.

RALEIGH — About 25% of gyms in the U.S. will close by year’s end, a new study shows. 

Unfortunately, our current politicized culture causes many to look first to the government when they think about charitable giving and helping those in need. Politicians, activists, and even some religious leaders are quick to demand that the taxpayer shoulder the charitable role traditionally reserved for civil society and a compassionate citizenry.

The COVID pandemic this year has profoundly transformed the relationship of government to American citizens. Constitutional leashes have been obliterated as state and local politicians and officials have issued endless decrees that were vastly more effective at destroying freedom than at curbing a virus. And the Biden administration may soon take further leaps towards making our political system into a Cage Keeper Democracy where citizens’ ballots merely designate who will place them under house arrest. 

As of November, North Carolina’s state government has some $4 billion in unreserved cash in its General Fund, plus well north of $1 billion in its rainy-day account and other reserves.

“Look! You fools! You’re in danger! Can’t you see? They’re after you! They’re after all of us! Our wives ... our children ... they’re here already! You’re next!”—Dr. Miles Bennell, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)

It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers all over again.

RALEIGH — The Department of Public Instruction spent $144 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds without making sure the money was helping students, a new audit report says.

RALEIGH — More students face repeating a grade than any time in the past century, says David Stegall, deputy superintendent of innovation at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.