Archive for January 2012
Lobbyists Rankings – A Sham?
Gary is taking a break this week from consulting, blogging and politics. He invited several TAPsters to contribute blogs during his hiatus. Here’s one of them: One of the most distasteful and useless public policy efforts in North Carolina is underway, and hardly anyone knows it. The NC Center for Public Policy Research…
Read MoreNetwork
Does it seem the Republican debates have become a lot like a ‘reality show?’ Herman Cain gets voted off the island. The bachelorette says no to Rick Perry. Michelle Bachman gets voted off Dancing with the Stars? And – in the season finale – we’ll know America’s New Idol. Up…
Read MoreThat’s Entertainment…
Ole’ Mitt Romney’s hit a rough patch – a week ago he was the conqueror of Iowa and New Hampshire and rolling to victory in South Carolina then his victory in Iowa vanished in front of his eyes and Newt shot past him in South Carolina. The Republican Establishment’s a peculiar beast: Armed with…
Read MorePolitics South of the Border
It was reputedly Robert E. Lee who said, “the problem with South Carolina is that it’s too small to be its own nation, but too large to be an insane asylum.” General Lee should have lived to see this year’s Republican primary. Stephen Colbert’s candidacy officially makes the race the best comedy show on…
Read MoreMitticisms
Mitt Romney has a worse case of Rich Foot in Mouth disease than George H.W. Bush and John Kerry combined. A few favorites: “I like being able to fire people.” “I had to worry about a pink slip.” (Of his $374,000-plus in speaking fees): “It wasn’t very much money.” (Of the…
Read MoreHow Bev Wins
A supporter of Governor Perdue makes this strong and succinct case for her tax proposal: “It could work out for her. She won’t get it unless there’s a groundswell of the public against our per child expenditure being 49th in the nation. If that happens she wins in a walk. If the legislature shoots…
Read MoreKnightdale Builds a Bridge
Over in Knightdale they’re building a million dollar footbridge over the Neuse River so residents can walk or jog or cycle down the Neuse River Greenway Trail, meandering through what they call a ‘wilderness area.’ Even better, if you’re from Knightdale, the million dollar bridge is free because Washington and state government are paying for…
Read MoreBev Is Right
Give Governor Perdue credit: whether it’s good politics or not, she’s doing the right thing on the sales tax. Unless, of course, you believe it’s right for North Carolina to be 49th in the country in education spending. And some people clearly do. That’s the crowd that wants to further defund the schools, so…
Read MoreMitt’s Tin Ear
What political planet does Mitt Romney live on? How long does he really think he can get by without releasing his tax returns? He’ll have to do it. The longer he waits, the greater the pressure and the anticipation. And the clearer it becomes he has a lot he wants to hide from the…
Read MoreSinking Sensation
A TAPster sees a connection between strange events. First, “the Dean Dome wine and cheesers booed Governor Perdue last week. That disruption in the universe apparently poisoned the UNC basketball team, which played one of its worst games in history at Florida State. The Tar Heels’ spot-on imitation of a junior high team prompted…
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