Would you be willing to turn over 1.4 billion dollars to an unknown group over which you have no oversight or control and who can do with it as they choose? I bet you wouldn’t do that with even $1,400. But our legislature appears ready to go with the $1.4B.
Published: Thursday, September 7th, 2023 @ 10:35 am
By: Tom Campbell
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I suspect conservatives have complained about liberalism on college campuses since UNC was founded in 1789.
Published: Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 @ 11:56 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Once again we are midway through July without a state budget that was supposed to begin July 1. Why haven’t they passed a budget on time? Not trying to be snarky, the answer is because they can. The old budget remains in effect until a new one is approved.
Published: Thursday, August 17th, 2023 @ 10:18 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton never called it a Revolution. They referred to the war with England as “The Cause,” according to Pulitzer Prize winning author Joseph Ellis.
Published: Tuesday, August 15th, 2023 @ 11:04 am
By: Tom Campbell
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In what has to be a landmark decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that state legislatures do not have unchecked power over federal elections.
Published: Thursday, July 27th, 2023 @ 1:44 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Having reported, discussed and written about North Carolina for 58 years I increasingly find myself responding to happenings by asking the question, “What’s your end game? What are you trying to accomplish?
Published: Monday, July 17th, 2023 @ 8:44 am
By: Tom Campbell
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The visual displayed a modern-day Odd Couple, former US Senator Joe Lieberman standing beside former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory.
Published: Wednesday, July 5th, 2023 @ 10:46 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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A good friend, knowing how much I enjoy words, recently sent me a copy of Dr. Frank Luntz’s classic book, “Words that work.”
Published: Monday, June 26th, 2023 @ 6:45 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Public education is the most important function of state government and we spend more tax dollars on education than any other budget item.
Published: Monday, June 19th, 2023 @ 11:19 am
By: Tom Campbell
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America in 1944 was vastly different from the nation we are today.
Published: Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 @ 5:19 am
By: Tom Campbell
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A reader asked why I am so insistent that the General Assembly is making the greatest power grab since Reconstruction.
Published: Sunday, June 11th, 2023 @ 6:34 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Blue Cross’ restructuring: “The devil is in the lack of details.”
Published: Friday, June 2nd, 2023 @ 11:51 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Warm spring afternoons bring the neighborhood children out to play. Laughter rings out and bikes are everywhere in the cul-de-sac, almost like it’s Daytona.
Published: Saturday, May 27th, 2023 @ 7:59 pm
By: Lib Campbell
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What’s the difference between a protest and a riot? It is a legitimate question since our legislature recently passed an anti-riot bill.
Published: Thursday, May 25th, 2023 @ 5:53 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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What can you do when already-powerful politicians grab more and more power?
Published: Saturday, May 13th, 2023 @ 9:25 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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North Carolina’s 58 community colleges are the red-headed stepchildren of our education system.
Published: Friday, May 5th, 2023 @ 9:28 am
By: Tom Campbell
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For more than two centuries Americans have believed that our way of governing was best. Instead of having an autocrat or small group ruling us, we have held to the principle of majority rule. And it has served us well.
Published: Tuesday, April 18th, 2023 @ 6:23 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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We are twenty months away from the 2024 elections and already candidates for governor have declared they are running.
Published: Sunday, April 16th, 2023 @ 4:33 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Rising tides, coupled with beach erosion are destroying once beautiful waterfront properties, causing them to crumble or be uninhabitable.
Published: Sunday, April 2nd, 2023 @ 12:37 am
By: Tom Campbell
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For more than a decade we’ve studied the problem exhaustively, we’ve talked about it almost incessantly, we’ve engaged the latest curriculum du jour, and have spent more than $50 million dollars, yet we still can’t solve the mystery of our children’s reading proficiency.
Published: Sunday, March 26th, 2023 @ 9:02 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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When the Affordable Care Act was passed it contained an option for states to extend Medicaid coverage to adults with an income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, beginning in January 2104.
Published: Monday, March 20th, 2023 @ 10:58 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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You have to give legislators credit for identifying an issue that has needed addressing for decades. They introduced a bill that would eliminate the power of the sitting governor to name the members of the State Board of Education.
Published: Saturday, March 11th, 2023 @ 7:14 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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It’s an axiom as old as history. “Those who have no power want it, and those who have power want more of it.” The current power struggles in North Carolina politics are proof of the truth.
Published: Monday, March 6th, 2023 @ 12:28 am
By: Tom Campbell
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In the Pantheon of notable North Carolina public servants none stands so tall as Jim Broyhill. The Broyhill family story is essentially the North Carolina story. Starting from humble beginnings, family members learned to work hard, persevere, be humble and serve others.
Published: Friday, February 24th, 2023 @ 8:35 am
By: Tom Campbell
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You don’t need to go to Florida for sunshine. Sunshine is lighting the way here in North Carolina as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, also presented as the “Parents Bill of Rights” bill is making its way through the legislature, soon to become law.
Published: Sunday, February 19th, 2023 @ 9:53 pm
By: Lib Campbell
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The Democratic Party of North Carolina just voted to replace their current chair and top leadership with a new team. Call it a changing of the donkeys.
Published: Saturday, February 18th, 2023 @ 1:09 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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North Carolina is facing a showdown of the ages. Demographers tell us our state is getting older and while the changes may look subtle, they are significant.
Published: Friday, February 10th, 2023 @ 10:30 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Rural North Carolina has some of the most beautiful scenery in America, as documented by the growing numbers of tourists.
Published: Monday, February 6th, 2023 @ 9:19 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Our Senior Senator, Thom Tillis, has a target on his back. Angry, disillusioned partisans are calling him a traitor, a betrayer
Published: Thursday, January 26th, 2023 @ 9:09 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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When I moved to Elizabeth City to take over management of our family-owned radio station one of my first initiatives was to hire a fulltime local newsperson.
Published: Saturday, January 21st, 2023 @ 10:22 am
By: Tom Campbell
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My love of football started in high school. In the 1960s, Coaches Stuart Tripp and Tommy Lewis led Ayden High School Single-A football teams to many winning seasons and state championships.
Published: Saturday, January 14th, 2023 @ 11:02 am
By: Lib Campbell
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Many of us were mesmerized in watching some or most of the fifteen votes required to elect a Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. I can’t remember which round it was when it hit me that North Carolina has been here before.
Published: Thursday, January 12th, 2023 @ 9:54 am
By: Tom Campbell
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Our president wants to change up the presidential selection process by moving the first primary from Iowa to South Carolina, claiming the Palmetto state is more representative of the rest of the country.
Published: Friday, January 6th, 2023 @ 4:29 pm
By: Tom Campbell
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Was it just me or did Christmas come too early? Yes, it's always December 25th, but it seemed like we were still eating Halloween candy when Christmas neighbor goodies started showing up on our doorstep.
Published: Thursday, December 29th, 2022 @ 4:05 am
By: Tom Campbell
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