Commentary/Opinion
The Truth About Agriculture and Farm Workers
By: Bryant Spivey County Extension Director Johnston County Cooperative Extension As a public employee working for an educational organization that supports farms and farmers of all different sizes, misinformation about…
Eight Factors Shaped NC Elections
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — Over the course of 34 years penning a column on North Carolina politics and public policy, I’ve seen it all. Or so I thought. Until…
School Choice: A Family Legacy
Op Ed By: Dr. Melissa Edwards Superintendent of Neuse Charter School Being an advocate of school choice is something I had the privilege to learn about before I was in…
Democrats Threw Away Their Shot
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — North Carolina Democrats thought the stars had finally aligned for smashing victories in 2020. A controversial Republican president was at the top of the GOP…
Elections Are A Soap Opera
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — The day before the 2018 midterms, I posted a column about “what to do if you lose.” Without knowing the outcome, I urged those about…
You Decide: Can We Agree On Some Tax Concepts?
By Dr. Mike Walden Taxes are almost always a big part of political elections. Questions about who pays taxes, whether taxes are too high or too low, and complexities in…
Social Security Matters – Will My Social Security Benefits Ever Stop?
By AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell Gloor Association of Mature American Citizens Dear Rusty: Has someone who paid into Social Security for most of their life ever lost their…
Campaigns Are Priming, Not Persuading
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — Campaigns for president, U.S. Senate and House, governor, and hundreds of other political races have spent staggering sums to market their candidates to North Carolina…
Democrats May Fall Just Short
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — Of all the important electoral contests on North Carolina’s ballot, our General Assembly races will be among the most consequential. The state legislature funds and…
North Carolina Leads In Jobs Lost
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — There are about 300,000 fewer jobs in North Carolina today than there were in February, before the start of the COVID-19 recession. That’s a 7.5%…
Sparks Fly In State Treasurer Debate
By JOHN HOOD RALEIGH — The person who manages most of state government’s financial assets — the $107 billion pension fund for state and local employees, for starters — is…
You Decide: How Will The Virus Affect Economic Development?
By Dr. Mike Walden Although Covid-19 is still with us, there’s been a recent shift in the kind of attention given to the virus. For months, the focus has been…
