http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com?source=rss Latest posts Fri, 17 May 2013 17:15:30 EDT Fri, 17 May 2013 17:15:30 EDT en-us Copyright 2011 Mountaineer Publishing http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/legislators-dive-into-health-care/1001693?source=rss RALEIGH -- State lawmakers may well have spent as much as 20 percent of this year's legislative session diving into health care-related policy. Early in the year, legislators made the much-discussed and ruminated-upon decision to block Medicaid expansion, even as the federal government said it would pick up the full tab for three years. Since then, they have plowed into certificate of need laws, a system intended ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/legislators-dive-into-health-care/1001693 Mon, 13 May 2013 20:33:07 EDT news@themountaineer.com (Scott Mooneyham) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/hiding-behind-nonprofit-rules/1001691?source=rss RALEIGH -- For more than four years now, the North Carolina courts have been sorting through complex issues surrounding lobbying and public disclosure of clients. Don Beason, once one of the most powerful lobbyists in Raleigh, was hit with a record $110,000 fine by Secretary of State Elaine Marshall for failing to disclose clients. Beason appealed the fine, saying that he was unaware of an arrangement between his ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/hiding-behind-nonprofit-rules/1001691 Mon, 13 May 2013 20:28:24 EDT news@themountaineer.com (Scott Mooneyham) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/good-books-you-won-t-see-on-bookwatch/1001690?source=rss Here are some important new books you will not learn about on UNC-TV’s North Carolina Bookwatch. Before I explain, let me tell you a little bit about the books. Popular novelist Clyde Edgerton’s “Papadaddy’s Book for New Fathers: Advice to Dads of All Ages” is based on what he has learned as the older father of three young children. He will be 69 on May 20. Edgerton embraces the opportunities young children ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/good-books-you-won-t-see-on-bookwatch/1001690 Mon, 13 May 2013 20:23:57 EDT news@themountaineer.com (D. G. Martin) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/you-decide-should-we-drill/1000520?source=rss Like many public issues today, drilling for energy resources in our country has both strong advocates and equally vocal critics. Supporters see domestic energy development as a route to national energy self-sufficiency and lower fuel prices. Detractors worry about possible costs to the environment, health and communities from accidents and other side effects from drilling. North Carolina has joined this debate. ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/you-decide-should-we-drill/1000520 Fri, 10 May 2013 12:15:39 EDT news@themountaineer.com (Mike Walden) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/the-follies-of-the-radical-senate-tax-shift/1000471?source=rss If Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and his colleagues in the Senate get their way, you will pay more for bread and milk at the grocery store and the cost of a getting a haircut and having the brakes on your car repaired will increase too. That's a key part of the Senate GOP tax proposal released this week, to expand the state sales tax base by applying it to food, non-prescription drugs, and dozens of ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/the-follies-of-the-radical-senate-tax-shift/1000471 Fri, 10 May 2013 11:28:06 EDT news@themountaineer.com (Chris Fitzsimon) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/conservative-case-for-spending-more/1000349?source=rss RALEIGH — Fiscal conservatism comes naturally to me. After all, my middle name is McDonald. But I am also persuaded by empirical evidence that fiscal conservatism is the best policy for promoting economic growth. North Carolina governments can improve our state’s competitiveness by limiting spending, finding ways to deliver core services more efficiently, and using the resulting fiscal capacity to reduce the ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/conservative-case-for-spending-more/1000349 Fri, 10 May 2013 09:14:26 EDT news@themountaineer.com (John Hood) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/senate-puts-toe-forward-on-tax-reform/999997?source=rss RALEIGH — Woo hoo! I'm going to save $650 a year! What? You haven't plugged your income, your dependent information and your tax filing status in the new tax calculator set up by state Senate leaders to determine your tax savings under their tax reform proposals? Well, go forth. You can find it at www.nctaxcut.com. Besides that tax calculator, you can hear Senate leader Phil Berger, in a video, selling the plan. ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/senate-puts-toe-forward-on-tax-reform/999997 Thu, 09 May 2013 13:40:00 EDT news@themountaineer.com (Scott Mooneyham) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/celebrating-the-end-of-the-charlotte-curse/999113?source=rss What is one thing we can do for Charlotte now that that former Mayor Pat McCrory has been elected governor of North Carolina and his successor, Anthony Foxx, has been nominated for U.S Secretary of Transportation? We can stop referring to the Charlotte mayor’s job as a dead end or curse for politicians aspiring to statewide or national office. It might take some getting used to. The previous three Charlotte ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/celebrating-the-end-of-the-charlotte-curse/999113 Tue, 07 May 2013 17:19:20 EDT news@themountaineer.com (D. G. Martin) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/in-the-absence-of-argument/999108?source=rss RALEIGH — “People generally quarrel,” G.K. Chesterton once wryly observed, “because they cannot argue.” To the extent North Carolina politics looks increasingly quarrelsome at the moment, it is because of a breakdown of argument — of constructive debate among people of good faith who happen to disagree on public policy. Instead, traditional and online media alike are filled with venom, personal attacks, conspiracy... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/in-the-absence-of-argument/999108 Tue, 07 May 2013 17:16:15 EDT news@themountaineer.com (John Hood) Opinion http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/seeing-trepidation-on-tax-reform/999107?source=rss RALEIGH -- Well, it is May. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining (OK, not a whole lot), the lawn is green. This year's session of the North Carolina General Assembly is likely well past its midway point. And we have yet to see a complete tax reform plan to which any of the true powers at the legislature have attached their names. Sure, there is talk that a plan will tumbled out onto the agenda of a state ... http://themountaineer.villagesoup.com/p/seeing-trepidation-on-tax-reform/999107 Tue, 07 May 2013 17:15:01 EDT news@themountaineer.com ( Scott Mooneyham) Opinion