The Bottom Line From NC Newsline podcast

Player FM - Internet Radio Done Right

Lisätty twelve vuotta sitten

Sisällön tarjoaa NC Newsline. NC Newsline tai sen podcast-alustan kumppani lataa ja toimittaa kaiken podcast-sisällön, mukaan lukien jaksot, grafiikat ja podcast-kuvaukset. Jos uskot jonkun käyttävän tekijänoikeudella suojattua teostasi ilman lupaasi, voit seurata tässä https://fi.player.fm/legal kuvattua prosessia.

Peak Travel

1
You Can Visit All Seven Continents. But Should You? 26:46

14 päivää sitten26:46

Toista Myöhemmin

Listat

Tykkää

Tykätty

26:46

For many travelers, Antarctica is a bucket-list destination, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to touch all seven continents. In 2023, a record-breaking 100,000 tourists made the trip. But the journey begs a fundamental question: What do we risk by traveling to a place that is supposed to be uninhabited by humans? And as the climate warms, should we really be going to Antarctica in the first place? SHOW NOTES: Kara Weller: The Impossible Dilemma of a Polar Guide Marilyn Raphael: A twenty-first century structural change in Antarctica’s sea ice system Karl Watson: First Time in Antarctica Jeb Brooks : 7 Days in Antarctica (Journey to the South Pole) Metallica - Freeze 'Em All: Live in Antarctica Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

Jaa

Sarjan koti•Feed

Every weekday, NC Newsline editor and veteran North Carolina policy observer Rob Schofield offers a 60-second take on the key policy issues that impact North Carolinians.

100 jaksoa

#News #Daily News #Politics #News Talk #NC Newsline #NC Policy Watch

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

updated vuosi sitten

Jaa

Sarjan koti•Feed

Every weekday, NC Newsline editor and veteran North Carolina policy observer Rob Schofield offers a 60-second take on the key policy issues that impact North Carolinians.

100 jaksoa

#News #Daily News #Politics #News Talk #NC Newsline #NC Policy Watch

Kaikki jaksot

1
Legislature bears responsibility for impending teacher and state employee premium hikes 1:04

10 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

North Carolina General Assembly (File Photo) North Carolina public school teachers and state employees are badly underpaid. The chief cause: repeated and regressive tax cuts enacted by Republican legislators that have caused state revenues (as a share of the economy) to plummet over the past 15 years. Today, even states like Alabama and Mississippi do a better job of funding government. Amazingly, however, the situation is about to get worse. Thanks to the legislature’s ongoing failure to appropriate adequate funds and to require transparency in the contracts the State Health Plan negotiates with insurers and providers, the plan has a half-billion dollar deficit. And last week, plan trustees said they would impose sizable new premium hikes on enrollees of hundreds of dollars per year to close the gap. And this is simply wrong. The bottom line: the planned State Health Plan premium hikes are just the latest example of how our state legislature continues to wage an ideological war on public employees and, ultimately, the public services on which we all should have a right to depend. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Hegseth’s revival of Fort Bragg name is too clever by half 1:05

10 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum to rename Fort Liberty, N.C., to Fort Roland L. Bragg, while aboard a military aircraft en route to Germany, Feb. 10, 2025. Credit: Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza, DOD The Trump administration is making a mockery of a well-designed system the U.S. government has long employed for naming important places for historical figures. The latest example: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s too-clever-by-half move to rename North Carolina’s Fort Liberty Army base as Fort Bragg. The name was changed from Bragg to Liberty just a couple years back at the conclusion of a long overdue process designed to end the practice of honoring officers of the Confederacy like General Braxton Bragg who took up arms against the U.S. during the Civil War. Unfortunately, such processes and values don’t mean anything to Trump and Hegseth so they’ve revived the name Bragg, while claiming it now honors a World War II private with the same surname. Please. What’s next? A base named after a Korean War marine named Robert E. Lee? The bottom line: Hegseth can cloak the move however he likes, but its true purpose as another attack on racial justice and basic norms of democratic governance is patently obvious. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Experts to legislature: Please fund our public schools 1:05

10 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Photo: Getty Images The more state legislators avert their eyes and ears and pretend not to notice, the more that North Carolina public education experts continue to issue new and urgent pleas to adequately fund our public schools. Two of the most important voices weighed in with new entreaties in just the last few days. Both the Public School Forum of North Carolina and the state Board of Education released short and to-the-point lists of priorities for the 2025 General Assembly. Their requests: Fund schools adequately and equitably Dramatically improve the state’s near lowest-in-the-nation teacher pay Rebuild crumbling school facilities Address the crisis in student mental health and wellbeing Modernize the state’s system for assessing schools, and Demand accountability from taxpayer subsidized private schools. The bottom line: GOP state legislative leaders are willfully and destructively starving our public schools even as they heap mounds of cash on unaccountable private voucher schools. It’s essential that they reverse course before the damage becomes irreversible. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
NC legislature should stay in its own lane 1:05

10 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Attorney General Jeff Jackson said he joined a legal challenge to the federal funding freeze out of concern for “widespread and immediate damage” to North Carolinians. (Photo: Brandon Kingdollar) After having successfully gerrymandered their way to complete control of the state legislature over the last 15 years, you’d think North Carolina Republican lawmakers would be sure enough of themselves to at least occasionally countenance other voices. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong. The latest ridiculous example: a bill introduced last week that would effectively prevent the state’s attorney general from doing their job — serving as North Carolina’s top lawyer. Under the legislation — which is aimed at current AG Jeff Jackson for daring to question some of President Trump’s recent unconstitutional edicts — attorneys general would be barred forever from making an argument in any lawsuit that challenges a presidential executive order or any act of the legislature. Think they’d push such a bill if the attorney general was a Republican? The bottom line: The attorney general is elected by all the people of the state and sworn to enforce the constitution to the best of their ability. By attempting to silence and micromanage this important constitutional officer, lawmakers have set a new low for partisan and power-hungry vindictiveness. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Throwing gas on a fire: GOP lawmakers look to worsen our state’s gun violence crisis 1:05

11 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

(Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/NJ Monitor) Gun violence is an epidemic in our society that kills almost 50,000 Americans every year, including close to 2,000 in North Carolina alone. Last year, the U.S. experienced more than 500 mass shootings. No other modern nation comes even close to these frightening rates. And yet, amazingly, over at the North Carolina General Assembly, Republican state legislative leaders seem bent on doing everything they can to make the situation even worse. In recent days, they’ve introduced multiple bills that would allow anyone 18 or older to carry a concealed weapon without any kind of training or permit. Yes, you heard that right. The bills would make it perfectly legal for a high schooler (someone who can’t legally buy a beer) to obtain and carry a concealed handgun in public — at the grocery store, in a movie theater, or just walking down the street — with no rules whatsoever. And you really can’t make this up. The bottom line: America’s gun violence crisis is a rapidly growing wildfire, that Republican lawmakers are preparing to douse with gasoline. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Terrorizing innocent schoolchildren 1:05

11 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Photo: Getty Images/istock The Trump administration’s new and ham-handed anti-immigration policies are terrorizing innocent kids and disrupting our schools. In numerous places, U.S. citizen children who’ve lived here their entire lives go to school each day fearing their non-citizen parents may not be at home when the school day ends. As NC Newsline reported this week, teachers and parents in Cabarrus and Durham Counties say worries about the crackdown are causing big problems in their communities. One Cabarrus County middle schooler even asked his teacher quote “if ICE comes to school, can I jump out of the window and run?” And needless to say, when children come to school this fearful, it’s disruptive to the entire school. One Durham mom described her children’s school not as the safe place it should be, but as a place of worry and anxiety. The bottom line: The U.S. needs comprehensive immigration law reform now that provides a pathway out of the shadows for millions of good people. The Trump plan to rely on mass deportation and terror is a cruel and un-American strategy that will ultimately prove futile. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
NC conservative group embarrasses with fawning treatment of pardoned insurrectionist 1:04

11 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

Trump Supporters Hold "Stop The Steal" Rally In DC Amid Ratification Of Presidential Election. (Photo: Getty Images/Brent Stirton) As 82nd Airborne veteran Scott Peoples put it in a recent op-ed for NC Newsline, President Trump’s decision to pardon participants in the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection — even those who violently assaulted police officers — was a low point in the history of the American presidency. Even many conservative Trump supporters were appalled. Sadly, however, one prominent conservative voice in North Carolina — a group that calls itself independent and libertarian — has thrown in with the rioters. In a fawning article in its newsletter, the Carolina Journal, the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation, allowed one of the violent leaders of the assault — a North Carolina man who was later arrested for driving while impaired while on pre-trial release and found to be transporting an assault rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition — to portray himself as a victim and defender of quote “freedom.” The bottom line: The insurrectionists who violently invaded our Capitol were not heroes but criminals. And as with Trump’s pardons, those who promote their lies and delusions help undermine all of our freedoms. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Stein, lawmakers should move quickly to tie off the work of Rebuild NC 1:05

11 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Pryor Gibson, interim director of ReBuild NC, testifies in front of North Carolina lawmakers on the state of the hurricane homebuilding program on Jan. 30, 2025. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline) One of Gov. Josh Stein’s best actions since taking office was to make rebuilding hurricane ravaged western North Carolina a top priority, and putting a new office with new leaders in charge. Unfortunately, as NC Newsline reported repeatedly in recent years, the state’s previous disaster recovery office — known as NCORR or Rebuild NC — chalked up a mostly abysmal record in responding to Hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Last week, Rebuild NC boss Pryor Gibson told state lawmakers his agency needs a new infusion of more than two hundred million dollars to complete work on hundreds of homes that, maddeningly, remain unrepaired after nearly a decade. Not surprisingly, lawmakers were angered and let Gibson know. Unfortunately, they have little choice but to provide the funds. The bottom line: Rebuild NC’s disaster response work has, itself, been a disaster. Gov. Stein and lawmakers should provide the necessary funds and then see that it quickly completes its work and stays the heck out of western North Carolina. After that, they should see that the agency is disbanded as soon as possible. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
GOP Supreme Court candidate remains in hiding while assaulting our democracy 1:05

11 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin (File photo) Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin is seeking one of the most important and powerful public offices in North Carolina — a seat on the state Supreme Court. He’s also taken the extraordinary step of trying to overturn the election he lost for that seat last November by having more than 60,000 ballots thrown out. Thanks to his actions, North Carolina is once again in a negative national spotlight. And yet, despite having unleashed an enormous controversy that many nonpartisan experts say poses a serious threat to the sanctity of U.S. elections, and indeed, our democracy itself, Griffin is nowhere to be seen or found. Unlike the opponent who defeated him, incumbent Justice Allison Riggs, who has addressed Griffin’s actions openly and publicly, Griffin has remained in the shadows, hiding behind the excuse that he can’t discuss the controversy while it’s in litigation. And that in a word, is baloney. The bottom line: Judge Griffin is attempting an unprecedented action to disenfranchise 60,000 of his fellow citizens. The least he could do is have the guts to stand behind it in public. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Trump: irresponsibly playing games with people’s lives and livelihoods 1:05

12 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Throughout 2024, Democrats and many Republicans warned that if Donald Trump got back in the White House, he would debase the presidency by seeking personal vengeance on enemies, empowering unqualified toadies to lead important public agencies, and issuing half-baked edicts that ignored established law and common sense. Now, after less than two weeks since his inauguration, these fears are being realized. The latest unlawful and irresponsible act: Trump’s crudely drafted order (later rescinded) that would have frozen federal spending on trillions of dollars in grants and loans. North Carolina stood to lose billions. Not only are these funds essential to thousands of core public functions — from emergency relief to cancer research — they fund tens of thousands of jobs and play a huge role in our economy. The bottom line: Donald Trump may act as if it’s the case, but leading the U.S. government is different than being the boss of a seedy and predatory casino. In the freeze order and other similar acts, Trump is callously and recklessly endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Once again, Sen. Thom Tillis threatens to do the right thing…and then chickens out 1:05

12 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Sen. Thom Tillis (File Photo: Screengrab from C-Span) North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis has a longstanding reputation for giving hints he’ll do the right thing on important issues and then, when the chips are down, chickening out and caving into pressure from the far right. Sadly, it happened again last week as the Senate considered the nomination of Fox News talking head Pete Hegseth, to lead the Department of Defense. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Tillis assured Hegseth’s former sister-in-law that that if she signed a statement testifying that she believed her former brother-in-law has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his second wife, it would lead him and two other GOP senators to vote ‘no’ and thereby prevent Hegseth from being confirmed. Of course, you know how this went. The other two senators did vote ‘no,’ but Tillis flipflopped and provided the deciding vote to confirm a deeply unqualified nominee. The bottom line: To be a voice of reason and moderation in today’s Republican Party, it takes a healthy measure of courage and honesty. Senator Tillis continues to come up short in both categories. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Rep. Joe John will be sorely missed 1:04

12 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

Rep. Joe John (Wake Co.) (Photo: NCGA) In today’s world of politics in which the goal of so many politicians seems to be about converting their elected office into a gig as a highly paid lobbyist or TV pundit, Wake County State Rep. Joe John was a welcome exception. John, who passed away last week after a battle with cancer, was that rare public official — by modern standards anyway — who just wanted to serve his community and leave it a better place than he found it. John spent many years as an extremely capable and well-respected judge who served on the District Court, Superior Court and Court of Appeals. He also served as the director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation before running for and winning a seat in the state House in his mid-70’s. And in the legislature, John was a smart, tough, energetic and eloquent champion of putting government to work to make life better for average people and those in need. The bottom line: Our state would be a much better place if it had more public servants like Joe John. He will be sorely missed. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Farley, Boliek issue predictable and misguided directives on DEI 1:05

12 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and State Auditor Dave Boliek (File photos) Among the many signs that illustrate just how far off track the modern political right has veered, the obsession with destroying diversity, equity and inclusion programs is among the most ridiculous. North Carolinians were reminded of this truth again last week when two newly elected Republicans — state Labor Commissioner Luke Farley and Auditor Dave Boliek — announced they were ordering an end to DEI initiatives in their agencies. As usual, both men sought to cloak their action by claiming that they would always hire the best person for every job, regardless of background. But, of course, what such professions of pure motives have always failed to account for is that overcoming centuries of white male heterosexual privilege isn’t that easy. The bottom line: Well-run DEI programs aren’t about giving women and minorities special privileges; they’re about leveling the playing field and providing at least a chance for the agencies in which they’re housed to look a little bit more like the society they serve. Farley and Boliek’s predictable but misguided actions are a step backward. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Trump’s scorched earth executive orders for the environment 1:05

12 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

(Photo: US Forest Service) “President Trump’s executive orders read like an industry fever dream: no protections, no limits, no rules.” So said North Carolina Sierra Club state conservation policy director Erin Carey last week in response to a series of regressive edicts handed down by the president during his first days back in the White House. And truth be told, Carey was actually a being bit understated in her assessment. Trump’s orders aren’t just about giving polluters a free hand to do whatever they please; it’s more like the president is actually encouraging them to speed up the global climate crisis and render more of our desperately fragile planet poisoned and damaged beyond repair. What’s next? An executive order that requires people to drive gas guzzlers and turn their furnace thermostats up to 80 degrees? The bottom line: like a drunk driver taking another swig of vodka and punching the gas pedal as he leaves the scene of a wreck, President Trump is recklessly endangering our planet and the lives of our children and grandchildren. Other elected leaders must muster the courage to stop him. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

1
Attorney General Jeff Jackson is right to challenge Trump on birthright citizenship 1:05

13 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson (Screengrab C-SPAN) What’s next? An executive order that purports to repeal the law of gravity? That’s the understandable reaction many people have had in recent days to President Donald Trump’s lengthy list of first-week edicts. And while several would shatter norms of constitutional and democratic government, no order was more outrageous than Trump’s absurd claim to be ending the long established constitutional right of all people born in the U.S. to be American citizens. Thankfully, a large group of state attorneys general, including North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson have called out Trump’s unconstitutional act in a federal lawsuit. As Jackson rightfully noted in a statement, quote: “This executive order is a straightforward violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil. The Constitution leaves no room for executive reinterpretation on this matter—it is clear, settled, and binding.” The bottom line: Donald Trump is not and must not be permitted to act as a dictator. Good for Jackson for standing up for the Constitution. The federal courts should follow suit right away. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
GOP Supreme Court candidate’s voter purge demands turn farcical 1:05

13 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Judge Jefferson Griffin (Photo: State Court of Appeals) In his infamous 2020 post-election phone call to Georgia’s Secretary of State, Donald Trump demanded that Brad Raffensberger “find” him the votes he needed to reverse Joe Biden’s election win. Today, four years later, it feels like we’re watching a rerun in the actions of Republican North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin. In a series of court challenges eerily reminiscent of Trump’s “find me the votes” scheme, Griffin wants sixty-plus thousand ballots cast in the election that he lost to incumbent Justice Allison Riggs thrown out. Indeed, in a recent court filing, Griffin urged that judges review the ballots he wants tossed in phases and says the process can wrap up as soon as enough voters are disqualified to flip the election. He even argues that ballots should be purged first from four counties in which Democrats are more numerous. And you really can’t make this stuff up. The bottom line: Judge Griffin’s election challenge has gone from maddening to outrageous to downright farcical. And every day he and his enablers persist, the damage to our democracy grows more severe. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Climate change is making more and more of the nation uninsurable 1:05

13 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 13: An aerial view of a fire truck (LOWER L) near homes destroyed in the Palisades Fire as wildfires cause damage and loss through the LA region on January 13, 2025 in Pacific Palisades, California. Multiple wildfires fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds continue to burn across Los Angeles County, with some containment achieved. According to reports, 24 people have died with over 180,000 people under evacuation order or warning. Over 12,000 structures have been destroyed or damaged, while more than 35,000 acres have burned. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) For those Americans (like President Trump) who cling desperately to the notion that climate change is a hoax concocted by tree-hugging liberals bent on controlling everyone else’s life, the nation’s insurance industry is delivering a message. As Alex Brown reported for NC Newsline last week, more and more states are being forced to establish and expand public funds to insure homes located in areas the private insurance industry will no longer cover because of risks resulting from climate change. North Carolina has one of the biggest. As Prof. Lori Medders of Appalachian State told Brown, the spike in natural disasters is creating a “vicious cycle” in which private insurers cover fewer and fewer homes. Meanwhile, Doug Heller of the Consumer Federation of America put it this way: quote, “The private sector approach to property insurance is starting to crack under the weight of climate change….” The bottom line: If they won’t listen to environmental advocates, one can only pray that Trump and his allies will be moved by plain talk on the subject they seem to care most about – money. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Study shows rural, conservative areas have the most to lose if GOP slashes Medicaid 1:05

13 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Some North Carolina doctors worry about how medical care might change under a second Trump administration. (Photo: Getty Images) It remains one of the most striking aspects of today’s health care policy debate that it’s rural and mostly conservative communities that tend to benefit the most from social safety net programs championed by Democrats. This fact was brought home again in the recent report from Georgetown University researchers, who found that residents of the nation’s rural areas and small towns are more likely to rely on Medicaid for health coverage than city dwellers. In North Carolina, Medicaid covered nearly 238,000 children from rural areas or small towns in 2023. That’s close to half of the kids living in those areas and more children than in every other state except Texas. These facts are especially relevant right now given that Republican-congressional leaders have indicated they plan to work with President Trump to slash Medicaid in order to fund a new round of tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy. The bottom line: One hopes they’ll reconsider, but if Republicans plow ahead with plans to slash Medicaid, it’s their own constituents they’ll be harming the most. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
MLK will be remembered and celebrated long after Trump 1:05

13 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo: Nobel Foundation) Today is King Day – the day we remember and celebrate the life of one of our nation’s greatest heroes — the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What’s more, oddly enough, this year, it’s also inauguration day for Donald Trump as he returns to the White House for his second term. And it’s difficult to think of two leaders or historical figures who differ more. King was a modern day prophet who courageously and selflessly challenged and spurred the nation to live up to the words of it founding documents by rejecting its dark past of racism and segregation and embracing a bright future of human rights and equality. Trump, sadly, is a self-absorbed leader who looks backward rather than forward and who, despite paying occasional lip service to opposing racism, regularly allies himself with white nationalists who represent our nation at its worst. The bottom line: There’s no doubt that Donald Trump will dominate the national political scene in the near term, but in the long run, Rev. King will be remembered and celebrated long after Trump recedes into obscurity. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Sen. Tillis should heed the call of NC physicians to reject RFK, Jr. as HHS secretary 1:05

14 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images) President-elect Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary – Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – is an interesting fellow who’s sometimes espoused good ideas. Though he often contradicts himself, Kennedy has generally defended reproductive freedom and has long blasted giant food and chemical corporations for endangering public health. But as thousands of physicians across the country — including more than 400 here in North Carolina – pointed out in an open letter to senators this week, Kennedy is also a delusional conspiracy theorist. Not only does he spread dangerous misinformation on many topics – most notably on the value of vaccinations against disease – he’s also bizarrely pledged to dismantle much of the nation’s vitally important public health infrastructure. The bottom line: As the letter notes: quote “This appointment is a slap in the face to every health care professional who has spent their lives working to protect patients from preventable illness and death.” Senator Thom Tillis, who sits on a committee charged with reviewing Kennedy’s nomination, should heed the physicians’ plea and vote to oppose it. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Latest review board actions reveal once more how NC’s charter school experiment has failed 1:05

14 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

North Carolina continues to expand charter schools. Image: AdobeStock It’s been almost 30 years since North Carolina started allowing charter schools, and as the actions of the state Charter Schools Review Board showed again this week, that experiment has been a wasteful failure. When they were first established, supporters assured us charters would be “incubators of innovation” that would, because of looser regulations and the genius of competition, lift up all public schools. How’s that working out? The state now has more than 200 charters that enroll roughly 8% of students and while some charters – mostly those that attract smart kids from well-off families – are great, as we learned when the review board renewed several charters this week for schools with weak performances and poor grades, it’s a distinct minority. Meanwhile, after three decades, the promised boost to traditional schools remains as illusory as ever. The bottom line: Competition from charters isn’t and was never the recipe for lifting public schools. What’s needed is adequate funding and for the last three decades, all charters have done is help to disguise this hard truth. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
As Trump spouts nonsense, the climate change disasters just keep on coming 1:05

14 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

A person uses a garden hose in an effort to save a neighboring home from catching fire during the Eaton Fire on Jan. 8, 2025, in Altadena, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Like a three-pack-a-day smoker who blames their chronic cough on everything but their addiction, President-elect Donald Trump continues to embrace an absurd and criminally irresponsible brand of denialism on the subject of climate change. This hard truth was exposed yet again by the latest horrific California brushfires. As the news outlet Cal Matters reported, California has 78 more annual “fire days” — when conditions are ripe for fires to spark — than 50 years ago. The chief cause: climate change that has spurred repeated droughts, more lightning and windstorms and created an epidemic of dead trees. Amazingly, however, even as California was burning and just a few months after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, Trump was pledging to expand our nation’s use of fossil fuels and torpedo efforts to grow sustainable energy. The bottom line: Climate change – and its impacts on everything from human health to immigration to the economy — is the existential policy issue of our times. And the politicians who deny this fact willfully endanger us all. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Gov. Stein’s new hurricane recovery effort gets off to a promising start 1:05

14 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Gov. Josh Stein (right) inspects a trailer on a recent visit to western North Carolina. (Photo courtesy of the governor's office.) In many important areas, North Carolina’s new governor, Josh Stein, is wisely following in the footprints of his predecessor, Roy Cooper. In critical areas like public education, environmental protection, and reproductive freedom, Cooper was a champion of just and common sense policies. One area, however, in which the new administration can make needed improvements is in the delivery of aid to people impacted by natural disasters. NCORR – the state’s office of Recovery and Resiliency — has long been plagued by big bureaucratic problems that created absurd delays and quality control foul-ups in repairing and rebuilding the homes of Hurricane Florence and Matthew survivors. And by all indications, Stein is determined not to let this happen again. He’s made Hurricane Helene recovery his top priority and named a new, high-powered team to oversee it. The bottom line: Not all of the responsibility here lies with the governor’s office; the legislature needs to dramatically up its game too. But for now, Gov. Stein’s new hurricane recovery effort has gotten off to a very promising start. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Activists to read the names of 60,000-plus voters GOP candidate would disqualify at Tuesday event 1:05

14 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

A mobile billboard circles the legislative building on January 8, 2025 highlighting Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to throw out thousands of ballots in the state Supreme Court race. (Photo by Christine Zhu) North Carolina is in the national news again and, as with past embarrassments like the infamous bathroom bill and efforts to ban talk of sea-level rise, it’s not a flattering story. This time, it’s Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin’s effort to retroactively throw out 60,000-plus ballots cast by registered voters in the 2024 election. Griffin claims that voters whose records don’t include a Social Security number or driver’s license number should have been ineligible to vote – even though all were registered (many for decades) and had to show a photo ID to vote. The claim is so farfetched that a Republican Supreme Court Justice called it quote “almost certainly meritless.” Unfortunately, Griffin isn’t giving up, so tomorrow, Tuesday, advocates opposed to the scheme will gather across from the state Legislative Building in Raleigh to publicly read the names of all 60,000-plus challenged voters. The bottom line: The event is scheduled to run from six am to eleven pm and will be live streamed on YouTube . North Carolinians who believe in democracy should check it out. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Ranked choice voting: worth another look in NC 1:04

15 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

Image: https://www.betterballotnc.org/ North Carolina elections have been shown to be fair, efficient and honest, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t always room for improvement. And one important change our state would do well to take a second look at is ranked choice voting – a system in which voters rank candidates in their order of preference. This assures that candidates can’t win with only a small minority of the vote – right now in North Carolina primaries, the threshold is just 30 percent; and it does away with runoff elections, which are expensive to conduct and usually attract a minuscule voter turnout. North Carolina had a brief experiment with ranked choice voting almost 20 years ago, but it was abandoned after a few bumps arose in implementation and that’s too bad. Since then, numerous jurisdictions have clarified and finetuned how it works, and it’s become increasingly popular. The bottom line: Experience shows that ranked choice voting helps assure that all winners have majority support and that candidates appeal to more than just their base. And in our divided times, those would be welcome electoral changes indeed. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
The death penalty is slowly fading away 1:04

15 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

Demonstrators marched in front of the governor's mansion asking the governor to commute the death sentences of those on death row. (Photo: NC Newsline/Kel Lyons) There are a lot of reasons that the death penalty is almost never imposed anymore. As a growing cadre of experts has demonstrated, the death penalty is hugely and uniquely expensive to apply and doesn’t deter crime –indeed, there’s compelling evidence it spurs more of it. What’s more and more importantly, stacks of evidence now confirm the death penalty has long been applied unjustly. Not only is it mostly reserved for cases involving defendants who are poor and of color and victims who are white, there are many cases in which the horror of innocent people being sentenced to death has occurred. It’s for these reasons and many others that most of the world and half of U.S. states have now abolished the death penalty and that President Joe Biden and former Gov. Roy Cooper should be congratulated for their recent actions to convert several death penalty sentences to life in prison. The bottom line: The death penalty is fast becoming an obsolete relic. North Carolina would do well to make this official by removing it from its statute books. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Gov. Josh Stein is primed for success – if legislative leaders will only do their job 1:05

15 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

Josh Stein is formally sworn in as North Carolina's next governor. (Photo: Screengrab from PBSNC video stream) Few governors in North Carolina history have been better prepared for the job than our state’s new chief executive, Josh Stein. Not only has Stein spent much of his professional career in elected office, but he was also raised in a family that preached and lived the value of public service and social justice. Now add his demonstrated commitment to hard work and finding common ground and his record of accomplishment, honesty and effective communication, and his prospects for sustained success should be very high. Unfortunately, despite his sterling credentials, Stein faces an enormous potential roadblock in the Republican leadership of our state’s gerrymandered legislature – a group that remains hellbent on treating him like a hostile enemy to be fought and dominated. Fortunately, as with his predecessor Roy Cooper, it’s a task that Stein appears more than up to handling with his even-keeled commitment to truth-telling and popular policies. The bottom line: His challenges are formidable, but Josh Stein has everything it takes to be a successful – even great — governor. All caring and thinking North Carolinians should wish him well. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
It’s long past time for GOP Supreme Court candidate to concede 1:05

15 weeks sitten1:05

1:05

North Carolina's state Supreme Court (Photo: Clayton Henkel) It’s now been nine weeks since the November election and nearly a month since recounts confirmed that incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs narrowly defeated her Republican challenger, state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin. As such, it’s long past time for Griffin to concede and allow the state’s high court to get back to work. Unfortunately, that’s a step he refuses to take. Instead, Griffin has filed a Hail Mary lawsuit in which he argues that the ballots of more than 60,000 North Carolinians – a group that includes voters who’ve been registered and voted for decades (and even several elected officials) – should be disqualified after the fact. It’s a deeply disturbing and downright bizarre legal argument that would disenfranchise thousands of lifelong state residents and one that also says a lot – none of it good — about the kind of Supreme Court justice Griffin would make. The bottom line: Losing an election is painful — especially when it’s close. But by refusing to acknowledge his defeat, Judge Griffin is wrongfully putting self-interest ahead of the common good. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
Trump may have been reelected but insurrection must not be forgotten 1:06

15 weeks sitten1:06

1:06

Donald Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images) Today — January 6 – marks the anniversary of one of the darkest days in American history. It was four years ago today that a violent mob spurred on by then-President Donald Trump invaded the U.S. Capitol Building in a deadly effort to nullify the results of the 2020 presidential election. The insurrection was an act of criminality that sealed Trump’s place in the history books as an enemy of democracy and the Constitution. Amazingly, however, the combination of misinformation and short voter memories has allowed Trump to mount a political comeback and in two weeks he will return to the White House. And for those who care about truth and the rule of law, Trump’s return, his promised pardons of the insurrectionists and stated plans to take revenge on opponents mark new low points in America’s national story. The bottom line: Donald Trump won the 2024 election, but that doesn’t change history or the need for all Americans to remember his past actions and to be more vigilant than ever in resisting future assaults on constitutional government. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

The Bottom Line from NC Newsline

1
The place where Trump can do the most permanent damage 1:04

16 weeks sitten1:04

1:04

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, speaks to attendees during a Sept. 25, 2024, campaign rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina. Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s election could set the stage for wide-ranging changes to policy. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) Donald Trump’s second administration is poised to soon do a great deal of damage in several important areas. Whether it’s health care, education, the federal courts, reproductive freedom, immigration, foreign policy or the economy, millions of people will suffer needlessly if Trump follows through on all of his campaign promises. That said, when it comes to the damage that will be truly irreparable, no pledge looms darker or more ominous than Trump’s plan to scuttle efforts to combat climate change. As Katharine Hayhoe – a scientist and lead author of the National Climate Assessment under the last Trump administration – put it in a recent interview, quote “the situation is dire… on many fronts [and… it’s] already getting worse.” In other words, there’s absolutely no time to waste. Even a mere four years of backtracking will greatly worsen results for our children and grandchildren. The bottom line: No problem poses a greater threat to the near and long-term wellbeing of Americans than climate change. And no matter what he’s said previously, Trump simply must listen to the experts and act. For NC Newsline, I’m Rob Schofield.…

Tervetuloa Player FM:n!

Player FM skannaa verkkoa löytääkseen korkealaatuisia podcasteja, joista voit nauttia juuri nyt. Se on paras podcast-sovellus ja toimii Androidilla, iPhonela, ja verkossa. Rekisteröidy sykronoidaksesi tilaukset laitteiden välillä.