Original Commentary

Original Commentary

Original Commentary Progressive Voices Top Story

North Carolina physician: Proposed abortion restrictions threaten the practice of medicine

Bills that elevate politics over science, research and training are an attack on the integrity of the medical profession As a doctor about to finish residency after multiple years of training, I have never been so worried about the future of medical practice.

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Medical marijuana
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North Carolina should learn from other places and try to do marijuana right

Cannabis – aka marijuana. Most Americans already live in a state where it’s lawful to sell, obtain and possess – either for medical purposes, recreational purposes or both – and the genie is clearly not going back in the bottle.

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Voters line up at a polling place
Other Voices Progressive Voices Top Story

NC Freedom to Vote Act would protect and improve our democracy

The freedom to vote has faced serious challenges in recent years. New voting restrictions, rampant disinformation, threats to voters and election officials, and even violent attempts to overturn election results have led to growing concern about the future of our democracy and election process.

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Top Story Weekly Briefing

A terrible bet: North Carolina should not cave in to the sports gambling onslaught

North Carolina elected leaders have enacted several ineffective and misleading laws over the years, but when it comes to undermining public confidence in government and taking advantage of vulnerable people, the badly misnamed “education lottery” has to be near the bottom of any “worst of” list.

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Top Story Weekly Briefing

The Medicaid expansion celebrations are premature

North Carolina has witnessed a spate of glowing and upbeat news reports and commentaries in recent days in the aftermath of last week’s announcement by Republican legislative leaders that they had reached an agreement to expand the state’s Medicaid program.

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Top Story Weekly Briefing

A bad idea that refuses to go away: Legislators try again to revive misnamed “Taxpayer Protection Act”

The idea of slapping inaccurate or deceptive names on controversial legislation in order to drive and manipulate public opinion is nothing particularly new in the frequently cynical world of politics. Authoritarian regimes across the globe have long used this tactic, but it’s an American phenomenon too. Two decades ago, the administration of President George W. Bush...

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Original Commentary Progressive Voices Top Story

The 2023 legislative session: Out of the starting gate — sideways

We weren’t expecting it to be pretty – “it” being the launch of the N.C. General Assembly’s new session, with freshly emboldened conservatives eager to flex their muscles. The reality, one month after things got under way, hasn’t failed to disappoint. Two themes stand out:

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Original Commentary Other Voices Top Story

America is the world’s most powerful democracy. Why is it impotent to stop mass gun violence?

Whether in a grocery store, a place of worship, a shopping mall, a community celebration, at work or in school, you are at risk for becoming a victim of senseless gun violence. Why is America the only industrialized nation in the world that is plagued by frequent mass shootings? Has our form of democracy allowed the minority to run amuck when it comes to the rights of an individual to own any kind of gun vs. the majority’s right to live without fear of mass murder?

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Top Story Weekly Briefing

Reaping what anti-government policies have sown: North Carolina’s chronic public employee shortage wasn’t an accident

The much-faster-than-expected economic recovery that’s followed the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic has produced several encouraging developments in the United States: low unemployment, rising wages, strong corporate profits, flattened or even falling poverty rates – just to name a few. And while the global spike in inflation that resulted from supply chain issues, CEO wealth grabs, and Russia’s war on Ukraine has taken a big toll on most households, that phenomenon has, thankfully, slowed significantly of late.

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Other Voices Progressive Voices Top Story

Commentary: We must stop ‘shadow banning’ Black culture

Every February a new cultural controversy pops up to show us why Black History Month is needed. A hot-button topic this year has been Gov. Ron DeSantis’s threat to ban the African American Advanced Placement (A.P.) curriculum from Florida classrooms after state education officials there said it violates a state law that regulates how race is discussed in public schools.

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Top Story Weekly Briefing

NC legislators find yet another vulnerable group to get tough on: homeless families

Homelessness. It takes many forms in modern North Carolina – some familiar, some less so. For several thousand families, it means double-bunking or “couch surfing” with friends or relatives for an extended period. For a tragic number, it means living in a vehicle or even camping out in tents, shanties, parking garages, and downtown doorways, under highway overpasses, or on park benches.

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