Tag search result

A Wake Forest University divinity professor has been tapped by the White House to lead the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

Melissa Rogers, director of Wake Forest's Center for Religion and Public Affairs since 2004, will be the top White House official on religion issues.

Rogers has taught courses on church-state relations at Wake Forest. She also serves as a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution and has held other leadership roles focused on religion and public policy.

THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL STORY IN N.C.: The legal fight about the new political boundaries drawn by Republicans in the redistricting process is headed to court this week. A three-judge panelwill hear the arguments Monday and Tuesday after Democrats and groups fighting the maps filed suit contending they were unlawful. The new boundaries seal Republican power in the state legislature for the next decade and Democrats need a judicial reversal to regain strength.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: The House will focus on education this week, with local school superintendents from across the state invited to meet with lawmakers. House Speaker Thom Tillis will hold a 3 p.m. press conference to discuss "education week." The House and Senate convene Monday evening for skeleton sessions. No votes are expected.

***Good Monday morning. Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. Find more political news and a weekend headline wrap below. And find out more information about the N&O's new iPad app, available for download now. (Programming note: Dome is not available on the app at the moment. Look for an upgrade later.)***

MEMO STIRS THE N.C. POLITICAL POT: The political strategy memo from a cadre of groups aligned with Democratic causes is getting a good bit of attention for its tactics. One overlooked in all the coverage: a staff of video trackers to follow the every move of the "targets" (Pat McCrory, Thom Tillis, Phil Berger) and hiring private investigators.

McCRORY VISITING THE WHITE HOUSE: Pat McCrory is visiting Washington Friday through Monday for a series of meetings with the National Governors Association and Republican Governors Association. On Sunday, along with all governors, he will dine at the White House with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, followed by a meeting at the White House the next morning with the president.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo -- more N.C. political news and analysis below, including more details from the anti-Republican strategy memo.

The White House responded to a petition calling for North Carolina to secede by saying "as we value a healthy debate, we don't let that debate tear us apart." And no, it can't secede.

The petition on the White House website for North Carolina "to withdraw from the United States and create its own NEW government" received nearly 32,000 signatures. It is one of eight states -- all in the South -- to solicit signatures. (Another petition, with about 30,000 signatures, calls to deport everyone who signed one of the secession petitions.)

Jon Carson, the director of the White House's Office of Public Engagement, quoted Abraham Lincoln and thanked those who used the online petitions, saying he understands democracy "can be noisy and controversial."

Going over the fiscal cliff could mean a $2,200 hike in income taxes for the average North Carolina family, according to a new White House Report on potential impacts to N.C. families.

President Barack Obama continues his campaign this week pushing for higher income tax rates on top earners in order to avoid the fiscal cliff. The White House warns that failing to reach an agreement would result in higher taxes for all Americans.

The White House released a report(see below) late Wednesday outlining some of the potential impacts to North Carolina families.  Families could also receive a smaller Child Tax Credit, and some 300,000 middle‐class families could lose access American Opportunity Tax Credit to help pay for college.

Republicans have countered with a proposal calling for $800 billion in new revenue by closing loopholes and deductions, but not increasing tax rates on any Americans.

A number of North Carolina LGBT advocates visited the White House last week as part of a pride month reception.

President Barack Obama addressed the group, calling himself "a fellow advocate for an America where no matter what you look like or where you come from or who you love, you can dream big dreams and dream as openly as you want," according to the publication Q Notes.

The Obama administration has been engaged in some outreach into Raleigh-Cary Jewish community – although they had a sort of an odd way of going about it.

A top U.S. Department of Agriculture official held a “Jewish Roundtable” on Monday at Beth Meyer Synagogue. The event was sponsored by the White House, the USDA, and the Jewish Federation of Raleigh-Cary.

Surely, this was not being held to discuss the problems of Jewish farmers in the Raleigh-Cary area.

The event featured Jonathan Adelstein, USDA Rural Utilities Service Administrator, and was described as one in a series of events administration officials were holding across the country to hear about community concerns.

This was not, the invitation stressed, a campaign event.

President Barack Obama will visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday as part of a nationwide tour to promote lower interest rates on student loans, the White House announced Friday.

He will also appear on a special broadcast of NBC’s Jimmy Fallon show taped on the campus featuring the musician Dave Matthews.

The Chapel Hill campus is the first of three universities on the tour designed to pressure Congress to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling this summer. More than 7.4 million students hold loans with 3.4 percent interest. The White House believes there is still time for Congress to prevent the increase from taking effect July 1.

President Barack Obama will return to the Triangle on Tuesday, according to the White House.

Details of the visit are forthcoming. The White House says it is an "official event," meaning not a campaign event.

His trip comes as a controversy envelopes the N.C. Democratic Party amid allegations of sexual harassment and a secret settlement agreement with a former staffer. The party's top leaders have called for Chairman David Parker to resign. The executive director left the party Sunday.