Jack Betts

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:26:17 -0400

* U.S. Rep. Howard Coble received an award from the American Conservative Union; his lifetime rating is 89.21 over 24 years.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen thinks state Sens. John Snow or Joe Sam Queen would make good candidates for Rep. Heath Shuler's seat.

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker says Gov. Beverly Perdue quashed a rumor that she would submit a do-over on the budget.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts gives state schools CEO Bill Harrison props for speaking out for a tax hike for education.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:50:11 -0400

* The Appropriations subcommittee on health proposes "massive" cuts to state programs, some legislators call for tax hikes instead.

* Former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Mike Munger proposes an alternative way of thinking about the Apple incentives.

* Conservative columnist David Frum takes the rivalry between Carolina and Duke to a whole new level: Tuition. (Hat Tip: Jon Ham)

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts eulogizes Jim Stephenson, policy analyst for the N.C. Coastal Federation, who died Thursday.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 28 May 2009 12:28:37 -0400

* State Republicans may nominate a candidate from the floor for party chair: Former gubernatorial candidate George Little or state Sen. Andrew Brock.

* John Hagler grouses about the current state of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in an entertaining interview on WFAE in Charlotte.

* The Henderson Daily Dispatch says the Order is a great honor when it's made to a "local pillar, a community stalwart" and not for a retirement.

* Jack Betts files another dispatch in the long-running battle over an Alcoa hydroelectric dam on the Yadkin River in Stanly County.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:41:26 -0400

* Former N.C. Supreme Court Justice and gubernatorial candidate Bob Orr endorses Chad Adams in the race for chair of the N.C. Republican Party.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue tells SAS co-founder John Sall to "get a ram" after sheep at a solar farm interrupt her speech repeatedly.

* North Carolina is the only state in the union where you can't make a citizen's arrest: Although you can detain someone, you can't move them.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts thinks state Rep. Cary Allred's propensity to "pop off at every opportunity" has hurt him in his recent brouhaha.

Easley inducted 4,000 into Order

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:34:25 -0400

Former Gov. Mike Easley inducted more than 4,000 North Carolinians.

Between January 2001 and January 2009, the two-term Democratic governor added state residents into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine at a rate of nearly 10 a week, or more than one a day.

Notable recipients included former U.S. Attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, Broadway costumer designer William Ivey Long, architectural historian Catherine Bishir, Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts and painter Bob Timberlake.

A number of politicians also made the list: former state Sen. Aaron Plyler, former state Rep. Zeno Edwards Jr., former UNC system president Bill Friday, Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, former Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., former Wake County Commissioner Betty Ann Knudsen, Charlotte City Councilwoman Susan Burgess and former Wendell Mayor Lucius Jones.

A few on the list are not North Carolinians: civil rights advocate Coretta Scott King, actor Danny Glover and Navy aerobatic pilots the Blue Angels.

Also on the list: his in-laws, Ann and James Pipines, fundraiser Louis Sewell, and several members of his Cabinet. The list does not include Robert Lee Guy, however.

See anyone else interesting on the list? Post in the comments below or e-mail dome@newsobserver.com.

After the jump, the number given each year.

Document(s):
Easley-Pine-List.xls

Betts: Will Blue like Senate?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 05 May 2009 11:20:31 -0400

Jack Betts notes that Rep. Dan Blue may get to talk less in his next job:

While both the Senate and the House have political caucuses that guide legislators in their decision-making, the Senate has shorter debates and members often seem to vote along party lines — Democrats especially, since they're in charge and hold a majority of the votes. But the House often seems more deliberative. One reason may be there are a lot more members, and it's difficult to enforce a caucus position on members.

Betts says Blue is the frontrunner for former Sen. Vernon Malone's seat.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:48:23 -0400

* U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx says murder of Matthew Shephard was not a hate crime, but just a robbery, in floor speech today.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue's office has referred to the "swine flu" in press releases, but they've not had any internal discussion on the best name.

* National Rifle Association also opposes state Sen. Don Davis' "puppy mill" bill; earlier opposed similar House bill.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts thinks it's "a bit of quirky irony" that former lobbyist Don Beason is being investigated.

Betts on Garrett Perdue

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:06:58 -0400

Jack Betts was bullish on Garrett Perdue in 2007.

In an Oct. 7 piece, the Charlotte Observer columnist said the son of Gov. Beverly Perdue did well when introducing her at the formal kickoff of her campaign.

"The younger Perdue has presence, poise, timing and wit that Bev Perdue ought to put to good use on the campaign trail between now and next spring, when she hopes to become the Democratic Party's nominee in the May 6 primary election," he wrote.

He wrote that Garrett Perdue was "a first-rate speaker" who "might just have a glowing political future."

Previously: Perdue hired as federal lobbyist, spotted at legislature and state political event, members of Congress haven't heard from him.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:23:41 -0400

* Former judicial candidate Rachel Lea Hunter could lose her law license for continuing to use the nickname "Madame Justice" on her Web site.

* Conservative blogger Chris Hayes notes that the top five in that poll of CEOs of best business states are all anti-union.

* The Charlotte Observer's Jack Betts says U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's panel to screen federal judicial candidates as a change from the past.

* Public Policy Polling finds President Obama's approval/disapproval at 53/40 in North Carolina; Hagan's at 36/34.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:23:57 -0400

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts says North Carolina "has long been under-represented" in the Fourth Circuit because of partisan differences.

* Biofuels Center of North Carolina names W. Steven Burke as president, longtime political insider Norris Tolson as chairman of the board.

* N.C. Policy Watch's Adam Linker can't find a copy of State Health Plan head Jack Walker's doctoral thesis in ProQuest/UMI database.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen and Greensboro columnist Doug Clark agree that Rep. Heath Shuler's decision not to run for Senate is a good thing.