Politics

January 3, 2013 - One of the biggest decisions facing North Carolina's new legislature and governor is whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to cover more than 500,000 low-income people. Much of the opposition to expansion is more about ideology than anything else, a visceral reaction to a law that has been mischaracterized since it was proposed.

January 2, 2013 - Speaking today at the N.C. Bankers Association's 2013 Economic Forecast Forum, incoming Republican Gov. Pat McCrory said he would waste no time in joining with Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to begin negotiating with the federal government to drill offshore for gas and oil.

January 2, 2013 - A little-noticed loophole in the fiscal cliff bill gives NASCAR a multimillion-dollar tax break. Do they need it?

December 21, 2012 - Wealthy Republican donor Art Pope has been building influence and clout for years in North Carolina. Appointed this week to direct the state's budget, he now finds himself with his hands on the levers of power.

December 21, 2012 - The GOP control of the House came despite more votes for Democrats. How did that happen? Republicans used dark money to control redistricting in many states, as the experience of North Carolina illustrates.

December 21, 2012 - There are growing calls for better gun regulation in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre. But what are gun-control advocates up against when they take on the National Rifle Association?

December 21, 2012 - Dec. 22 marks four years since a coal ash impoundment collapsed at a TVA power plant in Tennessee, inundating a community and two rivers. As EPA drags its feet over issuing federal coal ash rules, politicians backed by industry interests are maneuvering to block the agency's ability to protect people and the environment -- even though their states have been adversely affected by poor regulation.