The cover story of the April issue of NC Capitol Connection continues to highlight some of the division in our state. As most know, North Carolina is a fairly good reflection of our national political divide. We have a substantial rural population and growing urbanization. The Electoral College is controversial in the state and the issue of abortion shows division but shows some unity statewide in the opposition to late-term abortions.
A plurality of North Carolinians polled are in favor of scrapping the Electoral College for a national popular vote, but a majority are against state legislation to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NVPIC). I wrote about North Carolina and the Electoral College recently in the Fayetteville Observer, particularly that it’s a tremendous benefit for our state.
There is a lot of content on education and Medicaid expansion in this issue. One of the things that I find bothersome about expansion is our entitlement system in America is completely broken. The nation’s “mandatory spending” is out of control and without real reforms, we know programs like social security and Medicaid will go bankrupt. In my mind, It’s hard to talk about any positives of expanding Medicaid when the federal government is again approaching trillion dollar deficits and has a federal debt in excess of $22 trillion.
The true cost of government is not merely the tax rate but the amount of money the government spends, and that includes the reprehensible deficit and debt spending by both parties in Washington. We all bear that cost and it’s especially burdensome to future generations, many of them not yet born. Talk about a great example of no taxation without representation.
To restore some kind of order to federal spending, these obligations and entitlements need to be block-granted to states to give them more flexibility on how the programs are fun. States need to take more ownership over programs for the poor or disadvantaged, particularly given all the fraud and abuse we see in the Medicaid program. Right now, neither the federal government or states take full ownership over the program.
Next month we will have a double issue for May and June. It will include new polling data and analysis from across the state.
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