Be sure to check out two new articles at www.nccivitas.org. One of the articles deals with some employment data recently released by the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division revealing that the billions of federal stimulus spending failed to generate any employment gains in North Carolina.
Nearly $800 billion and two years later, state government analysts are revealing the true impotence of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA); aka the federal stimulus bill. Recent data produced by North Carolina’s Fiscal Research Division shows that the federal stimulus in North Carolina has failed to live up to its name in terms of private sector job growth throughout the duration of the recession.
Moreover, even in total employment, which factors in both private and public sector growth, the stimulus has not produced any significant growth trends since its inception.
The other new article takes a look at Gov. Perdue’s discussion of “core priorities”of state government and her reluctance to clearly articulate her vision for state government’s proper role in society. In spite of this reluctance, however, Perdue may be offering hints as to what her core principles actually are.
If the governor was interested in defining her core principles and beliefs regarding state government, the answers to these questions wouldn’t require any studies; they would be quite simple. State control and monopolization of liquor sales is either a “core priority” of state government or it is not.
Furthermore, if she is not philosophically opposed to gambling (and in fact she was the tie-breaking vote in favor of the state lottery as lieutenant governor in 2005) she would find no reason to criminalize video poker.
But it does seem that, in spite of her reluctance to clearly state her beliefs on core functions of government, Perdue has recently offered some significant clues as to the principles that guide her decisions.
And if you enjoy the research and publications produced by the Civitas Institute, its not too late to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year.
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