Podcasts Archives • NC Newsline
159 episodes — Page 4 of 4
NC Democrats and Republicans agree: Release the Epstein files
  Twenty years ago, investigative reporter Barry Levine started covering a wealthy socialite named Jeffrey Epstein. Five years ago, after he was convicted of sex crimes and died in jail, Levine published an acclaimed book on Epstein. And last week, as the controversy surrounding mountains of FBI data and evidence about Epstein slowly consumed the […]
Rep. Deborah Ross on the Republican mega-bill, the war on public broadcasting, and the Epstein files
We’re now six months into the second Trump administration and recent weeks, in particular, have been filled all kinds momentous and often disturbing news from Washington. Topping the list, of course, is the massive new budget reconciliation package – what supporters dubbed the “one, big, beautiful bill” that the president signed into law on July […]
Education policy expert Zahava Stadler of New America on the recent federal funding freeze
  One of the most disturbing hallmarks of the Trump administration has been its relentless effort to defund public education – an effort that hit a new low earlier this month when Trump’s Department of Education announced suddenly and without warning that it would be freezing billions of dollars in essential funds – funds that […]
Lawmakers should sustain Gov. Stein’s vetoes, enact a new state budget
  Like the rest of the nation, North Carolina faces some enormous policy challenges these days. Thanks to sustained disinvestments in an array of core public services, our state is fast becoming coarser, less healthy and more divided. Unfortunately, Republican legislative leaders seem unconcerned. Rather than working with Governor Josh Stein to tackle our numerous […]
Sixteen years without a minimum wage hike is way too long
  Over the last 87 years – particularly during the 20th Century – few innovations in the American economy have done more to lift up average people than the minimum wage. As it was first conceived and applied, the federal minimum wage law assured that a person who worked full-time was paid enough to support […]
The political right formally abandons deficit reduction as a priority
  There was always something that didn’t quite add up when American conservatives complained about federal budget deficits. Despite their supposed commitment to fiscal discipline, no factor has played a larger role in soaring deficits than Republican tax cuts enacted under presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Indeed, during the administration of […]
Researchers release yet another damning report on NC’s school voucher program
  When state lawmakers first opened the door to school vouchers in North Carolina, they billed them as quote “opportunity scholarships,” and assured us that their only goal was to help low-income kids escape failing public schools. Today, more than a decade later, it’s clearer than ever that that explanation was simply part of a […]
Failure of property tax relief bills highlights folly of GOP fiscal policies
  North Carolina Republican lawmakers’ mad rush to slash income taxes on corporation and the wealthy in recent years has produced many disastrous impacts. See, for example, our threadbare and crumbling public schools. But there’s another big and negative impact: the effect on property taxes. Thanks to fast rising home prices, there’s a growing need […]
EPI senior economist Ben Zipperer on U.S. immigration policies and how they’re impacting the economy
  It’s an article of faith in many conservative circles that the Trump administration’s tough anti-immigrant policies will free up jobs for U.S. born workers. New research from Economic Policy Institute senior economist Ben Zipperer, however, demonstrates conclusively that the opposite is the case. Zipperer’s calculations actually show that the net impact of mass deportation […]