End incentives and increase jobs

Point of View: The headlines on two consecutive days said it all: Dell Computer closing shop and laying off over 900 workers and Cree Inc. adding almost 600 jobs. The difference: Dell - headquartered in Texas - was lured to North Carolina with the promise of over $300 million in incentives, while Cree - a homegrown business spun out of N.C. State University technology - requested no state incentives (although in fairness Cree did get an incentive a few years back to build an expansion plant).
Modified: 11/11/09 06:53:55 AM

Paying more attention to mental illness

The Fayetteville Observer: The following editorial appeared Tuesday in The Fayetteville Observer:
Modified: 11/11/09 06:54:26 AM

Straighten up and fly right

Martinez: My experience with pilots (which is considerable given that I spent four years on an aircraft carrier and 15 years working at commercial airports) is that they are a cocky, self-assured bunch. But even I was appalled at the gall displayed last week by Northwest Airlines Captain Timothy Cheney and First Officer Richard Cole, who have appealed their suspensions by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Modified: 11/10/09 03:19:51 PM

The Senate won't be the same

Betts: In an institution that once was peopled by colorful characters with engaging nicknames and soaring oratorical powers, longtime state Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand's surprise decision to leave the Senate before the end of the year does several things all at once:
Modified: 11/10/09 07:19:55 AM

What won't Foxx say?

Winston-Salem Journal: The following editorial appeared Friday in the Winston-Salem Journal:
Modified: 11/10/09 06:31:21 AM

Contact the N&O editorial staff

Steve Ford, editorial page editor
(919) 829-4512

Jim Jenkins, deputy editorial page editor
(919) 829-4513

Allen Torrey, op-ed page editor
(919) 829-4517

Get editorial updates

Keep up with the latest opinions from the News & Observer, delivered straight to your inbox!

Subscribe to Editorials

Better discipline

Point of View: When members of the new Wake County Board of Education meet for the first time in December there will be many issues to consider.
Modified: 11/09/09 06:46:19 AM

Honoring all the veterans

Broder: A couple weeks before Veterans Day, I went down to the World War II Memorial on the Mall to join Bob and Elizabeth Dole and a group of elderly soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen from her hometown of Salisbury, N.C., who had been flown to Washington that morning to get their first view of the nation's tribute to the troops who helped defeat Hitler's forces.
Modified: 11/08/09 04:46:40 AM

No accord, thankfully, on climate

Will: Intelligent people agree that, absent immediate radical action regarding global warming, the human race is sunk. That is a tautology because those who do not agree are, definitionally, unintelligent.
Modified: 11/08/09 04:46:27 AM

Craftsman Powell's gift of jab

Ford: Having been Dwane Powell's editor for 20 years, I've learned a few things about the craft of political cartooning. I'm reminded of the title of an early Powell collection: "Is That All You Do?" One little old drawing yields a day's wages?
Modified: 11/06/09 07:00:47 PM

Consider the Afghan women

Goodman: It's been 11 years since I looked through a photo album smuggled out of Afghanistan by a brave young woman. "This is a doctor," she said, pointing to one picture.
Modified: 11/07/09 04:53:45 AM

Take a bow, influenza

My husband has a cold. A bad one. It's not the H1N1 flu - which he calls the "hiney" flu - though: He has no fever, chills or severe muscle aches. He coughs through the night and sniffs and snorts, hawks and spits when he gets up in the morning.
Modified: 11/06/09 05:45:49 PM

Debacle for the Democrats

Krauthammer: Sure, Election Day 2009 will scare moderate Democrats and make passage of Obamacare more difficult. Sure, it makes it easier for resurgent Republicans to raise money and recruit candidates for 2010.
Modified: 11/06/09 06:56:39 AM

Insurance across state lines?

Point of View: As the Democratic health-reform plans have developed, Republicans have consistently offered one suggestion in opposition: allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines.
Modified: 11/06/09 06:57:15 AM

Looking deeper into inmates' lives

Point of View: Much has been made in recent weeks about the 27 violent life-sentence offenders who are currently in limbo as Gov. Bev Perdue and state government wrestle with laws and court rulings regarding their release.
Modified: 11/06/09 06:57:30 AM

Back to beige

Editorial: Once, during a lengthy debate over a bill in the state Senate that he helped rule as the Democratic majority leader, Tony Rand of Fayetteville was leaning back in his front row seat looking like he was about to doze off.
Modified: 11/06/09 06:55:50 AM

No need to wind him up

Jenkins: The call usually comes in early October. "Remember," Thad Woodard always says, "Warmth for Wake is gearing up! We're kicking off on Halloween, and we've had some people carve pumpkins. We're going to send one down there!"
Modified: 11/05/09 06:46:26 AM

Holding candidates accountable

When the General Assembly adjourned last summer without addressing a slate of political-reform ideas, legislative leaders had an explanation: It would be best to await the conclusion of the investigations into former Gov. Mike Easley and his campaigns.
Modified: 11/05/09 06:47:34 AM

Honorable alternatives for campaign financing

Point of View: When a politician cheats or steals, the press loves to play "gotcha" and the public is outraged. But what if the rules of the campaign system invite a candidate to cheat and lie in order to win election?
Modified: 11/05/09 06:51:22 AM

Our unworthy partner in Kabul

Will: The U.S. mission - whatever it is; stay tuned - in that fractured semi-nation depends on substantially increased competence and radically reduced corruption among the strangers governing in, if not much beyond, Kabul.
Modified: 11/05/09 06:49:19 AM

Trouble for the Democrats

Broder: A year after Barack Obama's election stirred broad hopes for change among American voters, persistent high unemployment and the spectacle of continued gridlock in Washington threaten Democratic dominance of the political landscape.
Modified: 11/05/09 06:46:48 AM