September 2017 archives

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Saturday, September 30, 2017

Distracting: Blame game will not alleviate suffering in Puerto Rico

With only the media lenses trained solely on the most afflicted portions of Puerto Rico to view the current situation there through, it would be easy to condemn the federal response to Hurricane Maria. Hospitals are seen without power. Homes...

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Confronting MS-13: Attorney general faces up to gangs. So must we.

While you were kneeling, or Facebooking about how terrible those who kneel are, the Justice Department has been working. But the latest effort has nothing to do with police brutality, protests or where those two intersect (or don't). It has...

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Now we're cookin': President's tax reform plan is a way to bring jobs back

The tax man cometh. But put away your hard earned cash. He is not here for it. He is here to deliver. So said Donald Trump Wednesday speaking in Indiana where he unveiled his plan for GOP-driven tax reform that...

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Winning: Tumultuous times obscure the president's successes

The Senate this week opted not to hold a vote regarding the latest inculcation of a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare after several Republican lawmakers made public their opposition to the bill. The optics of that, coupled with the...

Monday, September 25, 2017

Please stand: National anthem is one thing that should unite a divided nation

Were it not already clear prior to this weekend's events, the choice of professional athletes to protest during the national anthem remains a divided issue. In a Goldsboro News-Argus poll that as of 8 p.m. Monday evening had garnered 135...

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Fore! If Dems don't get their game together, 2020 will hit before they know it

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been making the rounds on the talk show circuit to promote her new book detailing her thoughts on why she lost the presidency. In it she says that the more successful a woman...

Saturday, September 16, 2017

To the 4th: Storied fighter wing lives its history every day

It's a difficult thing watching a fellow service member die -- unimaginable. For those who haven't experienced the horror, may you never. But whether the life is lost in combat, in training to execute the mission, or in the course...

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Essentials: Latest grades for schools underscore severity of problems

Gov. Roy Cooper visited a couple of Wayne County schools Wednesday, the same day we learned that two other of the county's schools are being threatened with a state takeover. Cooper's intentions were to bring school supplies to classrooms in...

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Ryan gets it: Sudden expulsion of 'Dreamers' would hurt us all

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday that President Donald Trump "made the right call" when he placed the fate of some 800,000 so-called Dreamers in the hands of Congress. An immediate action from the Oval Office might have led to...

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Sparky and the marshal: With gratitude to retiring Fire Capt. John Morton

We wish Capt. John Morton well in his retirement from the Goldsboro Fire Department and from his post as the city's fire marshal. In addition to inspecting city buildings and new facilities as they were constructed, Morton also played an...

Monday, September 11, 2017

Exodus: Departures from Congress give GOP cause to worry

The number of Republican House members mulling either retirement or returns to the private sector continues to grow. At least four members have stated publicly they will not seek re-election, two are considering retirement and one is hinting at a...

Sunday, September 10, 2017

9/11: Anniversary forever calls to mind what changed, what endures

Victims continue to be added to the list. War. Cancer. Post-traumatic stress. The events of the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, claimed more lives in one fell swoop than any other terror event in history, prior to or since. And...

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Groundwork: Unexpected deal could serve as model after the storm

The president was able to strike a startling deal with Democrats Wednesday to keep the federal government funded beyond the end-of-the-month deadline, as well as to pass a $15.3 billion relief package for the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey. The...

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

State of emergency: Declaration isn't a call to panic -- but the time to prepare is now

There should be no delaying in preparing for Hurricane Irma. We saw less than a year ago what a relatively weak storm is capable of if moving slowly enough to drop a significant amount of rain fall. Matthew led to...

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

After DACA: Questions linger about impact and what Congress will do

Congress now has six months to decide a new policy -- should it opt to -- that would allow more than 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain in this country as eligible workers. President Donald...

Monday, September 4, 2017

Needs improvement: On school system's basic services, much remedial work remains

Overcrowding. Underenrollment. Teacher and bus driver shortages. Heck, it wasn't that long ago we were struggling to keep our buses roadworthy. Any wonder why so many of our schools are failing and parents are seeking ways to further their children's...

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Escalation: Sanctions and stern disapproval have no effect on Kim Jong Un

North Korea has long been considered the loudmouth at the bar of foreign nations. But things changed Sunday when the rogue dictatorship detonated a nuclear device in a test that caused an earthquake to register between 5.7 and 6.3 on...

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Capitol swirl: Hurricane relief only one of the storms awaiting Congress

Congress returns Tuesday. First up, a relief package to the tune of about $8 billion for the thousands of victims of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey. Then the debt ceiling, already near $20 trillion, is likely to be raised to continue funding...