Archives: Daren Bakst

View in browser. On December 8, 2010, The Fayetteville Observer ran an unfortunate editorial that, in defending…

View in your browser. If you ask most people, they would likely assume that when going to the polls, voters have to show a photo…

View in your browser. Last year, the North Carolina legislature failed to take any steps to meaningfully reform the state’s outdated and abusive annexation law.

View in your browser. A recent staff editorial in The News & Observer stated the following regarding the GOP’s plan to push for an…

View in your browser. In the Spotlight Note: The following article was written by Sara Riggins and edited by Daren Bakst. As election results…

View in your browser. In the Spotlight There’s always been a fear by property rights advocates (at least this one) that the public will…

View in your browser. In the Spotlight I have written a new report analyzing Gov. Bev Perdue’s recent Executive Order on regulatory reform.

North Carolina’s regulatory environment is poor, especially in comparison with other states’. Gov. Beverly Perdue signed a new executive order to modify the rulemaking process and help reduce the costs of regulation, which is a good start, but much will depend on how it is implemented in practice. For true regulatory reform, the legislature needs to build upon the executive order and apply reforms to all agencies.

View in your browser. In the Spotlight Florida and 19 other states challenged the constitutionality of ObamaCare. The government sought to dismiss the case (Florida…

Montgomery county commissioners have raised the property tax by nine cents over the last two years, from 58 cents to 67 cents per $100 valuation — a 15.5 percent increase. Now the commissioners want $225,000 tax increase (an amount about the same as another one-cent increase in the property tax). If voters approve this tax increase, the total tax increase over the last three years would be $2.1 million.