Radio listeners in Wilmington encountered a double dose of Roy Cordato this week, as the John Locke Foundation’s Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar appeared with Chad Adams on WLTT and with Curtis Wright on WAAV (along with Fayetteville’s WFNC). Adams asked Cordato about the recent controversy surrounding President Obama’s “you didn’t build that” gaffe, while Wright discussed Cordato’s recent proposal for North Carolina to adopt a flat-rate consumed income tax.
Director of Regulatory Studies Jon Sanders continues to attract attention for his new research series targeting Carolina Cronyism. A Wilson Daily Times editorial cited Sanders’ work on crony-based film incentives. (“Before states began film tax incentives programs, North Carolina was a popular off-Hollywood destination for film crews,” the John Locke Foundation’s Jon Sanders said in a news release. “A right-to-work state with a pleasant climate and a range of natural features, North Carolina held significant advantages for moviemakers.”) The Crony Chronicles website and Heritage Foundation’s “Insider Online” promoted his two new cronyism reports. Inside Higher Education interviewed Sanders about hate crime hoaxes.
The Charlotte Observer interviewed Director of Education Studies Terry Stoops about the replacement of North Carolina’s ABCs public school testing and accountability program. Stoops spent an hour discussing education topics — including a comparison of North Carolina to its international peers — during an appearance on Mike Beitler’s “Free Markets” Internet radio program. N.C. Senate Republicans promoted Stoops’ column on placing North Carolina’s education spending debate in the proper context. Stoops also attracted positive attention from NCGunBlog.com after a joke in his most recent email newsletter generated over-the-top criticism from a left-leaning advocacy group.
The News & Observer‘s “Under the Dome” blog noted the John Locke Foundation’s annual finding that Charlotte residents have the highest local tax burden of any people living in North Carolina’s largest cities. A Burlington Times-News article about Alamance County’s proposed local sales-tax increase cited JLF research that warned voters not to put too much faith into county commissioners’ promises about future use of projected sales-tax revenue.
CarolinaPlottHound.com promoted Research Publications Coordinator Julie Gilstrap‘s Locker Room blog entry about the fingerprinting process associated with her concealed-carry permit class. A Waynesville Mountaineer editorial about the proliferation of information available through email noted JLF’s frequent research reports. (In addition to the paid service that provides opinion pieces written by the statewide columnists that are posted regularly on our website, there are a number of research pieces from think tank organizations such as Civitas or John Locke Foundation, both of which are conservative organizations. …)
