The economic crisis has prompted the state’s elected officials to scramble for federal stimulus money and to look for ways to plug state budget holes. Their actions led to three television appearances for John Locke Foundation staffers in the past week. President John Hood discussed state spending on unemployment insurance benefits during an interview with WTVD Thursday. That interview was featured in the lead story at 5 p.m. The lead story at 5:30 included an interview with communications director Mitch Kokai about the wisdom of hiring two new bureaucrats — at a total cost of more than $215,000 — during an economic downturn. Late last week, Kokai also appeared on News 14 Carolina to discuss the downside of federal tax funds bailing out irresponsible state governments. Speaking of the budget, The Garner Citizen highlighted this week the work of 2008 E.A. Morris Fellow Laurie Onorio to help North Carolina residents keep tabs on the state budget more easily. The newspaper described Citizens Informed, the advocacy group Onorio developed in connection with her E.A. Morris work. In addition to budget issues, Hood contributed to a recent Greensboro News & Record about a proposed ban on cell-phone use among drivers. (Critics question whether it makes sense for the government to single out cell phones when there are many other
perfectly legal ways for drivers to become distracted. “Changing the
radio station, swatting your little kid sitting behind you, looking at
a map, talking to someone. These pose various levels of risk, various
levels of distraction, and it seems to me the proper policy is to hold
people accountable for reckless driving, no matter what the cause of
their recklessness,” said John Hood, the president of the John Locke
Foundation, a group that believes in limited government.) Meanwhile, Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst joined WPTF morning show host Scott Fitzgerald Monday to discuss annexation reform. Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray delivered a presentation to the General Assembly’s Conservative Caucus on the latest smoking ban proposals drifting through the halls of the General Assembly. The Christian Action League also cited a recent Carolina Journal report about funding shortfalls in the state employee health plan.