North Carolina has become a national leader in such policy areas as tax reform, school choice, and transportation funding. Unfortunately, we lag far behind in providing telehealth options to patients.
All in Opinion
Could enforcing price transparency bring NC health care costs down?
In 2021, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service finalized a rule, initiated in 2019 by an executive order from then-President Donald Trump, that required all hospitals in the United States to list their prices for 300 common services. According to the rule,
John Hood: Raise Teacher Pay the Right Way
Four Republicans members of the North Carolina House of Representatives — Erin Paré and Mike Schietzelt of Wake County, Donny Lambeth of Forsyth County, and Tricia Cotham of Mecklenburg County — have just launched this year’s policy debate on teacher pay in our state.
Op-Ed: Op-Ed: Why the U.S. Must Rethink the Move to Digital-Only Medication Information
Over the past year, hospitals, pharmacies, and patients have been the victims of devastating cyberattacks that have crippled the healthcare system. The wave of healthcare cyberattacks recently led NPR to refer to 2024 as the “year of health care hacks.”
Op-Ed: Proposed AOM rule is a fiscally responsible way to address obesity epidemic
While running a small business and serving on the Fayetteville City Council, I learned that sound financial management means addressing problems at their source rather than treating symptoms. Whether balancing a city budget or keeping a business profitable, the principle remains: strategic investments today can prevent higher costs tomorrow.
John Hood: Institute Fosters Stronger Public Leadership
RALEIGH — “What’s in a name?” wrote the Bard in his masterpiece Romeo and Juliet. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
Op-Ed: Now is the Time to Fix the Debt
The United States faces a mounting fiscal crisis. Our national debt having surpassed $36 trillion poses a significant threat to our economic stability and national security. Interest payments on our debt have reached historic highs, overtaking defense spending as the second-largest budget item. Alarmingly, interest costs are the fastest-growing expenditure in the federal budget, limiting our ability to invest in critical public services and respond to unforeseen emergencies.
Op Ed: Limited government is the best incentive for prosperity
Two weeks ago, the NC Department of Commerce released a report highlighting our state’s dramatic reduction in poverty rates over the decade spanning 2013-2023, registering one of the steepest declines in poverty across the country. It’s powerful news, indicating something profoundly positive about the economic landscape in the Tar Heel State.
Op Ed: Protecting North Carolina Jobs by Protecting Manufacturing
It's a new day in Washington, DC. With the return of President Donald Trump and a Congress controlled by Republicans, there is real hope for change that makes our economy stronger and the nation more secure.
John Hood: Realism Needed for Sound State Budget
RALEIGH — What does it mean to be a conservative? “I’ve always believed that conservatism is the politics of reality,” wrote National Review founder William F. Buckley, “and that reality ultimately asserts itself in a reasonably free society.” Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put it succinctly: “The facts of life are conservative.”
John Hood: Voters Deserve Information on Fiscal Crisis
Every citizen who meets the basic requirements — adulthood, residency, and the completion of sentence after a felony conviction — can cast a ballot in North Carolina. There’s no test of civic knowledge required to exercise the civil right to vote, nor should there be.
Last-Minute IRS Rules Threaten North Carolina’s Small Business Recovery
As a North Carolina business owner, I know how crucial small businesses are to our state’s economy. With over 1 million small businesses supporting nearly 1.8 million jobs, we are the backbone of innovation and job creation
John Hood: Senator Tillis speaks truth on Ukraine
RALEIGH — There is room for reasonable debate about how the United States should respond to the current Russo-Ukrainian War and other challenges to our longstanding interests and alliances in Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, and elsewhere. Our leaders must allocate scarce resources across multiple priorities.
John Hood: North Carolina Lacks Unitary Executive
RALEIGH — The asymmetry is striking. In Washington, many Republicans take a maximalist position on the executive power of the president of the United States. All departments and agencies — even if created by Congress with the intent of limiting presidential authority over them — are as a constitutional matter subordinate to the president, who can fire their officers and overrule their decisions at will.
Op-Ed: The Importance of Stewarding NC’s Natural Places, Peatlands Restoration
By Senator Danny Britt. The fall and winter hunting seasons are an important part of my life, as they are for so many others. For duck hunting, cold and wet are two ideal conditions, and we’ve already had plenty of both here in eastern North Carolina as January and duck hunting season wound down to a close. Hunting is so much a part of our way of life that it’s enshrined in our state constitution.
Op-Ed: We must take action to combat obesity
With nearly half of the American population suffering from obesity, we must take action to combat this rising health epidemic. Nearly 93 million estimated Americans are affected by obesity and its ripple effects. In the next five years, it’s predicted this number will rise to 120 million
Keeping North Carolina Seniors Healthy Means Protecting Medicare Advantage
Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about making government work better and lowering costs for Americans. As a former state lawmaker, I know that real solutions come from strengthening programs that deliver results—especially for seniors. Medicare Advantage is one of those programs.
John Hood: Let’s Change How the Legislature Works
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall earned at least two rounds of bipartisan applause at the start of this year’s legislative session. One was for assuming his new leadership post. The other was for releasing a House calendar for the next six months, complete with specific deadlines and a pledge to “give you some certainty in your schedule.”
Op-Ed: CFPB overhaul needs to include a look at past regulations
For those who followed abuses by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under President Joe Biden, the first few weeks of the second Trump Administration have been a revelation. From President Trump’s day one decision to freeze rulemaking, to the recent decision to replace Biden-era CFPB director Rohit Chopra, President Trump has lived up to his title as a pro-business and pro-deregulation leader.
John Hood: Federal Funds Bring Federal Strings
RALEIGH — President Donald Trump’s executive orders on education have some North Carolinians crying foul.