This week Tom Campbell discusses low wage earners in North Carolina.

Question to Chris Fitzsimon and Rick Henderson – They are calling it “culture wars.” NC State University is the latest site where students have protested an event sponsored by a conservative college group. The event featured President Trump’s daughter-in-law and organizers say they have every right to hold events on campus. The event packed the hall where it was held but there were hundreds of protestors who say it promoted hate speech. Shouldn’t groups of all political, ethnic and religious persuasions be allowed to have events on campus or is the solution not to allow any of them?

Question to Rob Schofield and Bob Orr - We are in the season of giving but Market Watch has reported that the amount of charitable giving in the US declined by some 54 billion dollars in 2018 following the 2017 tax reform law. In response charities are cutting personnel or services they provide. The doubling in the amount of the personal deduction has lessened the need to make tax exempt donations. Two questions: What can be done about this decline in contributions and what can we do to get people to support charities even if they don’t get a tax deduction?

Topics:
Congressional districts stand
The race begins
The Silent Sam solution that wasn’t so silent
Tell us something we don’t know

Panelists:
Rick Henderson, Editor in chief of The Carolina Journal
Bob Orr, former Supreme Court Justice
Rob Schofield, Director of NC Policy Watch
Chris Fitzsimon, Director, The Newsroom
Tom Campbell, Moderator

Tom Campbell talks about the importance of giving to charities and how their donations have been impacted by recent tax law changes.

Question to John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon – Environmentalist Orrin Pilkey recently released a study showing almost 82,000 coast properties lost more than $582 million in value from 2005 to 2017 due to the rising sea levels. He is predicting the real estate market will be under water, figuratively and literally. We can all debate what is causing this but the facts are inescapable. What role, if any, should governments play in this potential real estate crisis?

Question to Becki Gray and Brad Crone – We’ve done so much talking about redistricting but I’m not sure we’ve put everything in context. With the new legislative districts the court has approved Democrats need to flip 5 seats in our state Senate and 6 seats in our state house to change majority control from Republicans to Democrats. Is it early to make predictions but from the trending you are seeing how possible will it be for the Dems to take control of one of both houses? Why is it so important to them?

NC SPIN episode #1098 Air Date 11/29/19

Topics:
Medicaid managed care on hold
DOT Cast infusion
Sexual assault on campus
Tell us something we don’t know

Panelists:
Chris Fitzsimon, Director, The Newsroom
Brad Crone, Communications Consultant
Becky Gray, VP, John Locke Foundation
John Hood, Syndicated columnist and author
Tom Campbell, Moderator

Tom Campbell recounts a time in his past when he was a whistleblower, and the price it paid for it.

Question to John Hood and Chris Fitzsimon – In the past few years more than 1,400 local papers have gone out of business. Newspapers are struggling to survive as evidence by the recent earnings report by McClatchey, publisher of the Charlotte Observer, News and Observer and Durham Herald. Local radio stations are also disappearing and there are some suggesting these local news outlets are so important that we might give them public subsidies. What’s your reaction to that idea? If we don’t prop them up what will happen to local news outlets?