Our take

Everyday the government makes decisions that affect our lives; from the water we drink, the food our kids eat and how much money we bring home. Being informed is one of the first steps in building our power and creating change in our communities.

Legislature’s budget — More comfort for the comfortable

By Eleanore Wood | June 1, 2017

The GOP-controlled House revealed their budget plan and it’s exactly what we expected: tax cuts for big corporations and underfunding education. The plan includes The House boasts about adding a small amount of money to NC scholarships, however, they are not providing adequate funding for our public schools and universities. Not only are they not providing…

What’s Congress up to? Destroying Obamacare for North Carolinians

By Eleanore Wood | May 30, 2017

The Republicans in Congress are actively working to sabotage Obamacare and pass Trumpcare, which would lead to over 23 million people losing their health coverage. The Trump administration has said they may eliminate cost-sharing subsidies, which keep people’s premiums down, which led to North Carolina’s biggest health insurance provider to claim they may increase their rates…

NC’s Largest Health Insurance Co. Asks for 23% Rate Hike Due to Trump’s Plan to Shred ACA

By Eleanore Wood | May 26, 2017

The state’s largest healthcare provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield, is planning a 22.9% rate increase because of Trump’s desire to repeal the ACA  and other healthcare providers, like Cigna, are following in their footsteps. However, if Congress decides to keep Obamacare through 2018, BCBS will only increase their rates by 8.8%. The uncertainty of the future…

Trump Proposes Slashes to Financial Aid for College Students

By Eleanore Wood | May 24, 2017

Trump’s budget was released Tuesday and there are some huge budget cuts to education. Included in the education portion of Trump’s budget is a huge cut to federal financial aid for college students. UNC’s former President Molly Broad came out and spoke on the budget cuts, stating that these huge cuts to financial aid will…

Education in NC? Far From Adequately Funded

By Eleanore Wood | May 19, 2017

North Carolina has some of the best universities in the country, however, their tuitions are costing more and more each year. When you calculate for inflation, state spending for public universities has decreased 15.6% while tuition has increased 55%. This means students are spending more and leaving college with more debt and their colleges. North…

Trump Releases First Education Budget Plan….And it Funds More Private than Public Schools

By Eleanore Wood | May 18, 2017

Trump has finally released his first full education budget…and the outlook is not good. He and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s budget plan includes cuts to work-study programs, public-service loan forgiveness, and funds for mental illness and advanced courses. So where is all this money going? They’re planning to spend $400 million on school choice, meaning…

NCGOP Cuts Education Funding in the Middle of the Night

By Eleanore Wood | May 15, 2017

Thursday night the NC Senate debated budget amendments well past midnight. Now out of spite, the Republicans in Raleigh want to cut science and math education programs for low-income students in rural NC. At 3AM Thursday night, Republican Senators introduced a new budget amendment that strips education funding from Democrats’ districts all because Democrats were speaking out against…