If you want to know how that “Carolina Comeback” is affecting North Carolina families, look no further than median income. The North Carolina Democratic Party yesterday sent out a press release showing that median income under Republicans has dropped $4,000 and is now 47th lowest in the nation. When they took control, North Carolina was ranked 38th in the nation.
These are the numbers should be causing Republicans to lose sleep. Not only are we behind where we were when the GOP took over, we’ve fallen further than our Southern neighbors. While most of them have seen at least short periods of increasing income over the past five years, we’ve seen none.
Once again, South Carolina is eating our lunch. In 2011, they were 50th in nation in median income. Today, they are 42. Their standing has improved eight places while ours has fallen nine. Thanks, GOP.
As Neil Irwin, the New York Times senior economic correspondent, says, the median income is the “rubber-meets-road measure of whether the economy is working for the mass of Americans.” In North Carolina, it’s not. The jobs McCrory and company tout are mostly low-paying. According to the NC Budget and Tax Center, almost 60% of new jobs pay poverty-level wages.
Two years ago, Pat McCrory responded to criticism by promising that North Carolina was on the verge of a powerful comeback. It hasn’t materialized. Not only are our wages lagging behind the rest of the South, so is our gross domestic product. Our GDP is below more than half of the other Southern states.
Republicans have been arguing that their tax cuts and “tough-love” approach to kicking people off unemployment insurance resulted in a low unemployment rate and a revenue surplus. The revenue surplus actually came from raising taxes on small business, seniors citizens, and the working poor while the unemployment rate dropped because they kicked those folks off the unemployment rolls, not because of any huge job growth.
Republican economic policies have failed the middle class in North Carolina. We’ve fallen further and recovered slower than most of the country. When voters ask the question, “Am I better off today than I was four years ago,” the answer, right now, is “No.”
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Mr. Mills,
Where did you get your statistics on NC being 47th lowest in the nation in median income. I want to use your information to argue a point with someone and I can”t find where NC is 47th. Also, I can”t find where SC is ranked 50th. I’m still looking, but if you could give me a link where I can find it, I would appreciate it.
Brett Crawley
The fact is that Pat McCrory came to the governorship with no experience in governing or the give-and-take of politics in general. I believe that a sizeable section of the electorate assumed (wrongly) that being mayor of Charlotte had given McCrory the experience he needed to lead our state: in fact, the mayor of Charlotte is largely a figurehead, with the City Council making the important decisions and the City Manager’s staff working to carry them out. At most, Charlotte’s mayor acts as a “poster boy/girl” and “ambassador” for the city. (The fact that McCrory held a high-paying job with Duke Energy–which he chose not to disclose–should have been a big hint that his mayoral job was a sideline, but unfortunately few voters paid enough attention.)
I wrote McCrory’s Democratic opponent suggesting he stress McCrory’s lack of experience in his campaign with the slogan “more than just a pretty face”: regrettably, he didn’t use it, leaving us stuck with Governor Useless Prettyface.
The TAX Governor: Don’t Stand PAT!!!
The author states the surplus came from raising taxes on small business, seniors citizens, and the working poor. Raleigh republicans repealed the business income tax, which allowed for taxpayers to deduct the first $50,000 of net business income. Republicans eliminated the deduction for medical care, which benefited many seniors, and the NC earned income tax credit, which allowed for claiming expenses required for work, such as gas and needed materials. How did the elimination of the EITC affect those living at the poverty level?
How can you blame President Obama for what the Republican North Carolina senate has done?!
It was sarcasm.
The great NC Senate has been helpful in our downfall. Thanks a lot Obama.
Where’s the methodology?
You’ll have to ask the US Census bureau. They’ve been collecting this data for the past thirty years or so and it’s universally accepted.
Despite Bush’s recession our economy was quite good under Mike and Bev.
How much did we lose under Bev and Mike’ 12 years?
You will never know because libtards cover up the corruption of their own.
You will never know because Rethugs can’t add 2 +2 That spells tax cut for the rich and higher fees for the middle class. How dumb can you go.
Under Easley, median household income increase a little more than $5,000 between the time he took office and the time he left. Under Perdue, it stayed the same. Republican economic policies have hurt middle class families. They always have and they always will. You can vote for Republicans because they agree with you on guns or abortion or gay rights or because you are rich, but don’t vote for them because you think they are going to help the middle class.
Thank you for your Correct comments.
Just show up, Please!
HERE’S TO HOPING THAT INDEPENDENT AND DEMOCRATIC VOTERS ACTUALLY SHOW UP AT THE POLLS AT THE NEXT ELECTION…
Amen!
And elections have consequences. And gerrymandering will keep the GOP in power.
So much for the Carolina ComeBack.