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Several members of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation responded to President Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday evening. “Tonight, the issues and fears that are front and center in the hearts and minds of the American people were not addressed.  We need a clear and comprehensive strategy to defeat ISIS and regain our influence in the world.  Additionally,… Read more »

President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, the final one of his two-term presidency, did not rank among the highest priorities for some Republicans in Winston-Salem. State Rep. Debra Conrad didn’t plan to watch, she said Tuesday morning, though she did plan to watch the GOP presidential debate Thursday on Fox Business. Mark Baker, the chairman of the Forsyth County Republican… Read more »

The group of plus-ones invited by North Carolina’s members of Congress to Tuesday night’s State of the Union address include a university president, the leader of the state’s largest Native American tribe, military service members and a senator’s wife. Rank-and-file senators and representatives are allowed to bring just one guest to President Barack Obama’s address before a joint… Read more »

Congress kicked off 2016 by passing a bill that repeals Obamacare and stops taxpayer funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. The nearly party-line vote in the House was 240-181. The bill will be sent directly to President Barack Obama's desk via the special reconciliation process. That process allows a budget bill to pass with a simple majority, avoiding an… Read more »

In a tearful press conference on Jan. 5, President Barack Obama unveiled a series of new firearms related executive orders. The Obama administration defended the new orders as common sense changes to existing laws. Detractors, like Rep. Virginia Foxx, who represents North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District, called the orders an overreach of the president’s executive authority, and… Read more »

The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office has seen a recent increase in purchase permits for handguns, but officials said it is hard to determine if that is a result of anticipated gun control regulations or if it is holiday related. Sheriff Len Hagaman said his office has overseen 35 purchase permits for firearms purchased through federal firearm dealers, since Jan. 4.  Typically,… Read more »

A bill that would fully repeal the Affordable Care Act hit President Barack Obama’s desk Wednesday night with support from many North Carolina congressmen. The bill would end key parts of the Affordable Care Act, including its Medicaid expansion and mandate that individuals must buy health insurance. It would also defund Planned Parenthood for one year. Area congressmen including… Read more »

A proposal to switch to a two-year fiscal cycle is pitting House appropriators and Budget Committee members against a majority of House members, some of whom who have argued the current annual process is ineffective and wasteful. The fight over two-year budgeting comes as the House embarks on a rewrite this year of the 1974 Budget Act, which governs the annual spending… Read more »

Brandon Cupp, owner of Cerberus Firearms on Jake Alexander Boulevard, said his wife Ashleigh pretty much runs the local gun show. They used to hold the gun show in Lexington, but had to move the show to Salisbury because of a gun sale that happened in the parking lot of the show. One person bought a gun from an unlicensed seller and then got charged with possession of a stolen firearm… Read more »

It has taken nearly five years, but a Clemmons financial advisor’s idea to alter language on the federal IRA accounts was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Shepherded through by U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, the bill streamlines SIMPLE IRA rollovers. Paul Johnson of Clemmons first brought it to her attention. Johnson said the process had given him some indication about… Read more »