What corruption?

A new survey from the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling finds that voters "are still considerably more likely to associate corruption with Washington, D.C., than Raleigh." With such attitudes, public pressure to finish lobbying and ethics reforms in Raleigh could be a long way off.

Sixty-nine percent of those polled said that either the Democrats or Republicans in Washington were the most crooked, compared with just 15 percent picking one of the parties in Raleigh.

We have to wonder where the respondents have been. Yes, Congress has more than its share of corruption. But political scandals have rocked this state for most of this decade.

Former Gov. Mike Easley is under federal investigation in connection with special favors provided to him by businesses and important friends. Former House Speaker Jim Black, the symbol of all the corruption and the biggest prince to fall, is in federal prison on corruption convictions. State prosecutors said Black gave Mike Decker, then a representative from Walkertown, cash and campaign contributions to switch from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. That move helped Black hold on to the co-speaker's chair, before he became the speaker.

The need for reform should be obvious. But during the 2009 session of the state legislature, the state Senate never made its way to a set of government-reform bills. The chairman whose committee didn't complete its work said he simply ran out of time.

State legislators have delayed other reform packages with the same excuse over the last decade. Reform advocates say that excuse is a stalling tactic.

The legislators deserve the lion's share of the blame for the foot-dragging. But the latest poll suggests that We the People may not be putting enough pressure on the N.C. General Assembly to reform, perhaps because of a lack of knowledge about the amount of corruption in Raleigh. The only ones who could find bliss in this ignorance are the corrupt politicians who give the legislature a bad name.

Uninsured

Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give even more reason for health-care reform. Nearly one in five adults under age 65 in North Carolina's 5th Congressional District went without health insurance in 2007 and 2008.

The district includes parts of Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry, Watauga, Wilkes and Yadkin counties. The one-in-five, or 19 percent figure, may be low, Richard Craver reported in Thursday's Journal, given that North Carolina's unemployment rate has nearly doubled in the past 12 months, to 10.8 percent in August. Each percentage-point increase in the jobless rate means about 1.1 more people become uninsured, said Ron Pollack of Families USA, a consumer-advocacy group in Washington.

Having that many people without access to good health care is unacceptable in human and financial terms. It takes a toll on work production. Sick parents can't always nurture their children, helping them to become productive adults. Free clinics can only handle so many patients. Many who lack health insurance visit emergency rooms for treatment, driving up hospital costs for everyone.

The congressional representative for the 5th District, Virginia Foxx of Watauga County, said in a prepared statement that "The latest census figures on health insurance underscore an important point: Congress must get health-care reform right."

Every member of Congress could agree on that point. It's the thousands of other points about health-care that they're battling over -- as millions of Americans continue to struggle without health insurance.

Runoff red-eye

The winners in the Sept. 15 Winston-Salem primaries have had a few days to rest before preparing for the Nov. 3 general election. Make that most of the winners.

Evelyn Terry, the incumbent council member in the Southeast Ward, was the top vote getter of three candidates in the Democratic primary, but didn't get the 40 percent of the vote she needed to claim victory. She beat the No. 2 vote getter, James Taylor, by 10 votes, 150 to 160.

So Terry and Taylor are facing an Oct. 6 runoff and have to hit the campaign trail again. The winner will hardly have time to catch his or her breath before readying for the general election. Republican Chuck Woolard, well-rested after facing no opposition in his primary, stands ready to take on the runoff winner.

Turnout is not expected to top 300. Rob Coffman, the county elections director, said he often calls primary runoffs "friends and family elections." Yet the runoff will cost the city $30,000 to $40,000, he said.

Early voting will start Monday and run through Oct. 3. Let's hope for a large turnout for the runoff -- which might not have been needed if more voters had turned out in the first place.