Legislative wrecking crew

There’s nothing this legislature can’t screw up. The Constitution, redistricting, congressional elections, judicial elections – and that’s just this week.

A TAPster noted, “If you had to return to your auto mechanic to correct his screwups as often as our legislators return to fix theirs, you’d get a new mechanic.”

Congressional elections are in chaos, because of legislative gerrymandering.

The state Constitution is under assault, because the legislature wants to destroy the separation of powers and give itself all power over the judiciary and the executive branch. But they have to keep people from knowing what they’re up to.

A petition filed in the State Supreme Court on behalf of Governor Cooper summed up the legislature’s deceit and trickery:

“The new ballot questions that the General Assembly passed yesterday (Monday) violate North Carolina law. Although the General Assembly has excised some of the more flagrant aspects of the original ballot questions…the new versions are still neither fair nor accurate. They are still misleading. They are still incomplete. And they still fail to inform voters of their primary purpose and effect. Ultimately, these ballot questions still do not fully and fairly inform the voters of what is at stake or facilitate an intelligent, independent decision on the proposed amendments.”

And this:

“If the General Assembly wants the voters of this State to take their side and support their ongoing efforts to enhance their control over state government, it must ask them directly.”

No wonder a Republican from Charlotte told me, “I belong to the fastest-growing political party in North Carolina: the Embarrassed Republicans.”

Ds, Rs and Is – meet the ERs.

Berger, Moore & Co. may have miscalculated big-time. That happens when politicians are in power too long. This gang has enjoyed unchecked power for eight years. They’ve had a wide-open field, and they’ve run wild. Neither Governor Perdue nor Governor McCrory could defend against them.

Now there’s a new team on the field. The legislative bosses are up against a popular Governor. He’s ready to fight. He knows how to win. He’s raising a lot of money. He recruited a strong team. He has the biggest microphone in the state. The crowd is on his side. As Carter noted in his post Blue Moon Elections: Who Votes, Democrats are more motivated to vote than Republicans.

It could be a whole new ball game this fall.

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Gary Pearce

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Legislative wrecking crew

There’s nothing this legislature can’t screw up. The Constitution, redistricting, congressional elections, judicial elections – and that’s just this week.

A TAPster noted, “If you had to return to your auto mechanic to correct his screwups as often as our legislators return to fix theirs, you’d get a new mechanic.”

Congressional elections are in chaos, because of legislative gerrymandering.

The state Constitution is under assault, because the legislature wants to destroy the separation of powers and give itself all power over the judiciary and the executive branch. But they have to keep people from knowing what they’re up to.

A petition filed in the State Supreme Court on behalf of Governor Cooper summed up the legislature’s deceit and trickery:

“The new ballot questions that the General Assembly passed yesterday (Monday) violate North Carolina law. Although the General Assembly has excised some of the more flagrant aspects of the original ballot questions…the new versions are still neither fair nor accurate. They are still misleading. They are still incomplete. And they still fail to inform voters of their primary purpose and effect. Ultimately, these ballot questions still do not fully and fairly inform the voters of what is at stake or facilitate an intelligent, independent decision on the proposed amendments.”

And this:

“If the General Assembly wants the voters of this State to take their side and support their ongoing efforts to enhance their control over state government, it must ask them directly.”

No wonder a Republican from Charlotte told me, “I belong to the fastest-growing political party in North Carolina: the Embarrassed Republicans.”

Ds, Rs and Is – meet the ERs.

Berger, Moore & Co. may have miscalculated big-time. That happens when politicians are in power too long. This gang has enjoyed unchecked power for eight years. They’ve had a wide-open field, and they’ve run wild. Neither Governor Perdue nor Governor McCrory could defend against them.

Now there’s a new team on the field. The legislative bosses are up against a popular Governor. He’s ready to fight. He knows how to win. He’s raising a lot of money. He recruited a strong team. He has the biggest microphone in the state. The crowd is on his side. As Carter noted in his post Blue Moon Elections: Who Votes, Democrats are more motivated to vote than Republicans.

It could be a whole new ball game this fall.

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Gary Pearce

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Archives