There’s a difference in Art Pope spending ‘his millions’ and how the Black/Basnight Political Machines continue to hold an iron-grip on the North Carolina Legislature.

Pope is spending his own money. What he is doing does not cost taxpayers a cent. He’s not trying to get a state contract or a bill passed to help his business; he’s spending his own money to advocate his political beliefs. You may not agree with those beliefs but he had every right to speak out for them.

On the other hand, Marc Basnight and Jim Black fund their political machines with contributions from people who do want state contracts. And legislation. And appointments. And state jobs. That’s called ‘pay to play;’ trading political favors for campaign contributions.

The big difference between what Pope is doing and what the Machines are doing is when Basnight or Black raise a thousand dollars there’s no telling how much it may have cost taxpayers.

I expect it is safe to assume that the Democratic legislature is going to try to stop Pope by passing new election laws before the Fall Election. And, that instead of ending ‘pay to play,’ they are going to make a few cosmetic changes and go right on swapping political favors for campaign contributions.

But if the Democrats in North Carolina want to stop Art Pope, instead of silencing him, they should out-debate him. They can do everything he is doing. There is nothing he is doing that the law does not allow them to do too.

Why won’t they?

The Machines thrive on secrecy. They prosper by operating quietly in the warrens and backrooms of the legislature. The last thing they want is a debate about what they are doing in those backrooms.

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