Whose Victory?
2013-05-20 - by
One word can say a lot. So it was with last week’s heated meeting between the Wake County commissioners and school board.
Joe Bryan, chairman of the commissioners, told the N&O: “You’ve got some lingering tension over the victory we had in the Senate yesterday.”
That “victory” was Senate passage of a bill taking control of building schools away from the Democratic-majority school board and giving it to the Republican-led commissioners.
First, Bryan was giving himself a lot of credit: “the victory we had.” Given the partisan lineup of the Senate, it wasn’t much of a contest.
Second, the comment betrays an underlying theme in this legislature. It’s not about good public policy. It’s not about good ideas. It’s not even about ideological consistency.
It’s about payback. Political revenge. It’s about: “We’re going to undo everything Democrats did, just because we can.”
Wake County voters will have a chance to ponder whether Republicans are putting their party’s interest above the public interest. What does Bryan’s quote tell them?
Whose Victory?
2013-05-20/
One word can say a lot. So it was with last week’s heated meeting between the Wake County commissioners and school board.
Joe Bryan, chairman of the commissioners, told the N&O: “You’ve got some lingering tension over the victory we had in the Senate yesterday.”
That “victory” was Senate passage of a bill taking control of building schools away from the Democratic-majority school board and giving it to the Republican-led commissioners.
First, Bryan was giving himself a lot of credit: “the victory we had.” Given the partisan lineup of the Senate, it wasn’t much of a contest.
Second, the comment betrays an underlying theme in this legislature. It’s not about good public policy. It’s not about good ideas. It’s not even about ideological consistency.
It’s about payback. Political revenge. It’s about: “We’re going to undo everything Democrats did, just because we can.”
Wake County voters will have a chance to ponder whether Republicans are putting their party’s interest above the public interest. What does Bryan’s quote tell them?