Catching an anchor

by | Sep 19, 2016 | Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 17 comments

Friday afternoon, word emerged that a compromise over HB2 was in the works. The deal, brokered by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, calls on Charlotte to repeal its ordinance and for the General Assembly to repeal HB2. The association’s members have been hurt most by the loss of business caused the misguided law.

For Pat McCrory, the motion was like a lifeline. House Bill 2 has been his obsession and his undoing. The deal offered him a chance to look like a leader and solve a problem that has been harming the whole state. It was his chance for redemption.

Unfortunately for McCrory, the effort was dead before it even got a full vetting. House Speaker Tim Moore quickly issued a statement blaming the whole debacle on the Charlotte City Council.  “The legislature and governor did not create this controversy—the mayor and city council of Charlotte did. If Charlotte City Council and Mayor fully and unconditionally repeal their ordinance, then I believe we have something to discuss.” Moore shut the door on compromise and sunk the deal.

Incredibly, McCrory thanked Moore for throwing him an anchor. Clearly, the governor didn’t understand the implication of the speaker’s statement. Laying blame and pointing fingers doesn’t start negotiations, it ends them. And McCrory will be the casualty of the failed deal.

The legislature and McCrory are still obsessed with trying to blame Charlotte for the impact of HB2. However, the world talks about HB2, not the Charlotte ordinance. Nobody’s buying their argument because the Republican legislature has a long history of targeting minorities and heavy-handed government overreach. The Charlotte City Council does not.

Politically, the legislature has far more to lose than the Charlotte City Council. McCrory and the whole General Assembly are on the ballot in November. The mayor and Charlotte City Council don’t run until 2017. Maybe Moore and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger believe the issue will motivate their base, but that’s the epitome of putting politics before people.

House Bill 2 has clearly damaged the reputation of the state and will hurt North Carolina economically for years to come. Republicans can blame Charlotte all they want, but the impact of the bill they passed affects the whole state, not one just one city. The GOP controls all branches of state government. It’s on them to fix the mess, not Charlotte. They should take responsibility instead of laying blame.

17 Comments

  1. cynical at best

    I think most NC businesses don’t really care if the “bathroom” part of the bill is repealed. Is the WHOLE bill being repealed or will municipalities still be unable to raise the minimum wage if they want ? The NC Chamber of Commerce and the Restaurant Association have been pretty quiet about bathrooms….

  2. Betty McGuire

    Yes please someone answer Tom’s question. The point he raises is one that I have also been confused about.

    • Norma Munn

      May I add that any law or “program established by a law” that is not funded is worth even less than the paper it takes to print. Likewise resolutions that are lofty praise for good causes, but are followed by not so hidden budget cuts. Favorite ploys of those in office who want to avoid clarity or showing where they really stand.

      • Betty McGuire

        Thanks Norma that clarifies it for me.

    • Betty McGuire

      Thanks for clearing that up for me. Good for Charlotte for just letting it sit there.

  3. Tom

    Explain to me. I thought the Charlotte ordinance – and any similar to it anywhere in NC – was voided by the action of the General Assembly. Can the Charlotte City Council repeal an ordinance that does not exist?

    • Jay Ligon

      Laws remain on the books until they are repealed by the body that enacted the law. However, they can be rendered moot by a court, a higher court or a legislature of higher jurisdiction. Federal law preempts state law, and the state legislature can preempt local ordinances (with some exceptions.)

      There are zillions of laws on the books all over the country which have been overruled by a higher court. The Charlotte ordinance could be rendered ineffective by a contrary ruling by the legislature, but if a higher court strikes down a law by the General Assembly, the Charlotte ordinance would become viable again.

      The governor and the general assembly are looking for someone to blame, and they have created a silly rationale for their bigotry. They have claimed that the Charlotte ordinance caused them to write a bigoted law, which is a lie. Charlotte cannot and did not write a law which affected the State of North Carolina, the legislature did that. The legislature and the governor are responsible for the devastating losses caused by HB2, and they are solely responsible for making the changes necessary to restore the state’s reputation. The governor and the legislature are solely responsible for the loss of the NCAA, ACC and the NBA tournaments, the loss of corporate jobs and the cancellation of conventions and performing artists.

      Republicans talk about personal responsibility but hide behind every lame excuse they can find.

  4. Norma Munn

    As much as I believe that the real economic damage from HB2 is primarily to middle and lower income folks, few of whom have seen much of the greatly touted McCrory & Co. economic growth, I cannot support the City Council repealing the ordinance preventing discrimination against transgender people. It would be tantamount to endorsing bigotry and ignorance. It would not serve Charlotte, nor NC, well. This demand is also a kind of blackmail from those who wished to punish Charlotte and demonstrate their conservative principles. Bullying is not good government at any time, and as for their “conservative principles”, what they demonstrated was sheer stupidity. Perhaps some of them may regret that in November.

  5. Paul Wilczynski

    Charlotte did what was right, and should under no circumstances back down. HB2 is entirely and only the state’s
    problem to fix.

    Unilaterally repeal HB2.

  6. Jay Ligon

    The Republicans have made a fine mess of things in Raleigh. McCrory cannot be believed. His position on HB2 is intellectually dishonest and internally inconsistent. The Republicans calculated that their attack on a tiny minority would allow them to pose as morally superior while engaging in morally repugnant discrimination. Rather than abandon a mistaken strategy, they have caused the state to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues, many jobs, and inflicted much damage to the state’s reputation. Their strategy began with a lie that no one believes. It is becoming very expensive, and like so many psychopaths, the GOP refuses to be truthful with North Carolinians.

  7. walter rand

    Thomas,
    The Charlotte City Council should make a public declaration that they are willing to compromise in the best interests of the state by repealing their ordinance on condition that the legislature completely repeal HB2. Making that declaration would not be a good political maneuver (it bails out the people who passed HB2), but it would help our state. If the legislature petulantly says “you first,” then go first by repealing the ordinance. If the legislature fails to promptly and entirely repeal HB2, Charlotte can pass their ordinance again. As a Democrat you’d rather not see the Republicans climb out of the hole they dug since Democrats running for office have a better chance of winning while the Republicans are mired in that hole, but as a North Carolinian you want to see bad legislation such as HB2 repealed. Charlotte should take the high road.

  8. TbeT

    You’ve hit it squarely again, Thomas!

    The NCGOP has made it clear that their actions on HB2 will be guided only by what their more radical core base finds “acceptable.” They are gonna run with that until either the adverse economic fallout gets inarguable, or their super-majority in the NCGA is badly eroded.

    And McCrory once again proves that he is a political lightweight and not the sharpest knife in the drawer…….

  9. Maurice

    McCrory’s obsession with which bathroom transgender people use and his unwillingness to compromise have sunk his re-election chances. Roy Cooper will be the next Governor.

    • Ebrun

      Latest polls: McCrory up by two in one, by three in another. Read ’em and weep.

      • Joshua Berkov

        He was up by 2 in the Civitas Poll, which as we all know has a Republican bias.

        He was up 3 in the Elon poll released today, but I’ve seen Elon polls be wildly off before. Deborah Ross was leading in that Elon poll, and I find that very suspect.

        • Ebrun

          Polls may be suspect, but I think both parties would rather be leading rather than trailing.

  10. Stanley Greene

    You are 100% CORRECT!
    I just hope the people of this state wake up and vote the big pile of dung out of Raleigh November 8th.
    They should be Tarred & Feathered and run out on a Rail!

    I don’t mind if you use my name as I am ashamed to be a native North Carolinian!

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