Corruption, hypocrisy and stupidity

by | Dec 17, 2014 | Editor's Blog, NCGov | 17 comments

Well, I think Pat McCrory is in trouble. The AP reported yesterday that he received almost $200,000 from Tree.com, a mortgage brokerage, after he was sworn in as governor. McCrory insists he did nothing illegal and blasted the report as “partisan drive-by journalism.” Maybe he didn’t break the law, but he’s certainly broken the public trust.

McCrory was elected on a platform promising to clean up Raleigh by ending cronyism and increasing transparency. Now, it appears that he used his political clout for personal profit. And he certainly wasn’t transparent about his financial gains. Without the AP inquiries, his windfall might never have been made public.

There are a lot of issues here. First, McCrory took a huge payout from a private company after he was a sitting governor. Second, he avoided, legally or not, publicly disclosing the money he received. Third, he appointed regulators who oversee the industry that paid him. Fourth, he ran on stopping exactly this type of behavior in the executive branch. And, finally, he accused the AP of being a partisan operation.

The first three issues bring up questions of corruption. The fourth point is about hypocrisy. And the last one goes to stupidity because he won’t win a public relations battle by attacking the press.

McCrory struggled throughout his first year in office when he got run over by the legislature and had a habit of making stuff up when he talked to the press. His approval rating plummeted. In 2014, he got a break when the media and the public focused on the US Senate race between Thom Tillis and Kay Hagan. Out of the public eye, McCrory’s numbers improved and he looked to be in a strong position going into 2015. Now, that’s changed. He will be fighting corruption and hypocrisy allegations as the New Year begins.

17 Comments

  1. lily

    Well at least Pat dumped the stock, what he could have done is build a so called blind trust (a favorite of the Chain man and Mitten) which to the casual observers makes things look cool, but is just a ploy as the trust creator can out line policy at the inception. More over the trustee is duty bound to act in the creator’s best interest. No Pat did the best thing possible, he sold it, with full knowledge Duke had been up to no good.

  2. smalljones

    Just sayin’

    “It’s one of those things that creates a smell,” said Carter Wrenn, a Republican strategist whose past clients included the conservative icon Sen. Jesse Helms. “If the payment was for legitimate work and it didn’t have anything to do with politics, that would be OK. But you’re better off to disclose it, because it’s going to raise questions. … And when you don’t disclose, it looks like maybe you were trying to sweep something under the rug.”

    Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/12/17/4411433_analysts-question-mccrorys-payout.html?sp=/99/100/&rh=1#storylink=cpy

  3. Mick

    As I recall, Black and Easley were investigated and found to have committed unethical and illegal acts. So what’s your point, Greg Dail?
    My point? McCrory should be made to answer every little question about both his Duke-E and Tree.com stock dealings, and should suffer politically for the ethical questionability of his actions.

    • Mike W

      If it is even ethically questionable. When McCory went into office he has put every paycheck back into the NC coffers. But he also said he wasn’t dumping his previous stock, as I would assume, he uses that to actually live on. The problem I have is the media and public thinking they have some sort of right to a politician’s check-book recorder when they do not. There are two things that will kill this country and state a lot quicker than a corrupt politician — Entitlement Mentality and Political Correctness. Both of which this story stinks with.

  4. Greg Dail

    What’s your point, he should have held on to the stock? He divested from a company in which “he appointed regulators”, had he not you leftists would be screaming conflict of interest from the tree(.com)tops.
    Where were you guys when Jim Black and Mike Easley were running the show?

    • James Protzman

      Greg Dail, there were plenty of people, including myself, who are clearly on the record for taking Jim Black and Mike Easley to task for corruption. The bigger question is this: why try to defend a scumbag today be pointing out there were other scumbags in the past.

      McCrory has raised deception about his earnings and income to an art form. This is just more of the same.

    • Thomas Mills

      No, Greg, he should have let what was supposed to happen, happen. The stock should have reverted back to the company and he shouldn’t have profited. That’s the price for becoming governor–small price to pay if your real intent is to serve the people of North Carolina.

    • Someone from Main Street NC

      I guess in NC, GOP reformers who are elected have the right to act as illicitly as the Democrats they replaced. Yet another instance of the upside down world of NC politics.

      • Mike W

        @Someone – Its not just NC politics, it happens everywhere. The problem I don’t get is how it is anyone’s business what money he gets from previous employers. LE is doing public corruption busts all the time, if he was a bad apple, they would have tagged him by now. I’m the type of person that I look closely at a leader when things are going wrong. When I’m seeing that my kids aren’t having to bring in copy paper for the teachers, or aren’t having to bring in tissue paper every few weeks for the class, and taking regular field trips, I know the budgets are back in line for the schools.

        I also know when I’m seeing the pavers going down the road and pot holes being fixed, the transportation budget is green-lined again. The point being, love him or hate him, from what one can visually see, he’s put NC back on the right track and any time there is a disaster he is right in the middle of it leading from the front — not the back and that is leadership I can respect.

        Is he corrupt? I don’t know, you don’t know, and the only person that can make that decision is a judge. Until then, his personal finances aren’t my business nor anyone else’s and anyone that believes they have a right to his finances is obviously the hypocrite as I’m sure they’d love to open up their books to the public as a shining example.

  5. Paul Jones

    not long after McCrory took office and begin his appointments (which were quickly see as a broad confused mess even by his own party), someone asked me if McCrory was in for two terms. My bold and somewhat cynical prediction was that he would not finish out his first term. even I thought I was being a bit over the top. but every day since he has come closer and closer to proving me right. I had hoped for better and hoped to be wrong so that NC would have better leadership. but no.

  6. john

    “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel”

  7. Mike L

    If this news came to light a couple of months before the 2016 election it would definately hurt McCrory’s re-election chances but, as last month’s elections proved, North Carolinians have very short memories when it comes time to vote. Sadly enough, unless this story comes up alot in campaign ads in 2016 it will probably be a non issue by then…

  8. Someone from Main Street NC

    Of course he blames the media for his own personal corruption. But this is a state where voters were stupid enough to send Thom Tillis to DC as their senator. I’ll bet McCrory will be deemed fine and dandy and re-elected as NC governor.

    • Mike W

      Wow, you’re quite the judge, jury, and executioner aren’t ya?

    • Tony Moore

      Hagan sure was not clean !

  9. lily

    I wonder what other little wrong doings are hidden behind the smoke and mirrors. I am sure as time progress, they will come out.

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