Norms and traditions

by | Dec 19, 2016 | Editor's Blog, NC Politics | 8 comments

If you were to read most accounts of the special session of the legislature in North Carolina this week, you would probably think that it was designed to strip power from incoming governor, Democrat Roy Cooper. It had all the makings of shenanigans. The session came on the heels of a session called to address disaster relief. Republicans called it at the last minute, catching both Democrats and the press off-guard. And every piece of legislation passed gave the legislature more power at the expense of the governor.

Fortunately, we have the Republicans to set us straight. Their explanations fall into three basic categories: the Democrats did it; the constitution says we can; and we’re restoring power to the legislature and other agencies that the Democrats grabbed.

“The Democrats did it” is a lousy excuse since Republicans got elected in 2010 and 2012 pledging not to govern like the Democrats did. In particular, they would do away with cronyism and vindictive politics. Since they also gave high-paying jobs to the wife of Pat McCrory’s chief of staff and his budget director, they’re hypocrites at best.

Also, they’re doing far more than Democrats. Democrats didn’t restructure boards of elections to give themselves a permanent advantage. Democrats didn’t require Jim Martin’s cabinet appointees to get Senate approval. Democrats didn’t strip away Republican governors’ appointments to the UNC Board of Governors and Board of Trustees. And Democrats didn’t make the court system work differently.

Ever since they went into session, Republicans have been waving the state constitution claiming they’re within their rights to do what they’re doing, but just because they can doesn’t mean they should. It’s the same excuse they used to redistrict local jurisdictions to make them more favorable to Republicans. It’s the same justification they used for seizing local assets like the Asheville water system. In a system like ours, exercising restraint is as much a virtue as exercising power.

Finally, Republicans claim they’re restoring powers that the legislature and other agencies gave to the executive branch. However, the biggest power grab happened in 1988 when the Senate stripped power away from the lieutenant governor’s office. If they’re sincere in the efforts to correct all of these wrongs, they should give Dan Forrest the power that Phil Berger now enjoys.

What Republicans have really done is created a less stable government. Successful democratic governments work as much because leaders respect norms and traditions that remain in place during transfers of power. The GOP session last week undermined those principles. It also laid waste, once again, to their claim that they would govern more fairly than democrats. They’ve done the opposite. If they were going to make the changes they made, they should have done it when we elected a Republican governor. Instead, they’ve amped up partisanship when we need to reduce it now more than ever.

8 Comments

  1. Russell

    Again, “One cannot reason with pigs & fishes.” The GOP is a Front for the C.S.A. and it is time to remove all monuments that honor the fallen of the C.S.A. who wasted their lives in the service of the ideals of hate & inequality.
    Nothing but a physical demonstration such as the toppling of these monuments to a failed and oppressive regime, Stalinist before Stalin was robbing banks, will do now.
    The Civil War, War between the States, and the defeat of the ideals of “Betters” who are unrestrained in their goals of maintaining and advancing wage slavery along with hatred for people who as citizens somehow offend them will only be defeated when their totems are gone from the public squares and campuses of the state.

  2. Tamara Brogan

    Excellent article. Very well done. The leadership in the General Assembly and many of the Republicans have been destroying our state since they assumed power. This latest power grab that took place last week is just another example of how far they will go to maintain their power and control. They are determined to keep that power at any cost…even at the cost of destroying the democracy in our state. They don’t care about doing what is best for all the citizens of this state, just what is best for them! We have two years of Legislative elections in 2017 & 2018. We need to send them home and elect leaders who will fix their mess and get North Carolina back on track.

  3. Mike Leonard

    If they thought they could get away with it, the NC GOP would introduce a bill to bring back segregated drinking fountains.

  4. JoeB

    How do you spell republican?: h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e.
    I think if they could, they would make it illegal to vote for anyone who isn’t a republican.

  5. Norma Munn

    I used to consider the NJ politicians to be first in the country when it came to lacking integrity. The NC GOP legislators have now surpassed them both in lying and passing legislation that does not pass the smell test. I would say “Shame on you.” to each of them, but clearly shame is not a trait they recognize.

  6. Jay Ligon

    The leaders of Republican Party of North Carolina cannot be taken at their word. They claimed to bring their show to Raleigh to conduct an emergency session for the heroic purpose of offering relief to the victims of Hurricane Matthew. Instead, they held secretive sessions in the dark to strip powers from the incoming governor. This is bait and switch governance as a primary strategy.

    They made broad sweeping changes to the state’s election laws, stacking the deck in their favor. The legislators either know or should know that their efforts violate the Constitution, but they go with it anyhow. When the courts smack them down, they try something else equally as repugnant and dishonest. They are like thieves trying every back door in the neighborhood, looking for the unlocked door. When caught, they pretend they did nothing wrong.

    The rest of the country looks in disbelief as State becomes a place in full reverse, a place where the lawmakers are nostalgic for the Jim Crow era. The legislature is on a joy ride, grabbing what it can. They dare the people: “Just try and stop us.” The kleptocrats are in the driver’s seat, and they are riding us.

    • TbeT

      One could easily envision the smirk on the faces of the NCGOP leadership as they poo-pooed fears of court-packing before meeting in Raleigh. And that vision remained in the mind’s eye as Berger and Moore lobbed mortar rounds of bills that trampled the relationship among the state’s three branches and that advanced an even higher level of political partisanship.

  7. Mr David B Scott

    For the Republican Legislature to claim the power grab was not partisan is laughable. If McCrory had been re-elected, would they have proceeded to limit HIS power? NO! These power trippers are not interested in representing all citizens of NC—just their base of extremists. One more indication that THESE PEOPLE CANNOT GOVERN!

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