Aspiring to mediocrity

by | Aug 18, 2015 | Editor's Blog, Tax Reform | 5 comments

When Republicans took control of the General Assembly in 2010, North Carolina was struggling in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression. We got hit harder and were recovering slower than much of the rest of the nation. The recession compounded problems brought about by trade policies that had decimated our manufacturing sector and changes in health habits that all but killed our tobacco industry. Rightly or wrongly, Democrats who were in control got the blame.

The GOP didn’t just try to fix what was broken, they’ve gone after the whole system of government. They created a narrative that virtually everything in the state was broken– our schools, our university, our Medicaid system, our economic development program, our unemployment system, our tax structure.

Their solution for fixing it all was to cut everything. In their telling of our state, we had squandered tax dollars on a bunch of failing institutions and if we would just stop paying so much for services and let rich people and corporations keep more of their money, the economy would take off and everyone would be happy.

What Republicans never say, but what is implied in their philosophy, is that we don’t really need good services. We just need mediocre services and that we don’t need to help more people, we need to help less. That applies to public schools and universities as well as to welfare programs and economic development efforts.

They’ve been very successful. Our teacher pay and per pupil spending is among the lowest in the nation and we’re sending some of our best teachers to other states. Our university system has taken a huge hit, raising tuition on students while cutting valuable curricula. Our economic development strategies have been gutted, sending our existing industries to other states and discouraging new industries from locating here. Successful environmental programs that have protected natural resources such as fisheries and forests are on the chopping block.

We’re shifting from a state of greatness to a state of mediocrity. Now, the Senate wants to ensure that we can never recover our national or regional standing by implementing the so-called Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or TABOR. The constitutional amendment would cap taxes and spending, preventing the state from making smart investments in education and infrastructure or adequately responding to natural disasters like the hurricanes that are sure to come.

Only one state has passed a TABOR amendment and they’ve been trying to undo it ever since it passed a dozen years ago. Colorado has seen its public education and university systems decline dramatically. They’ve seen a decline in money for public health including immunization programs for children. Republicans and Democrats alike in Colorado have been trying to change the harmful effects of the law with only limited success.

Only the staunchest ideologues think the TABOR amendment was a good idea in Colorado. Unfortunately, we are being guided by the same type of ideologues. They’ve convinced themselves that government can’t do anything right and only private sector competition can provide quality services. They believe in mediocre public services, including schools and universities, because they don’t believe in investing in people. They believe that only hard work, competition, and innovation will lift people out of poverty or increase upward mobility.

The GOP has slashed funding to the institutions that give people the tools to succeed in the modern economy. Now, they want to ensure that North Carolina is stuck with their ideological recklessness with an amendment that would codify their mistakes. They want to take North Carolina off the road to greatness and put it on the road to mediocrity.

5 Comments

  1. Dwight Willis

    Elections have consequences. Unfortunately, some of those consequences wreak havoc on millions of people that will take a generation to correct. Maybe the next time sane people take control of the NC General Assembly and the Governor’s Mansion we will all work harder and smarter to never lose that control again.

  2. Progressive Wing

    A great and truthful blog, Thomas, albeit it so very discouraging…..

  3. Apply Liberally

    “But here in North Carolina, we have laws which allow hunters to buy silencers for their weapons.”

    Plus, a law that allows suspension of wildlife protection rules so that folks can have a “possum drop” celebration.

    Plus, a law that allows public magistrates to decline serving certain people, simply by claiming religious objection to ……well…..most anything.

    Plus, laws that reduces access to the voting booth and to legal abortion..

  4. Norma

    All of which is why I wish I had not moved here three years ago. I am sure I not alone in this regret. Unfortunately, re-loating is not now a realistic possibility, but if it were, I would not stay.

  5. HunterC

    Got a headache?
    Take two tax cuts and call me in the morning.

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