There was a time when legislators of both parties felt they had an obligation to look out for the interests of families, individuals and municipalities. Now, those interests are secondary to the needs and wants of the business community. The GOP-led General Assembly is giving new meaning to the term “Legislative chamber.”
First up are the most recent fracking bills. One proposed law would make it a felony for anyone to disclose the contents of fracking fluid. That sure instills confidence that the contents are safe. Another bill would prevent local governments from restricting fracking. The bills are, of course, being pushed by the fracking industry, so why in the world would legislators question them?
Next up are the tax changes that would further restrict the power of municipalities to run themselves. For the party that promotes smaller government, the GOP sure is heavy handed. They want to restrict the amount of money that towns and cities can charge businesses. Then, they want to restrict the amount of that municipalities can raise property taxes. Nobody likes property taxes but the people who live in cities and towns should have more say over those issues than the General Assembly.
There are a number of political implications to these bills. Pat McCrory, a former big city mayor, knows the limits on local taxing authority are a bad idea. However, there’s not much he can do about it. If he opposes the measures, the legislature will just roll over him, reinforcing the impression that he’s a weakling. If he supports the bills, he’s a hypocrite since he opposed them when he led Charlotte. It’s a no-win situation for a governor trying to rehabilitate his image.
All of these measures put the interests of businesses ahead of those of the general public. In GOP land, anything that makes money is good, no matter the costs. It’s back to that free-market magical thinking. If we just get out of the way of businesses, they will create tons of jobs, our revenue streams will increase from all the new found wealth and, besides, clean air and water are overrated anyway.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
I think we’re talking about the wrong chamber here….the Legislative Chamber has become the Chamber Pot for the Oligarchy…
And who thought the NC GOP would be for Pot Legalization….
And this might a good time to review the Law of Unintended Consequences. Poor Pat McCrory! Poor Tom Tillis! They gerrymandered the state so hard, that it brought in a wave of angry, ecomomically illiterate, rock-ribbed rural Republicans (good one, Mick!) who are so Not Ready For Prime Time in the state that is North Carolina. The Short Session looks to be a train wreck already. The Tax Cuts From Last Time have dug the state into a fiscal hole, and the teachers need a raise. Rather than looking at economically sound alternatives (Sin Tax, anyone?), the 4Rs have a clever plan to rob Pete to pay Pa.
This all feeds into the meme of Republicans Can’t Govern. They used to be able to, before they imbibed a decade’s worth of Faux News, and stopped believing in credible science and economics. This movie doesn’t end well, for anyone, but unless the Short Session takes a very different track than it’s now headed, especially Tom Tillis.
Yes, it’s about the GOP’s pro-business obsession and continued belief in trickle-down economics, but also about the party’s newfound anti-urban approach. They fully understand that by relying on the 4R (rock-ribbed rural Republican) vote, appealing to the wealthy and the business employees/owners living in the ‘burbs, and doing whatever it takes to limit the urban vote, they might just delay the sunsetting of their majority hold.