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archived: 18 - 24 Jun, 2006 Back Next UPDATED: June 22, 2006 IDEOLOGY OR GOOD GOVERNMENT As noted in the two articles below from earlier in the week, Republicans are deeply divided over the formulation of the State budget. Democrats have successfully streamlined the budget process: In less than five weeks, the Senate and House have approved their respective budget proposals. Hard-fought issues in past sessions, like an end to video poker and an increase in the minimum wage, have moved through both chambers almost as quickly as resolutions to honor the war dead.
It's a situation reminiscent of two decades ago, when Democrats had an iron grip on the legislature, except that today Republicans are just a few seats away from controlling the House. These days, the legislative buildings are crammed with groups holding their rally days for favored causes because if they wait too long, there might not be any lawmakers around to talk to. One point being missed is that Democrats have given Republicans who are willing to commit to the budget process in bringing good, effective government to North Carolina a seat at the table. Each House of the General Assembly has passed their own version of the budget. Each chamber has appointed a number of “conference committees” to meet and work out the differences between the two chambers. Democrats have given Republican Senators and Republican House Members seats on these critical conference committees. As previously noted in TPJ, a number of State Republican Senators voted for the budget and a majority of Republican members of the House voted for the budget. Having participated in the process to help bring effective government to North Carolina, the Democratic leadership has given Republicans a seat at the table. The Democratic Party leadership is also recognizing that the people of North Carolina do not want political ideology to rule, they want elected leaders to work to find solutions to problems in North Carolina and to provide the resources for good roads, an improving education system and to attract jobs to North Carolina. Republican ideologues may prefer waging political battles, but it is refreshing that some Republicans and Democrats are willing to put good government over bad ideology. TPJ kudos to the Democratic Party leadership and to those Republicans willing to work for a better North Carolina. A REPUBLICAN VIEW OF UP OR DOWN Robert Peterson has authored a wonderful article at BlueNC (a TPJ favorite) that exposes the hypocrisy of Sens. Dole and Burr as well as the Republican Party: Burr
and Dole would not allow an up or down vote...on minimum wage. This is
my letter to the Durham Herald. It wasn't so long ago that all we heard from Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr was that Supreme Court Justices deserve an up or down vote. They decried Democrats who MIGHT block an up or down vote by voting against cloture, thus blocking the will of the majority. Yet, today, those same Senators voted against cloture, against an up or down vote. Was it for a judicial nominee? No. It was for a vote on raising the minimum wage, which is at its lowest point since the end of World War II. Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole should be ashamed of allowing a small minimum wage increase to see an up or down vote. Once again, they play the part of do-nothing representatives that would rather interfere with the lives of working families than help them. Peterson makes an excellent point and a powerful issue for North Carolina Democrats. Congressional Republican hypocrisy is evident from these facts (emphasis added): Last week, Congress voted itself a pay raise to cope with that upward pressure on personal expenses. That increase, $3,300 a year, will boost lawmakers' pay to more than $168,000.
Yet the same lawmakers have refused to raise the minimum wage for 10 years. (Oh, by the way, during that 10-year period, the pay for members of Congress has gone up by over $31,000 - close to three times the amount someone on minimum wage will make in a year.)
Support for an increase in the minimum wage is as close to universal as anything you would ever find. A new Pew Research Poll found that 83 percent of Americans agree that the minimum wage should be raised from its current $5.15 to $7.15 an hour, with half of the respondents saying they "strongly support" the idea. The poll showed that the issue cuts across party and economic lines, with all groups showing widespread support. North Carolina Democrats recently enacted a minimum wage increase. Democrats need to be making the case against the Republican position across North Carolina. _____________________________________________ UPDATED: JUNE 20, 2006 REPUBLICAN APOPLEXIES Republicans are simply in apoplexy that a majority of their members voted for the State budget in the State House. The full story on the passage of the House budget appears immediately below. This article appeared in The North Carolina Conservative, a Republican blog (emphasis added): The NC House passed its revisions to the budget this week, for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The House budget proposal requests spending of approximately $100 million more than the Senate version. The House would squander the budget surplus and increase spending by around 10%, driving the state of NC into further debt. In other words, the House not only joined the Governor and the Senate in irresponsible budgeting, but said, “I’ll see your bet, and raise you 10%”.
The House budget proposal passed 91 – 23. All Democrats present voted for the proposed budget, as did 32 Republicans. Only 23 Republicans voted against the proposal. There were 4 excused absences in the final vote, and 2 not voting.
Reps. Blust, Rhodes, Capps and Dollar spoke against the budget proposal. The legislators who spoke against the proposed budget were either ignored, heckled or booed by the Democrats and the majority of Republicans. The debate was anything but civil.
Republican National Committeeman, Rep. Ed McMahan, the tacit head of the Republican unity movement (and stealth candidate for Speaker of the House) opposed the proposed budget, and strongly urged all Republicans to vote against it. The majority of Republican House members defied McMahan, and their rude, loutish behavior toward Reps. Blust, Rhodes, Capps and Dollar leads one to question, “What unity?”
Clearly, the majority of Republicans in the House are united with the Jim Black Democrats in raping and pillaging the tax-payers of North Carolina. The past few months have witnessed indictments and the exposure of corruption surrounding Speaker Black, and the defeat of RINO figure-head Richard Morgan. With the passage of the budget proposal, all of the Democrats and a solid majority of Republicans responded, “Big #@$%^&’n deal; it’s business as usual here.”
The embarrassing behavior of Republican House members who booed and heckled members of their own party led Rep. McMahan to say:
“In my opinion, the session yesterday was the absolute low point for our Republican caucus in the 12 years I have served… This behavior makes us look silly and amusing to the Democrats. A couple of lobbyists approached me after session and said we look like fools. I do hope that things improve for our caucus next session—they cannot get much worse.” Republicans united with Jim Black! Elementally, Republican House Members who are not ideologues who want to make a contribution to the State participated in the budget process. Conservative Republicans who tout ideology above effective governing simple represent a minority. As “House Republican Leader Joe Kiser, R-Lincoln, a former sheriff, backed the budget in part because it would pay for 90 new assistant district attorneys to help with a statewide backlog of court cases. Thirteen prosecutors could be hired in Mecklenburg.” The Republican Party is no longer in a position to run against Democrats over the State budget without hurting a substantial number of their own members. And, conservative Republicans are attacking a majority of their own members. It is Republican apoplexies. _____________________________________________ THE SPLIT The State House passed its version of the State budget this week; 91 to 23. As the chart below indicates, every Democrat voting voted for the budget. Of 55 Republicans who voted; 32 voted for the budget fashioned by the Democratic majority and 23 voted against the Democratic Party budget. A majority of Republicans in the State House voted for the Democratic budget! A split of this dimension among Republicans in the State House is a rare event. The House budget would spend approximately $100 million more than the Senate version of the budget. Some differences in the House budget from the Senate budget are:
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