Elections definitely have consequences. Instead of the job creation
they promised, House repugicans spend what little time they are in
session working on votes to repeal Obamacare, doing all they can to
prevent job creation and supporting a sequester that, according to
Macroadvisers, will
kill 700,000 jobs and reduce economic growth by .6%. Senate repugicans abuse the filibuster to the point that everything needs 60
votes. The only thing worse than repugicans acting like spoiled
children in Congress, is a repugican running a state.
We know about Rick Snyder’s obsession with replacing elected
officials with unelected (and unaccountable) Emergency Financial
Managers. We know about Scott Walker’s attacks on unions. We know about
Rick Scott’s voter suppression program, along with his opposition to
Obamacare. Maybe North Carolinians thought that somehow their new repugican Governor, Pat McCrory, would some how be different. Maybe as
the moderate as he said he was during his campaign and during Monday’s
State of the State Address, but he’s turning out to be a boiler plate wingnut extremist on steroids.
Of the laws McCrory passed since he arrived at the Governor’s
mansion, nothing captures the essence of his mind set like his
unemployment law. It includes cuts to Unemployment benefits reducing the
maximum weekly cap from $530 to $350,
North Carolina Unemployment Benefits Cut – North Carolina Takes A Turn As Mississippi – Esquire reducing
the duration of benefits from 20 weeks to 12 weeks and eliminates
benefits for people who left work for health or family reasons.
McCrory’s
statement
about the bill sounds like he’s channeling Paul Ryan’s logic on
Medicare and his worship of the almighty job creators, “This bipartisan
solution will protect our small businesses from continued over-taxation,
ensure our citizens’ unemployment safety net is secure and financially
sound for future generations, and help provide an economic climate that
allows job creators to start hiring again.”
But wait, there’s more. Aside from the dramatic cuts in benefits, the
law increases unemployment taxes paid by businesses through a
combination of eliminating the zero-percent rate that roughly 30,000
businesses weren’t paying, a 20 percent state surcharge and Federal
taxes of $21 / employee. Aside from these goodies, North Carolina will
lose Federal emergency relief benefits that were part of the fiscal
cliff agreement. According to the
Charlotte Observer:
” The federal benefits, extending payments past 26 weeks
of unemployment, were awarded as part of the “fiscal cliff” deal in
Congress. But the federal law requires states to maintain their existing
benefit structure. The U.S. Department of Labor said 170,000 people
will lose an estimated $780 million in benefits in North Carolina
because of the new law.”
Besides gutting unemployment benefits at a time when the unemployment
rate in North Carolina is 9.2%; McCrory signed a new law that should
make xenophobes everywhere proud. After resisting Federal requirements
for states to issue drivers licenses to undocumented immigrants under
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, (DACA) McCrory changed his mind
and opted to issue the licenses albeit with a North Carolinian version
of Star of David armbands.
The
Winston-Salem Journal reports: ”Across
the top of the new license is a pink strip. In the center, red capital
letters say, “NO LAWFUL STATUS.” On the side another set of red capital
letters say, “LIMITED TERM,” referring to the license holder’s two-year
reprieve from deportation.” As Moises Serrano, told the W-S J : ”Imagine
trying to get on a flight at the airport, and you have to use this
license. It’s an invasion of my privacy. I am undocumented and
unashamed, but I say that on my terms.” I’ll bet the Queen of “papers please” wished she could high-five McCrory for this stroke of genius.
As if cutting unemployment benefits when unemployment is high and stigmatizing DACA license holders, McCrory is looking to
Jindalize North Carolina’s
tax system
. He also said no to expanding Medicaid under Obamacare, though if Rick
Scott can change his mind, it’s remotely possible that McCrory will do
the same. McCrory’s plan to make education more “business friendly” by
discouraging post-secondary education
got a nod from the State House. The House gave overwhelming final
approval Wednesday to a bill creating new kinds of high school diplomas
and course plans that
emphasize vocational or career paths that don’t require 4-year college degrees. (my
emphasis) Oh, and there’s one more thing. It seems that McCrory wants
to replace members of local boards with people who think like he does
because it just makes things more efficient. From the
News Observer: ”The
state’s repugican-dominated legislature and repugican governor would have a
free hand to sweep out all the members of several key boards and
commissions and replace them with their own appointments, under a bill
advanced Tuesday.”
The barbarity doesn’t end there. Cherie Berrie (I swear that really
is her name) who was recently elected as North Carolina’s Labor
Commissioner, wants to
abolish the minimum wage.
Of course, one may be tempted to wonder why on earth would North
Carolinians vote for these people? The answer reminds us just how
consequential state elections can be. This is the sort of government
that gerrymandering builds.
Erik Spanberg of the Charlotte Business Journal explains:
“Two years after the repugican cabal took control of the House and
Senate for the first time in a century, the party increased its margins
to super-majorities, meaning repugicans are now veto-proof. As for a
Congressional delegation now firmly in repugican hands — Democrats held a
7-6 advantage but enter 2013 with just 4 of the state’s 13 Congressional
seats — and the dominance in the General Asembly, Parker and others say
the vote is more evenly divided (true) and skewed by redistricting
carried out by repugicans (also true). State Senator Dan Blue of
Wake County, a Democrat who spent 22 years in the House, calls the
revamped districts “resegregation” and hopes legal challenges will lead
to new boundaries.”
One can’t help noticing the irony. When repugicans govern, government is the problem.
The
still-unnamed star of the hit video known as Technoviking is suing
Matthias Fritsch, the filmmaker who recorded him dancing in 2000. The
lawyers involved and the court in Germany are not very forthcoming with
the facts of the case, but Technoviking wants all videos and images
bearing his likeness stripped from the web. If not, he wants Fritsch to
pay up and spend time in jail. Judges in the case proposed a compromise,
which Technoviking has rejected. A German blogger doesn't think
Technoviking can win.
Many
children who suffer from neglect or abuse from their parents nonetheless
manage to grow up into decent adults. Question is, do they owe anything
to these bad parents?
