I spent the last two days (Tues & Wens) at the NC Legislature, my first time and it was an eye opener. Several reports have been written on this so most of you know it was bad. Here is a partial lists of the power grab:
• House Bill 17 makes 1,200 of Pat McCrory's political appointments permanent state employees, grants the NC Senate unprecedented approval over Governor-elect Cooper's cabinet picks, and also removes Governor-elect Cooper's power to appoint trustees to the UNC board and the state board of education.
• House Bill 6 needlessly changes the Department of Information Technology from part of the Governor's cabinet to an "independent" agency whose leadership would be chosen by the Republican Lieutenant Governor.
• Senate Bill 4 allows McCrory to appoint the chair of the industrial commission before he leaves office and would drastically change the board of elections by giving the General Assembly the authority to choose half of its members and giving Republicans almost-guaranteed chairpersonship of the board for the foreseeable future.
• Senate Bills 5 and 6 grant McCrory the power to appoint two last-second Special Superior Court judges. One of the appointees would be McCrory's budget director, Andrew Heath, who has limited legal experience.
But here’s the thing, these guys were smug. They have a super-majority and all but gave the Dems the bird as they ignored everything except their own agenda. Compromise? Discuss? Debate? Not even. You could see the frustration in the faces of the Democrats, they had no idea of the special sessions and were informed the same time the public was even though the Repubs collected the requisite amount of signatures before the session began.
With their current 2/3 majority, they can override anything the governor wants to do and it appeared they reveled in it. My heart was sickened. McCrory has made an announcement, he’s heard how they’re shackling him and pledges to do his job.
Fortunately we have a strong coalition, and support. People who couldn’t attend sent food so those of us who were there were sustained. People who under different circumstances might never sit and share meals or stories, linked arms in prayer for our state and country. Apathy and misinformation are our greatest enemy but we are fighting back. Each of us tells our story and those stories get repeated, our voices rise until it becomes a roar. What they did in NC wasn’t justice or justified, it was petty because their guy lost in a fair election. And that seems to be their new mantra across the country.