The NC GOP, fully in charge of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time in a century, has decided they like being in power. In a sign of redistricting shenanigans to come, the NC GOP is trying to remove the Obama DOJ from he VRA approval process.
Republican budget writers slipped a provision into the budget moving the authority to seek approval for VRA pre-clearance of the new maps from Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) to a GOP-controlled legislative study committee. This way, the GOP can pick the venue for VRA pre-clearance of the redistricting plans.
See 5:20 - 8:00 of this video:
Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt (D) news conference
Under current NC law, state Attorney Geneneral Cooper would seek VRA pre-clearance from the Department of Justice. Now if that DOJ was under a Republican president, like it was in 2001, and 1991, and 1981, and 1971, well that would be okey-dokey with the NC GOP.
But with the (black) Kenyan-born, (black) Muslim, (black) socialist, (black) anti-American, (black) alien President's appointees running the DOJ, the GOP can't get all the presents they want under the redistricting Christmas tree in 2011.
Their preferred (Santa) venue - the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. A court with 6 Republican-appointed judges, 3 Democrat-appointed judges, and 2 vacancies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
After the 2010 election blowout, the NCGOP has the votes to pass any budget they want. Governer Bev Perdue has all but promised a veto of the budget - but she cannot veto the redistricting plan.
“With regard to education funding, the proposed budget appears to be a charade," said Perdue, a Democrat, according to a media release. "While the Senate claims to protect teaching positions, they are actually forcing local school districts to make substantial layoffs of education personnel to the tune of more than a quarter billion dollars
A veto override on the budget bill would pass the Senate, where Republicans have enough votes, but they would need 5 Democrats in the House to go along with an override there. It remains to be seen if 5 House Democrats will vote in support of this budget.
A sucessful veto override would lead to the NC GOP's as yet unreleased Tar Heelmander plan being sent to the GOP-dominated DC Circuit Court of Appeals for approval. I'm sure it's purely a coincidence that Senator Charles Grassley is blocking confirmation of President Obama's nominee - Caitlin Halligan - to one of the vacancies on this court.
Suffice it to say, there are numerous concerns regarding the nominee’s judicial philosophy and her approach to interpreting the Constitution. I do not believe that she will be able to put aside her long record of liberal advocacy and be a fair and impartial jurist. Those concerns, coupled with the facts regarding the D.C. Circuit Court’s workload, lead me to oppose this nomination.
http://grassley.senate.gov/...
Can the NC GOP mount a successful end-run around the Obama Dept of Justice? They are sure gonna try.