Republican Party

[Danny Bateman]

Quick summary of the things the bills McCrory has signed will accomplish:

 

 

• Cut the number of positions working directly for the governor from 1,500 to 300 (a number which was originally expanded from 400 for McCrory in 2013), limiting the number of Democrats Cooper can appoint to government.
• Require that the governor’s cabinet appointments be approved by the state senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans.
• Limit the number of appointments the governor can make to the state Board of Education and University of North Carolina board of trustees.
• Change the state’s nonpartisan Supreme Court election process to a partisan one. In other words, Supreme Court nominees would have a “(D)” or “®” by their names on a ballot.
• Require that cases go through a full court of appeals — which is currently controlled by Republicans — before going to the state Supreme Court, which currently has a Democratic majority.
• Change the makeup of the state and county board of elections, which are currently set up to be in the governor’s party’s majority, to equally bipartisan boards, which would be led by Republicans in election years and by Democrats in non-election years.

 

Basically, very little in North Carolina will be happening without the GOP's approval. They're essentially trying to obstruct as much as possible and make sure that Cooper can't change the situation they've cultivated. The classic Republican power plays-- shout as loud as you can that government doesn't work, and then do your best to fulfill that prophecy. It's absolutely abhorrent, and the bolded in particular should be alarming to anyone who craves a fair and free electoral process.

 

They get to control the board of elections every election year? The same board in charge of recounts and overseeing voter fraud/suppression charges?

This is beyond disgusting. This ought to be criminal. Vox actually did a very good job summarizing it. Cooper said he'd see them in court if they passed anything he thought to be unconstitutional-- he is the state AG, after all-- and mentioned that the court room is not a place where they "have a very good record." Zing!

Hope he sues their pants off and this garbage gets tossed out. There's good precedent (not president, as some would have you believe ) that the North Carolina GOP is a bunch of slimy weasels corrupting the state's democracy.

[zoogs]

UNC political science professor Andrew Reynolds: North Carolina is no longer classified as a democracy

 

In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global league table – a deeply flawed, partly free democracy that is only slightly ahead of the failed democracies that constitute much of the developing world.

[Making Chimichangas]

UNC political science professor Andrew Reynolds: North Carolina is no longer classified as a democracy

 

In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global league table – a deeply flawed, partly free democracy that is only slightly ahead of the failed democracies that constitute much of the developing world.

 

 

What can you expect from a state that is dominated by pseudo-religious, intolerant, racist, kkk/nazi bigots?

[zoogs]

About NC, I saw something about a federal judge blocking some of the measures taken to strip the governor's powers, at least temporarily. Let's see how that goes.

 

Latest episode for the title subject of this thread: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/2/14149832/house-office-ethics-vote

 

House Republicans voted on a measure Monday night — on a federal holiday, with no advance public notice, and reportedly despite opposition from leaders Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy — that would eliminate both the office’s independence and its ability to communicate with the public. The full House of Representatives will vote on the proposal Tuesday as part of a new package of Congressional rules.

Terrific?

[Fru]

Good work GOP *eye roll*

 

 

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/house-gop-votes-gut-independent-ethics-office-44521722

[BigRedBuster]

This is something to watch very very closely. It's obvious the Republicans haven't learned a lesson on winning people over by doing the right thing.

[knapplc]

 

UNC political science professor Andrew Reynolds: North Carolina is no longer classified as a democracy

 

In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global league table – a deeply flawed, partly free democracy that is only slightly ahead of the failed democracies that constitute much of the developing world.

 

 

What can you expect from a state that is dominated by pseudo-religious, intolerant, racist, kkk/nazi bigots?

 

 

I'm wary of this kind of broad-brush description. Especially the zero-to-sixty "kkk/nazi bigots" accusation.

[Fru]

As much as I despise Trump, he's not wrong in this assessment.

 

"Trump on Tuesday morning called out his fellow Republicans on Twitter. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it," Trump said in one tweet, adding, "........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS."

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/gop-congress-ethics-office-233123

 

Although I'm not sure it's worth much. It wouldn't shock me if he flips on it a few times and sends Conway out to muddy things up even further.

[BigRedBuster]

As much as I despise Trump, he's not wrong in this assessment.

 

"Trump on Tuesday morning called out his fellow Republicans on Twitter. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it," Trump said in one tweet, adding, "........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS."

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/gop-congress-ethics-office-233123

 

Although I'm not sure it's worth much. It wouldn't shock me if he flips on it a few times and sends Conway out to muddy things up even further.

Wow...kudos to Trump for the tweets.

[BigRedBuster]

What part of this would even come close to anything someone would defend?

 

Previously an independent body, the new set-up would essentially declaw the office. It would bar OCE from considering anonymous tips against lawmakers and sharing investigative findings with other branches of government or the public, as the office currently does in the name of transparency. It would also apparently keep OCE from investigating criminal activity, the bulk of their work — instructing the office to refer any hint of such actions to the lawmaker-controlled ethics panel rather than pursue themselves.

 

[NM11046]

As much as I despise Trump, he's not wrong in this assessment.

 

"Trump on Tuesday morning called out his fellow Republicans on Twitter. "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it," Trump said in one tweet, adding, "........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS."

 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/gop-congress-ethics-office-233123

 

Although I'm not sure it's worth much. It wouldn't shock me if he flips on it a few times and sends Conway out to muddy things up even further.

I agree Fru - I'm trying to wrap my head around why he'd benefit from having the committee. Cuz he wouldn't have an opinion on it unless there's some way it hurts or helps him (imo).

[Landlord]

 

UNC political science professor Andrew Reynolds: North Carolina is no longer classified as a democracy

 

In the just released EIP report, North Carolina’s overall electoral integrity score of 58/100 for the 2016 election places us alongside authoritarian states and pseudo-democracies like Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone. If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global league table – a deeply flawed, partly free democracy that is only slightly ahead of the failed democracies that constitute much of the developing world.

 

 

What can you expect from a state that is dominated by pseudo-religious, intolerant, racist, kkk/nazi bigots?

 

 

When you demonize the entire other side, you lose the ability to have meaningful input and work towards any progress or change.

 

Are you more concerned with accomplishing something, or are you more concerned with being right?

[knapplc]

Kudos to Trump for calling out the GOP for this move. Now he needs to put action behind those words and campaign to keep the Ethics Committee strong and independent.

[Danny Bateman]

Kudos to Trump for calling out the GOP for this move. Now he needs to put action behind those words and campaign to keep the Ethics Committee strong and independent.

 

Eagerly waiting on the bolded. It was my first thought when I saw that tweet.

 

Have we reached a point where he can project "support" for something by merely tweeting about it, and absolves himself of any responsibility to actually support it through his actions?

 

I wonder if we're entering an era where people are satisfied that Trump tweeted out something they agree with and fail to pay attention long enough to see what he actually does.

[Fru]

 

Kudos to Trump for calling out the GOP for this move. Now he needs to put action behind those words and campaign to keep the Ethics Committee strong and independent.

 

Eagerly waiting on the bolded. It was my first thought when I saw that tweet.

 

Have we reached a point where he can project "support" for something by merely tweeting about it, and absolves himself of any responsibility to actually support it through his actions?

 

I wonder if we're entering an era where people are satisfied that Trump tweeted out something they agree with and fail to pay attention long enough to see what he actually does.

 

 

I think we're there.