The Decline of North Carolina

[AdamSmith]

I just posted this in the N.C. voting rights act thread, but on reflection it deserves a standalone post, I think.

Editorial

The Decline of North Carolina

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The New York Times

Published: July 9, 2013

Every Monday since April, thousands of North Carolina residents have gathered at the State Capitol to protest the grotesque damage that a new Republican majority has been doing to a tradition of caring for the least fortunate. Nearly 700 people have been arrested in the “Moral Monday” demonstrations, as they are known. But the bad news keeps on coming from the Legislature, and pretty soon a single day of the week may not be enough to contain the outrage.

In January, after the election of Pat McCrory as governor, Republicans took control of both the executive and legislative branches for the first time since Reconstruction. Since then, state government has become a demolition derby, tearing down years of progress in public education, tax policy, racial equality in the courtroom and access to the ballot.

The cruelest decision by lawmakers went into effect last week: ending federal unemployment benefits for 70,000 residents. Another 100,000 will lose their checks in a few months. Those still receiving benefits will find that they have been cut by a third, to a maximum of $350 weekly from $535, and the length of time they can receive benefits has been slashed from 26 weeks to as few as 12 weeks.

The state has the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the country, and many Republicans insulted workers by blaming their joblessness on generous benefits. In fact, though, North Carolina is the only state that has lost long-term federal benefits, because it did not want to pay back $2.5 billion it owed to Washington for the program. The State Chamber of Commerce argued that cutting weekly benefits would be better than forcing businesses to pay more in taxes to pay off the debt, and lawmakers blindly went along, dropping out of the federal program.

At the same time, the state is also making it harder for future generations of workers to get jobs, cutting back sharply on spending for public schools. Though North Carolina has been growing rapidly, it is spending less on schools now than it did in 2007, ranking 46th in the nation in per-capita education dollars. Teacher pay is falling, 10,000 prekindergarten slots are scheduled to be removed, and even services to disabled children are being chopped.

“We are losing ground,” Superintendent June Atkinson said recently, warning of a teacher exodus after lawmakers proposed ending extra pay for teachers with master’s degrees, cutting teacher assistants and removing limits on class sizes.

Republicans repealed the Racial Justice Act, a 2009 law that was the first in the country to give death-row inmates a chance to prove they were victims of discrimination. They have refused to expand Medicaid and want to cut income taxes for the rich while raising sales taxes on everyone else. The Senate passed a bill that would close most of the state’s abortion clinics.

And, naturally, the Legislature is rushing to impose voter ID requirements and cut back on early voting and Sunday voting, which have been popular among Democratic voters. One particularly transparent move would end a tax deduction for dependents if students vote at college instead of their hometowns, a blatant effort to reduce Democratic voting strength in college towns like Chapel Hill and Durham.

North Carolina was once considered a beacon of farsightedness in the South, an exception in a region of poor education, intolerance and tightfistedness. In a few short months, Republicans have begun to dismantle a reputation that took years to build.

http://www.nytimes.c...d=fb-share&_r=0

[Guest EXPAT]

I wish bigger companies would decide to pull out of these states because of their inability to recruit good talent due to these new laws and restrictions. That would soon change their minds.

[AdamSmith]

Agree, except that with the economy the way it is, there is an abundance of talent here in NC, and I think a lot of other places, that is eager or even desperate for work, or for better work. And of course not every worker who objects to local politics has the freedom to move somewhere that better suits his conscience. In all, it is an employer's market.

[TampaYankee]

I wish bigger companies would decide to pull out of these states because of their inability to recruit good talent due to these new laws and restrictions. That would soon change their minds.

Like continental drift, that will take time to have effect. It may happen eventually. The fact is nothing much will change anywhere in the US, other than get worse, until the 2020 elections with new reapportionment legislatures. Even that will require overcoming the existing gerrymandered districts.

Those who don't vote in off-year elections shall reap the wild wind. Forgive the literary excess.

[Guest zipperzone]

Can it possibly be a surprise to anyone that a Republican state government equals regressive measures (except for the rich)?

[Guest EXPAT]

Can it possibly be a surprise to anyone that a Republican state government equals regressive measures (except for the rich)?

And yet so many poor people vote for them. I'll never understand that.

[AdamSmith]

Yet more progress...

AP/ July 23, 2013, 9:13 PM

N.C. lawmakers pass sweeping changes to gun laws

RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina lawmakers have approved a bill greatly expanding where concealed handguns are legally allowed.

The Republican-backed bill approved by both the House and Senate on Tuesday allows concealed-carry permit holders to take firearms into bars and restaurants and other places where alcohol is served as long as the owner doesn't expressly forbid it.

The measure will also allow concealed-carry permit holders to store weapons in locked cars on the campus of any public school or university. Guns will also now be allowed on greenways, playgrounds and other public recreation areas.

The final bill dropped a controversial provision that would have repealed the long-standing law requiring a background check and permit issued by county sheriffs for handgun purchases.

The measure now heads to Republican Gov. Pat McCrory's desk.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57595186/n.c-lawmakers-pass-sweeping-changes-to-gun-laws/