Tillis hails Florida decision on health care law

Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, hailed today's decision by a federal judge in Florida that the new federal health care law is unconstitutional. The law, Tillis said, "is bad for business in North Carolina" and said people expect the legislature to protect their right to make their own health care decisons "and protect North Carolina's economy in the process."  His remarks provide support for a House committee that wants to prevent the federal government from forcing people to purchase health care.

 The new Republican majority campaigned last year on jobs and the economy, but the House's first committee action of the session, on the health care bill, suggested a different priority. It was not so surprising that the bill came up; what was surprising was how fast the committee moved, without a public hearing or more deliberation.

The House Judiciary Committee last week approved a bill that in effect would exempt North Carolina residents from the mandate to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. It also directed the N.C. attorney general to represent North Carolinians in court if needed to enforce the bill.  That bill could come up for a vote on the House floor this week.  

Tillis's office released the following statement about the court decision:

"In the House of Representatives, we have no higher priority than to balance our budget and work to foster an environment that encourages job development. The Federal Health Care bill is bad for business in North Carolina. For over a year, North Carolinians have clearly expressed their displeasure with the Federal legislation, and as recently as this afternoon, a Federal judge in Florida expressed his concern by ruling the entire law unconstitutional. We will not stand idly and watch an unconstitutional usurpation of authority by the Federal government. North Carolinians expect us to act to protect their right to make their own health care decisions; we plan to do just that, and protect North Carolina’s economy in the process."

Readers: Give Republicans more time

Some readers of Sunday's column questioning whether anything in the legislature has changed have fired back, saying the column was too quick to judge the new Republican majority and that the proof will be what happens in the long run.
 
A Charlotte reader wrote:

Enjoy reading your insights about Raleigh, as always.

I would think the new Republican leaders would have gotten more than a week before the honeymoon was declared 'over' after 112 years of wandering in the Wilderness like Moses and the people of Israel.

Any time these is a transition in power in Washington or Raleigh or Charlotte, the new leaders bring with them a new vision of how they are going to run things.

 'Appointing a parliamentarian' who is an expert at legislative process as Thomas Jefferson and Madison wrote about seems to be a step in the right direction, not the wrong one.  How can a duly-elected politician really be an unbiased arbiter of 'parliamentary procedure' in any setting? When I was chief of staff for Senator Dole in Washington, we had  TWO former parliamentarians come in to brief us on Senate procedures and I can promise you, there is NO WAY in the world that any mere mortal or politician can know and the rule on all points of order without such help on a minute-by-minute basis.

The best advice though, they gave us? 'Remember this, if you remember nothing else...In the US Senate, the ONLY rule is....there are NO RULES!  Majority rules...so figure out how to get to 50%+1 and you will win every time!'

That is the essence of our democratic republic.

I think it is far too soon to hang it up on these new leaders and a tad bit 'unfair' to judge them based on their first week of organization and all that.

Give Thom Tillis and Phil Berger and the others 6 months.  If they start passing bills in the dead of night and bring in people strapped in a gurney straight from the hospital to vote; or change the legislative day in the middle of a regular session ! (Saw it once with mine own 4 eyes when Jim Wright did it in Congress circa 1989!); or start burning down opponent's tobacco-curing sheds to intimidate them somehow, well, then you can write whatever you want about the 'NEW Republicans being as bad as the 'Old Democrats' all you want.

But these guys are different.....let them work their magic for awhile before judging.
Another reader wrote:

Will the Republicans govern "behind closed doors, riding roughshod over the opposition and building the kinds of power structure they have complained about Democrats doing for years?" I noticed that you said "they" because the Observer certainly has not complained about it too much. The Observer has enhanced this way of governing by their overwhelming endorsements and cheerleading of Democrat candidates, to the point of sounding like an actual appendage of the Democratic Party.

Your lamentation is no doubt sincere; however, it has the appearance of crocodile tears, much as the Democrats calling for a non-partisan committee to handle redistricting after a century of their doing so unilaterally. Only two days after Republicans assumed control Opinion was criticizing the priority of joining the Repeal Healthcare suit before initiating legislation on jobs. Surely, time was somewhat critical in joining this suit before it went to court?

In summary, I too hope the Republicans demonstrate how it should be done. But surely they deserve some leeway here after more than 100 years of Democrat's cramdowns? Our state's image has been badly tarnished by the Democrat's corruption, brought on no doubt by absolute power, which again has been significantly assisted by Observer support.
 
Another wrote:

I'm sorry sir, but we must have seen two different campaigns from the Republicans. Addressing the health care debacle was one of the big planks that conservatives across the country clamoured for. I am highly pleased to see them attempting to fulfill their pledge. I wish them success! Rep. Mel Watt mailed me a summary of the health care bill that Congress used. It is a nightmare! I strongly recommend you attempt to secure a copy of it. Just look at how fast one of the Dems favorite supporters, the unions, are attempting to get out of it.

 There is, as you are no doubt aware, little that government can do to create jobs. Since they don't manufacture anything. The only artillery they have available is to lower taxes, less regulation, and low union meddling to lure jobs.

 We need to get rid of corporate taxes. No company pays them. You must know this. It is simply added to the price of the good or service, and becomes a hidden tax on all of us.

Navy again suspends work on Outlying Landing Field

For the second time in the past three years, the U.S. Navy has suspended its plans to try to place an Outlying Landing Field in northeastern North Carolina so jet pilots can practice aircraft carrier landings. In  2008, after citizens groups fought the Navy over plans to put the SuperHornet landing field near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Washington County and politicians eventually weighed in against putting the field so near large migratory waterfowl nesting grounds, the Navy abandoned the Washington/Beaufort counties site and looked elsewhere.

Two of those new sites were in other parts of North Carolina  -- Sandbanks in Gates County and Hales Lake in Camden/Currituck counties.  The Navy said it was suspending work on the N.C. sites and in Virginia while it focuses on locating the Joint Strike Force on the West Coast.

Jeff Hampton of the Virginian Pilot in Norfolk reports that the Navy has notified local officials about the suspension.

 “This email is to provide your office notice of the Navy's decision to suspend release and stop work on the OLF DEIS for construction and operation of an outlying landing field,” according to the Navy notice. The Navy plans to locate new squadrons of the Joint Strike Fighter on the West Coast first and would not consider East Coast facilities until at least 2014, the notice said.

Local officials were glad to hear it.

“I think all of our persistence has paid off,” he said.

It was welcomed news to opponents of the project who have protested at public meetings, created websites to decry the project, lobbied state and national officials and posted "No OLF" signs along yards and road sides. As an acronym for outlying landing field, a bad word in parts of northeastern North Carolina.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Laura Dickerson, president of Citizens Against OLF in Gates County. “We’d rather see it canceled.”

In January 2008, the Navy announced plans to build an airfield where jets could safely practice aircraft carrier landings. Possible sites named were in Surry, Sussex and Southampton counties in Virginia and Gates and Camden counties in North Carolina. Opposition immediately got active. Citizen groups created No OLF websites, local governments passed resolutions against the plans, hired lobbyists to oppose them and convinced elected officials to pass bills that could either stop or delay them.

PPP: Perdue gains, still behind McCrory

Public Policy Polling reports in its latest poll that Gov. Bev Perdue is pulling closer to Republican Pat McCrory, the former Charlotte mayor who's probably running for governor again.  Perdue's numbers -- found to be weak in the Democratic primary in a Civitas poll yesterday -- are better in a head-to-head contest with McCrory. She's behind him by 7 points, but she has recently gained 5 points, PPP's Tom Jensen reports, but she'd still lose if the election were today. But the election isn't today, and it's a long time until next year's election -- about 22 months, but in politics that's several lifetimes away.

Jensen notes, "If she's gained five points on McCrory in two months, well out from the election, then it's certainly possible that she could make up the other seven in the next 21 months. It's not going to be easy by any means but it's too early to write her off."

Here's what PPP said in a news release:

Bev Perdue continues to trail Pat McCrory in a hypothetical reelection contest, but as her approval numbers have improved over the last few months she's beginning to close the gap a little bit. McCrory leads by 7 points at 47-40. That represents a five point gain for Perdue since she trailed by 12 in a November PPP poll at 49-37.

The biggest key to Perdue's improvement is a resurgence with independents. Where she trailed McCrory by 31 points with them a couple months ago that margin is now down to 10 points. Independents were strongly supportive of the government reorganization plans that Perdue put forward to much attention a month ago and the Governor is also probably benefiting from a general warming toward Democrats from those voters since the beginning of the year. Numerous recent polls have found Barack Obama with his best numbers among independents since early in his Presidency.

Perdue's 10 point deficit with independents is actually almost identical to the 7 point loss with them we found on our final North Carolina poll in 2008. The main reason Perdue is running poorly compared to the last election is mediocre numbers with Democrats. She leads only 65-21 with them right now where she had an 80-17 advantage the last time around. Perdue's lackluster approval numbers since she took office can be blamed more than anything else on her relatively poor standing with Democrats. Finding a way to keep the party base in line over the next 21 months is probably the key to her winning a second term.

Meanwhile McCrory continues to be well liked at least with the voters that still know who he is. A plurality in the state at 45% have no opinion of him either way but among those who do 33% rate him favorably to 22% who see him unfavorably. His favorability runs 4:1 positive with Republicans at 43/11 and impressively there are almost as many Democrats- 26%- with a positive opinion of him as a negative one- 27%. A few rounds of negative advertising would likely plunge his favorability numbers across party lines pretty darn quick, but at least for now he's doing well on that front.

If the election was today Perdue would lose, pretty much no doubt about that. But it's not and I think some folks have been a little quick to write her political obituary. If she's gained five points on McCrory in two months, well out from the election, then it's certainly possible that she could make up the other seven in the next 21 months. It's not going to be easy by any means but it's too early to write her off.


For more, see:
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/01/perdue-pulls-closer-to-mccrory.html

More on 'The Great State of Meck':

Former state Rep. Lane Brown, a Democrat who represented Stanly County in the legislature and who now lives in Cheraw S.C., recalls the Great State of Mecklenburg debates in the House going back to the early 1970s -- fostered by Eastern N.C. legislators, as Brown recalls:

Enjoyed reading your piece in yesterday's Charlotte Observer ("Charlotte vs. Raleigh, again', Jan. 16), which brought back some
memories of an "exchange" on the floor during the 1971 session (my House District was the 32nd,
Stanly County):

Billy Culpepper rose from the Honorables to speak on a bill one of those short calendar days, making
some comment about "the Great State of Mecklenburg" as compared to his "Little State of Chowan"!

Holding his "fire" until the sponsor finished his remarks, "Cousin" Jim Vogler as he was affectionally
called, rose to propound a question to Culpepper, which went something like this: "Mr. Culpepper,
don't you think it unfair that my district (Mecklenburg) sends more tax dollars - sales tax, income
tax, inheritance tax - to Raleigh than all of your counties combined on the Albemarle Sound send
to the capitol?....that Mecklenburg is a 'donor county' while your little counties are 'donee' counties?"
Culpepper, caught off guard, quickly recovered, replying: "If you Mecklenburg people think you are
so ***/** big, why not just set up your own state?" Vogler, not to be outdone by the rep from down
East, finished the argument by saying: "We have this under continued consideration....". The debate
closed and the question was called.

I can recall many other occasions when the Mecklenburg quip was mentioned on the floor. Perhaps
Jimmy Greene, later as Speaker, often said when presiding: "For what purpose this time does the
Great State of Mecklenburg desire to be recognized?" The reply from some member of the delegation:
"To suspend the rules so that the Speaker might have a smoke!"  So it went, session after session.

Keep bringing us some of this good Tar Heel history and lore!

Best Regards,
Lane Brown

Let the fun begin in Raleigh

RALEIGH -- The 2011 N.C. General Assembly convenes today in Raleigh with an entirely new cast of characters in charge of the crushed marble, brass and walnut edifice on Jones Street a block north of the Capital. This marks the 35th year I have walked across Union Square and down to the Legislative Building, and begins the 18th biennial session I've covered at least part of the time since we moved to Raleigh in 1977, including a couple years writing editorials back in Greensboro.


Had I known it would be that long, I would have worn better shoes and sat down a lot more.

Those cold, hard terrazzo floors in the Legislative Building are tough on old feet and bad knees, and though I've never walked into one of the fountains that dominate courtyards inside the legislative building, as some unfortunate freshman member or unwary lobbyist does from time to time, I've found the building to be a hazard to creaky joints and aging bones.

On the other hand, the people who work there -- the clerks of the House and Senate, the serving crew in the cafeteria, the researchers in bill drafting and fiscal research, the 170 members and their staffs, the hundreds of lobbyists and the dozen or so regular members of the Capital Press Corps -- year in and year out are some of the most interesting people in this Vale of Humility Between Two Mountains of Conceit.

But this year, it changes in dramatic ways. Perhaps my great grandfather, the Rev. A.D. Betts, who preached at occasional political events round this town near the end of his long and colorful career, would have remembered the 1898 session, when Sydenham B. Alexander represented Mecklenburg in the Senate and Walter P. Craven, R.M. Ransom and J. Solomon Reid represented it in the House. It has been said that's the last time Republicans controlled the legislature, though others argue the date goes back to 1870. There are days when it feels like I've been covering the place at least that long.

But my days as a Raleigh correspondent began in the reign of James 1, when Jim Hunt had just been sworn in as governor for the first of his four terms. The town belonged to Democrats despite Republican gains a few years earlier in 1972, when voters put Republicans in the governorship (Jim Holshouser) and the U.S. Senate (Jesse Helms) for the first time in the 20th century. But in 1977, three years after the disastrous Watergate election of 1974 wiped out most Republican legislators in Raleigh, it was largely a Democratic government.

The governor was a Democrat, the lieutenant governor was a Democrat, the entire Council of State was Democratic, the courts system was headed by a Democrat and the legislature was heavily Democratic. In the Senate there were 4 Republicans and 46 Democrats; in the House there were 6 Republicans and 114 Democrats. There were 6 legislators of African American descent -- two in the Senate, four in the House, and there were 23 women -- 4 in the Senate, 19 in the House. Most but not all were Democrats.

The fortunes of Democrats and Republicans have ebbed and flowed since then. Republican Gov. Jim Martin served two terms in the 1980s and early 1990s, but otherwise Democrats have hung onto the governor's mansion. Republicans ran the House for two terms in the mid-1990s before Democrats won it back. Then in 2003 Republicans appeared to have won the House back, but a change in party by one legislator produced a deadlock and joint Democrat-Republican management in the House for two years.

Since then Democrats have run the show -- until voters put an end to that, at least temporarily and maybe for a long time, last fall. A lot depends on whether Republicans do unto Democrats what the Democrats used to do unto Republicans when it came to the decennial redistricting.

For the first time since the 19th century, Republicans will run the House and Senate. They control 99 of the 170 legislative seats, with 31 members in the 50-member Senate and 67 members, plus one independent who will likely vote regularly with them, in the House. By the way, the changes include the fact that there will be five fewer black legislators in the 2011 session and five fewer women legislators in 2011. Most of the women lawmakers are still Democrats, but one-third are Republicans.

Gov. Bev Perdue, of course, is a Democrat, as is Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton. Perdue gets to propose the budget. Dalton gets to preside over the Senate. But the Republicans who run the House and Senate get to decide what passes and what fails, and for anyone who wonders what difference elections make, we're fixing to find out.

So what we have in North Carolina is genuine mixed government -- with Republicans in charge of legislating and Democrats mostly in charge of executing. Republicans who have longed for this moment -- and who yearn to win the governor’s mansion in next year’s election -- have an opportunity not only to change the direction of how North Carolina taxes its people and spends its money, but also to change how a major government institution performs. Will it be behind closed doors, riding roughshod over the opposition and building the kinds of power structures they have complained about Democrats doing for years?

The NC Coalition of Lobbying and Government reform has a list of the sort that Republicans in past years have embraced. It includes such things as no more secret meetings on the budget, making the budget public for three days before any vote is taken, no more "blank bills" to be filled in later, no more non budgetary amendments called "special provisions" allowed in the budget bill and 24 hours notice before a committee substitute can be sprung on the membership.

What I know from covering politics and government for more than four decades is that it’s hard work, no matter who’s in charge, and doing that work ethically and in a transparent fashion that lets taxpayers see what they’re doing, is harder than it sounds. It’s a lot easier to talk about reforms that create more openness and that give every legislator the chance to have his or her ideas heard on the floor or propose amendments, than it is to allow it.

But if the new Republican majority can carry through on its promises of opening up the legislature and taking better care of the public’s money and its main institutions of education and public safety, they will have earned the public’s gratitude and the right to keep running the Legislative Building on Jones Street. If they opt for manipulating the rules to squelch dissent and remain in power, if they create slush funds to help their friends and punish their enemies, as they accuse Democrats of doing, and if they act unethically in the dispatch of the public’s business, they can count on a short stay in positions of power in Raleigh.

Likewise, Gov Bev Perdue has opportunities and challenges. If she can work with the new Republican majority to balance the budget, reduce taxes, improve tax fairness and protect classrooms and provide for public safety, she will be in an excellent position for re-election -- the campaign for which, mind you, is already under way if not visibly so to the public. She may not have the choice. She has one veto to Republicans' 99 votes. But it's hard to imagine Perdue not standing up for the things Democratic governors always support: public schools, community colleges and the university system, promoting jobs, and better mental health and health care for those who cannot help themselves. Her popularity numbers haven't improved dramatically, but Republicans have yet to run the legislature for a full year. We don't know yet whether they're do a great job or make a hash of it. What Perdue and the new Republican majority do in 2011 will be major factors in who runs the joint after the 2012 election. Let the fun begin.

Obama's numbers looking better in N.C.

President Barack Obama's number are better in North Carolina, Public Policy Polling says, with more approving of his performance than disapproving. His numbers have been up elsewhere in the nation, but just now have arrived here, the company said in a news release today. It all means that Obama is in a good position for the next presidential campaign in this state even as Civitas' poll (see previous blogpost) finds that Gov. Bev Perdue, who was elected in 2008 with help from Obama's coattails, isn't doing so well among potential Democratic primary voters in 2012.

"For the first time since December of 2009 PPP finds more voters in the state approving than disapproving of him, at a 49/47 spread.

"Increased optimism about the economy in the state is helping Obama's revival. Last March a majority of voters in the state at 51% felt their personal economic situation had gotten worse since Obama took office compared to only 10% who thought it had improved. Now the portion feeling things have gotten worse for them is down to 47% and the one thinking things have gotten better is up to 16% with 37% expressing the sentiment that there's been no change for them since the President was inaugurated."

PPP also said, "Obama's gain in popularity has been fueled by voters in the center. A year ago his approval rating with moderates was 59%. Now it's up to 69%. This improvement in his standing, along with the lukewarm reaction of voters in the state to the leading 2012 Republican Presidential contenders, has him in position to repeat his surprise North Carolina victory from 2008. He leads the four most likely GOP contenders at this point by margins ranging anywhere from 3 to 9 points in this month's poll."

For more, see http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/01/obama-on-positive-turf-in-north.html