Republicans in the state legislature are beginning to roll out their maps for the new General Assembly districts using 2010 Census data. They’re following federal law by first drawing districts that comply with the Voting Rights Act, which is good. But it appears they are going well beyond that mandate to use the VRA to create several additional majority-minority districts with heavy concentrations of Democratic or non-Republican voters. You can view the proposed VRA districts for the state House and state Senate under the section titled “Plans and Information for 2011.” What’s the impact of this strategy? Minority and Democratic voters are apparently being packed into a smaller number of total districts statewide, rather than have their influence spread across more areas; conversely, the lines are drawn to keep Republicans at a minimum in the VRA districts and put them in other districts that will favor GOP candidates. It’s a cynical use of the VRA to help Republicans win more seats in Raleigh and Washington. Sen. Eric Mansfield (D-Cumberland) says the maps seem to endorse a return to segregation; they will promote racial tension and polarization rather than centrist politics. You can share your view of these maps at a public hearing on Thursday, June 23, at a variety of locations across the state.
Link-of-the-Day Category
Democracy North Carolina’s Executive Director Bob Hall periodically posts commentary and links of interest about one of our core issue areas. Review his posts below or click here to automatically subscribe to our Link-of-The-Day feed via email and other options.
You are welcome to submit comments to this moderated blog. Please treat others with respect, avoid partisan rhetoric, and help us provide a fact-based discussion of issues related to North Carolina’s political landscape. Thank you.
LOD: Pay-to-Play Harms Public Health
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Pay-to-play politics can be petty – or deadly serious. The Wilmington Star-News reports that state Sen. Thom Goolsby received a $4,000 donation from the head of the city’s home builders association and shortly thereafter introduced a bill in the General Assembly that the association’s lobbyist had prepared. The bill overrides a city policy about how the Wilmington convention center is rented to groups. That policy hardly deserves statewide attention, but the Goolsby/builder interaction does, because the two men risk being charged under the state’s anti-bribery law if “it could reasonably be inferred that the thing of value [the $4,000 donation] would influence the legislator in the discharge of the legislator’s duties” (NC General Statute 120-86). Meanwhile, one of the biggest campaign donor’s in the state, Duke Energy, joined several other businesses in pushing a surprise bill yesterday that will stop North Carolina from regulating toxic chemicals released into the air by power plants, paper factories, steel mills, etc. This example of arrogant special-interest legislation illustrates the grave consequence for people’s health of pay-to-play politics. On the national level, the Koch brothers are the poster boys of using their money to gain policies that help their businesses and personal fortune at the expense of others’ health and safety. A fascinating, horrible case in point: they’ve used their clout for years to prevent proper regulation of formaldehyde as a carcinogen, costing untold damage.
LOD: The Up-Chuck Bill
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
A hodgepodge of anti-voter bills resurfaced this afternoon in the House Committee on Elections as a single 44-page proposal, without warning or even a summary of its complex contents for committee members. Republican chair David Lewis wanted the bill voted on that afternoon. Rep. Deborah Ross (D-Wake County) called the process “legislative malfeasance,” and others said the heavy-handed maneuver violated the Republicans’ promise to run the General Assembly with transparency and due process in contrast to past Democratic regimes. Among other things, the up-chuck bill would slice a week off Early Voting, ban Sunday voting, cap individual donations to political parties at $250,000 but allow unlimited corporate money to finance party operations, end the requirement for county boards of election to conduct annual voter awareness and registration campaigns, eliminate straight-ticket voting, kill the Council of State public financing program, make all judicial races partisan, enact a weak pay-to-play prohibition affecting state vendors, kick out the current chair of the State Board of Elections this September, and more. Ironically, the Democrats outnumbered Republicans when Rep. Lewis called for the committee vote, and the bill was defeated – but in a quick move, Lewis voted No, too, so he could later “move to reconsider the previous vote,” a maneuver only available for the No voters. The bill will soon get its favorable vote in the House Committee on Elections and move along its forced march through the General Assembly chambers to the governor’s desk, where it deserves her Veto stamp.
LOD: Elections Matter & So Do You
Monday, June 13th, 2011
A report from the Pew Center on the States reveals the sharp differences in what various state legislatures achieved this year, depending on which partisan group has “one party rule.” Republicans now have control of the legislature and governorship in 20 states, up from 8 before the 2010 election, while the Democrats are in total charge in 11 states, down from 16. The report illustrates in detail how elections really do matter: Voter ID, spending cuts, immigration policy, health reform, women’s rights, etc. On the other hand, for those who worry that changing some things is bigger than changing which party wins the election, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg has a searing critique of the continuing arrogance of presidents, from Nixon to Obama, and he renews his call for the public to protect democracy by forcing the high-and-mighty to obey the US Constitution.
LOD: NC Ranks 4th on Voting Index
Friday, June 10th, 2011
According to a new analysis by Rock the Vote, only three states (Washington, Iowa and Montana) have better policies to help young people participate in elections than North Carolina. We tie with Oregon in fourth place and 45 states rank below us, with neighbors South Carolina and Virginia tied for dead last! This Voting System Scorecard measures state laws and policies in three areas: voter registration, voting procedures and young voter preparation. The other states in the top four have longer histories of promoting civic participation and their voter turnout rates are typically among the best in the nation. Several features that helped North Carolina climb to fourth place are relatively new (e.g., Same Day Registration, pre-registration for teenagers), We have yet to fulfill our potential for sustaining a turnout rate among registered voters close to the 70% level we achieved in 2008. Rather than help, the new crowd at the General Assembly (especially those backed by funding from Art Pope) are promoting bills that will make voting more difficult and lower our score on the Voting System Scorecard from 12.8 to 6.8 points (see page 17 of the report highlights).
LOD: Update on Photo ID, Other Bills
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
The photo ID bill, known by opponents as the “Voter Suppression Act,” passed its final House vote by a party line vote of 68 to 48. The goal of Democracy North Carolina and other voting rights groups has been to keep the conservatives’ margin of victory small enough to send a message to Gov. Bev Perdue that her veto of this bill could be sustained. We succeeded: The Republicans needed to gain support from at least four House Democrats, as they did with their budget, but they failed. The bill now goes to the Senate for passage next week and then to the governor for, we hope, her veto. Meanwhile, a host of other bills are crossing from one chamber to other, and Republican leaders will be prioritizing what they want passed by next weekend’s anticipated adjournment. Among the bills in play are those to preserve the judicial public financing program but change to partisan judicial elections; end the Council of State public financing program; create an independent redistricting process modeled on Iowa’s, beginning with 2020; slice a week off Early Voting; end straight-party ticket voting; merge the State Board of Elections’ campaign finance division, the State Ethics Commission, and the Secretary of State’s lobbying division into one agency under the control of General Assembly leaders; add rapid disclosure of campaign donations received in the weeks before the General Assembly convenes; make it easier for third parties to have candidates on the ballot . . . .
LOD: Big Tobacco’s Smoke Screen
Wednesday, June 8th, 2011
Big Tobacco has dropped from its ranking at the top of big contributors to federal candidates, but the industry is still spending millions to advance its political agenda in less visible ways. A new report from the Center for Responsive Politics tracks millions going into 527 committees and leadership PACs and notes that the Citizens United decision invites the industry to hide its money behind a haze of mystery groups. “One thing the tobacco industry has done is stay out of the public view and disguise its efforts in politics,” says Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Control. “With the rise of this undisclosed money, it is hard to know what they’re doing.” Nevertheless, the CRP report identifies the top recipients of tobacco largess, led by Sen. Richard Burr in the 2010 election cycle, as well as hot issues the industry intends to influence.
LOD: Photo ID Moving This Week
Monday, June 6th, 2011
To big applause, Speaker Thom Tillis told NC Republicans at Saturday’s convention that this week he will push through legislation requiring voters to show a government photo ID each time they vote. The bill has been stalled for months as more evidence piled up about it being a waste of tax money and a partisan tool to make voting harder for certain groups of citizens. Republican leaders have tried to negotiate a modified ID requirement with various factions in the General Assembly, but an agreement could not be reached. So be prepared to see the GOP satisfy their Tea Party/base supporters by ramming through the hard-line photo ID bill this week. Then it will up to Gov. Bev Perdue to veto the bill – as well as the bill now in the state Senate to slice a week off the Early Voting period. The New York Times notes that both bills are part of “a well-coordinated effort by Republican state legislators across the country to disenfranchise voters who tend to support Democrats, particularly minorities and young people.”
LOD: C’mon Guys – Show Some Class
Friday, June 3rd, 2011
We live in polarized times. Communications between people of different political parties is strained and makes government progress more difficult. So why pass that attitude on to a younger generation? Why take what could have been a lesson in good government and turn it into a petty lesson in how to pull rank . . . against kids? That’s what happened earlier this week when members of NC Moms Rising tried to teach their children a lesson in civic responsibility. They set up a lemonade stand at the General Assembly to raise money for education and other kid-related programs being cut in the state budget. It was also a gentle way of asking why General Assembly leaders won’t raise a little revenue to invest in our children, our future. The kids worked hard in the hot sun to raise $140. Proud of what they had accomplished, they attempted to deliver their proceeds to House Speaker Thom Tillis and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger – only to have security called at one office and a door shut on them in the other. Gentlemen – really? You blew it. What a wonderful opportunity you had to show these kids that government is responsive – and responsible to – the people of North Carolina. All you had to do was smile, shake a few tiny hands and show some graciousness.
LOD: Don’t Connect the Drops
Friday, May 27th, 2011
The Koch brothers, Art Pope’s Locke Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Exxon, BP, Massey Coal and many others understand that if people took global warming seriously as a condition that will kill their children, then government regulation (or just regulating CO2 production) would gain new popularity – and the freedom of business to ignore its social costs would be impaired. Hence the mega-millions spent to discredit the notion that global warming is happening, is caused by human activity, or is something for paid-off politicians to worry about. Read this op-ed in the Washington Post and see if you agree. After that, read Facing South’s post about the efforts of U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) to gut EPA in order to help his energy industry patrons.
LOD: Pit Bull or Lap Dog?
Thursday, May 26th, 2011
U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-Cherryville) lived up to his reputation as the pit bull for ultra-conservatives during a Congressional hearing yesterday. He went after Elizabeth Warren, acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, ending up basically calling her a liar, which set her back in her chair, aghast. McHenry’s animosity to consumer finance protection is rooted in his ideological commitment to wealth-holders’ rights over human rights. He’s happy to protect banks from what he sees as excessive public accountability, and the banks are happy to protect him from election defeat by providing generous campaign contributions. Bank of America and the American Bankers Association are among McHenry’s top 5 career donors, and Wachovia is number 9. Bank of American and Wachovia are also tied for first place as the top donors to McHenry’s 2008 leadership PAC called More Conservatives PAC. By raising and dispensing money for GOP colleagues, McHenry’s leadership PAC helps increase his clout inside the Republican Caucus, which helps when he seeks positions like his chairmanship of the House Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts. After McHenry’s performance at the subcommittee yesterday, a contributing editor of Fortune magazine wondered if he “may have just lost his next election for so obviously being in the pocket of someone other than the people he is supposed to represents.”
