hypocrisy

A comment on a story at TPM:

I'm sure Rick Perry was taken aback. It is one thing to endorse the wholesale state sponsored killing of murderers. It's quite another to realize the political movement you have aligned yourself with doesn't believe that the uninsured have any right to life, of course with the exception of the unborn. Which brings up a question for this bunch of blood thirsty cheer leaders of death. If an unborn fetus has a right to life, but is born with a medical condition requiring life saving treatment, to a parent with no access to health insurance, do you allow that child to die?

(expletive deleted)

If Dante were alive today, he'd be laughing his ass off at the Divine Comedy of North Carolina politics, otherwise known as the eighth circle of hell.

As you may remember from high school, this special circle punishes sins involving fraud, with a hearty shout-out to (1) corrupt politicians immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, and (2) hypocrites who slog the circle, burdened by heavy lead cloaks of deception. In North Carolina politics, both are alive and well.

On the corruption side, Democrats have long held top honors with a record of greed that should be embarrassing to anyone claiming party membership. The list of known offenses is too long to recount, and I am proud to say that progressives remain at the forefront in the push for ethics and transparency. On the hypocrisy side, today's Republicans have no equal. Jane Pinsky makes the point well at NC Policy Watch.

“In every other aspect of our lives, there’s opportunities for people to donate - except this one,” Folwell said. “It empowers people. It pushes the power away from this town, and back down to the people who truly feel the urge that, if they’re not taxed enough, that they can donate more.”

Does that mean we can "donate" less when we don't like where our money is going? Can we unfund the circus known as the North Carolina General Assembly? Give us that option, Mr. Folwell, and you'll find yourself out of a job in two seconds flat. Fucking hypocrite.

Nothing shines a brighter light into the cesspool of Republican morality than the way the GOP approaches financial responsibility. Today we learn that Republican senators in Congress are looking for backdoor ways to allow states to declare bankruptcy in order to avoid funding their commitments to public pensions. Witness corporatist arrogance in the extreme, a full-frontal assault on public workers.

There is a simple and honorable solution for states that want to meet their financial obligations: raise taxes. But don't expect Republicans anywhere, including here in North Carolina, to worry about their commitments. They'd rather see states declare bankruptcy and destroy the foundation of government than do what they promised to their workers. It's the Republican Way.

Whenever you hear a Republican in the General Assembly talking about the importance of keeping decisions in the hands of local folks, you'll need to pull out your can of Bullshit spray. That's because the Tarheel Taliban is only in favor of local decision-making when they like the local decisions being made. So if you happen to be a county commissioner or city council member interested in funding good government in your own jurisdiction, you are pretty much shit out of luck.

Republicans in the state House are hoping to eliminate the possibility of local tax increases on land sales. Currently, counties have the ability to seek voter approval for up to one-quarter percent of property values on real estate sales.

Situational ethics on parade:

Perdue did not loudly champion such a nonpartisan approach to redistricting until her party lost control of that process. But that would be changing the game on voters, too. Voters chose Republicans to run the legislature in 2011, and Republicans deserve the opportunity to show what they can do on redrawing legislative and congressional maps.

The Journal has endorsed an independent commission — but for the redistricting process that begins in 2021. Again, timing is essential.

But when you wrote this editorial a little over a year ago, you didn't say a damned thing about waiting 'til 2021:

Politico is reporting that Republicans who opposed the stimulus package that is helping to save our economy, are speaking out of both sides of their mouth. When it is convenient to take the money to win points at home, they do. But their 2010 strategy is to distance themselves from the money.

The cost of bigotry idiocy

If NC state Senator Jim Forrester had his way, North Carolina taxpayers would be over $5 million poorer this November.

As he does every legislative session, Senator Forrester filed a bill this past February to write discrimination into the state constitution -- even though marriage equality is already banned by state statute.

Well, the Fiscal Research Division determined that holding such a referendum in November 2009 -- as Senator Forrester proposed -- would cost the state's taxpayers over $5.7 million.