Rep. Thom Tillis

Misplaced priorities, or a move to disenfranchise?

"I expect voter ID to be one of first substantive bills that will be sent to the governor," said Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, likely to be elected to a second term as House speaker. McCrory is a voter ID proponent. Legal challenges by Democrats and civil rights groups are expected.

If that is supposed to have substance, I'd hate to see their idea of a bill lacking substance. At least there is proof that a lot of grease is being stolen...

Talking one way and acting another:

"When I think about regulatory reform I think about the way the state regulates K-12 education, the way it regulates the counties, the way it regulates the towns, the way it regulates the community colleges, the way it regulates the university system-all are things we need to rethink and decide whether or not we're doing them as efficiently and effectively as possible.

As far as placing a regulatory burden on towns and counties, here's a doozie from the party of "less regulation":

Not something I would write home about:

Rep. Thom Tillis (R), State Legislator of the Year - 2011
• Rep. Harold Brubaker (R), William J. Raggio Excellence Award - 2009 (currently an ALEC board member)
• Rep. Julia Howard (R), State Legislator of the Year - 2006/2007

It's important to note the man who Chairs the NCGA Budget Committee (Harold Brubaker) has been a loyal and productive member of ALEC for over ten years:

Stretching the term "public servant" until it snaps:

Tillis touted several pieces of legislation passed by the Republican majority, including new laws addressing medical malpractice reform, tort reform, regulatory reform, annexation reform, and workers compensation reform as some of his proudest moments of his third term in office.

Shifting even more burdens on to the backs of the people you're supposed to represent is not something in which to take pride. Thank God there are people like Gerrick Brenner to call bullshit:

Progressive Pulse by Chris Fitzsimon

"Here is the most interesting exchange after yesterday’s hearing about the shortfall in state Medicaid funding that may result in seniors and people with disabilities losing important medical services.

House Speaker Thom Tillis says the Republicans had no idea that their budget was counting on savings in Medicaid that were unrealistic. At least that’s what he told Laura Leslie with WRAL-TV ..."

When the truth simply won't do:

Tillis gets credit for steering the legislation through the Statehouse as well as garnering enough bipartisan support to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s vetoes five times. Perdue proposed a budget that would have made a temporary tax hike permanent.

Not that you deserve the honor, Thom, but your name is right up there at the top of the "addressed to" list on the Governor's Budget Proposal (fat pdf):

In search of cookie-cutter legislation:

In my conversations with those who have attended ALEC events in the past, a lot of the focus has been on developing model legislation. This focus combined with corporate donors who pay for lawmaker scholarships (see below) lead many to question the probity, or at least the appearance of conflict, the event stirs. (NPR did a story this year changes to Arizona criminal/prison laws that apparently started at an ALEC conference, much to the benefit of a conference sponsor.

Again, hat-tip to Mark Binker for linking to this Pro-Publica tutorial on how to research ALEC. Check it out, and if you do dig up some useful info on NC legislation or legislators, (please) post it here for folks to check out:

Apparently "living within our means" is a subjective term:

House Speaker Thom Tillis in the last few months handed out raises as high as 27 percent to half his staff after vowing in January to set an example for others in state government by cutting his office payroll.

I expect Tillis et al will have a hard time justifying these excesses in the days to come. But today, we're going to take a little side-trip and look at two men: One, a relatively seasoned investigative journalist, and the other a propagandist Pope puppet:

Trying to take over even more Executive Branch functions:

He (Tillis) said that Republicans in the House and Senate plan to more actively track budget spending than they have in prior years. "Another reason why we’ll do it is to make sure money is not being spent just because it was budgeted but because there was a true purpose, with the object of having even more reversions next year.”

Translated: "Those spending numbers detailed in our Budget mean nothing, because we're going to continue to blindly cut as the next two years proceed."

Playing to a crowd of idiots:

Tillis drew cheers when he said the budget cut one-third of the staff of the state Department of Public Instruction. He noted that the building is called "the Pink Palace," a derisive term Republican Lt Gov. Jim Gardner applied to it in the 1980s.

"To be fair, it's a beautiful building," Tillis said. "It's pink granite. We think condo complexes or something else, if you need office space."

That crack alone is worth a Veto from the Governor, Party of Five or not.