A Herculean battle is raging in North Carolina as opposing
forces struggle for domination in the North Carolina Legislature.
You might think it is the Moral Monday demonstrators who
have been a thorn in the side of the Republican-led legislature since the 2012
elections; calling for voting rights, women’s rights, Medicaid expansion and a
number of other social imperatives.
Or it is possibly the
North Carolina Public School teachers who have been both lauded and reviled
during this legislative session by those who think that many, perhaps most, are
unworthy of their pay, or should work harder for it, or don’t need extra hands
in the overcrowded classroom.
No, you say, it must be the women of North Carolina who must
give over their health decisions to their bosses and travel half-way across the
state to find the health services they need. Or could it be environmentalists who are
appalled at the slipshod manner in which the legislature has moved forward with
plans to begin fracking in the state.
Surely it must be the unemployed struggling to hold on to
their homes and feed their children while their weeks of eligibility are
whittled away.
Well, recent polls by both the conservative group Civitas
and the left-leaning Public Policy polling say none of these groups have great
love for the 2014 North Carolina Legislature. But the battle between these
groups and the Republican-led legislature pales in comparison to the battle
within the ranks of the NC GOP itself. A three-way tug-of-war between the
House, the Senate and the governor have all but paralyzed the state.
While one would think that a party that controls both
chambers and the governor’s mansion would whiz through the short session,
piling up victories as the opposing party gnashes its teeth and beats its chest
in defeat, not so in North Carolina. In fact, the Democrats have ordered
popcorn and a coke as they watch the GOP implode.
The short session, which has languished into July, has
produced few victories for the GOP as they battle each other with the vigor of
mortal enemies. A budget battle has positioned the GOP in opposition to educators
and state workers. The move to use lottery earnings to fund teacher pay raises
has enraged many on the religious right. The GOP appears baffled as to how to
address Medicaid issues. They cannot even decide how much of a short-fall to
anticipate, much less how to rectify it.
It would seem that the NC GOP would be relishing its victory
over redistricting, voting rights restrictions, budget cuts, reductions in
unemployment benefits, and the taking of both chambers of the legislature and
the Governor’s mansion. But let us not forget—they are the party of “No.”
It turns out they
know how to fight much better than they know how to legislate, and so they
fight one another.
