The Hastert Rule and HB2
Right now, there are probably enough votes in the legislature to pass a clean bill to repeal House Bill 2. There are certainly enough to pass a version based on the framework offered by former Republican Governor Jim Martin back in May 2016. However, House Speaker Tim...
Congratulations, Tom Perez. Now, think local.
Tom Perez was elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee. It’s now time for Democrats to put that election behind them and move on. The DNC Chair is not nearly as important as activists seem to believe. The real action needs to happen in the states and state...
Democrats shouldn’t fall for the referendum trap
North Carolina has its own version of repeal and replace going on. It’s not about health care reform, though; it’s about House Bill 2. A bill floating around the General Assembly would repeal certain bad parts of House Bill 2 and replace them other bad options....
The Humpty Dumpty state
There’s a new bill in the legislature to repeal House Bill 2, or repeal parts of it. Once again, the only people happy with it are the sponsors. Liberals say it leaves in place discrimination against the LGBT community. Conservatives like Dan Forest aren’t going to...
Breaking the board
With all the bad ideas floated by Republicans in their attempt to strip power from the executive branch, the restructuring of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Commission has gotten less attention. The new law, which is being contested in court, would combine...
Give ’em a raise
Legislators are talking about raising their pay. It’s long past time to do it. They haven’t had a raise in about 20 years and they need fair compensation. Pay for a state legislator is about $14,000 a year. They get $104 per diem when the legislature is in session and...
More big government conservatives
At a time when the country needs less partisanship, Republicans in the NCGA are pushing bills to increase it. Bills sponsored by GOP legislators would make elections partisan that are currently non-partisan. Those include judicial, municipal and school board races....
Eating their lunch
Rarely has one piece of legislation caused so much consternation for one party. HB2 is so stuck on Republicans that they can’t get rid of it. They passed it in a special twelve-hour session of the legislature a year ago and then-Governor Pat McCrory signed it in the...
Build a bigger tent
Last week, a series of articles help explain the obstacles Democrats face returning to power. A piece by Aaron Blake of the Washington Post described the problems Democrats face in the 2018 elections. Donald Trump won 30 states and 230 Congressional districts compared...
Sandernistas are like Deaniacs from 2005
Democrats are beginning the infighting inevitable after a defeat like they suffered in 2016. There are disputes about strategies and tactics as well as ones about ideology and issues. Some of the arguments may play out during the race for DNC but the divides in the...
