I originally published elsewhere this column that I wrote a couple of months ago. In light of the current GOP assault on national governance and governing, I thought that it would be useful to publish it in this space at this time. North Carolina is a microcosm of what the GOP wants to create nationally.
As many of
my regular readers know, one of my favorite topics over time has been the
contemporary Republican Party and where they are taking the country. I was
about to do another one of my speculative columns on that subject when all of a
sudden, there was North Carolina right in front of me. Highly gerrymandered, it
has full Republican control of the Executive and Legislative branches. (Indeed,
it is so highly gerrymandered that the early 19th century Massachusetts
Governor, Elbridge Gerry, after whom the carving up of electoral districts into
rather odd shapes to meet political needs was named, would likely be
embarrassed to have his name associated with what has taken place down there.
Interestingly enough, Gov. Gerry, was one of only three delegates to the
original Constitutional Convention who refused to sign the original document
because it did not contain a Bill of Rights.) And so, they can just do it!
Thus, if you want to know what a Republican future would look like nationally,
just cast your eyes on that state. For them, it's GOP heaven. For the rest of
us, well . . . .
This is some
of what they are doing:
Sophisticated GOP Campaign Literature by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Sophiticated GOP Campaign Literature
1. They have
enacted a voter suppression campaign with very
strict voter ID requirements (to meet the non-existent,
Fox"News"Channel-created "voting fraud crisis") plus strict
limitations on when and where one can vote , one that has been characterized by
Think Progress as the " worst
voter suppression bill in the nation ."
Think
Progress also noted that the NC Governor Pat McCrory said, when asked about
some specifics in the bill, said that he hadn't read all of it but would sign
it anyway. So we have the new substance of governing presented -- narrowing
democracy and participation in government, along with a new process for
executives -- "my party supports it, so I will sign it." At the
"signing ceremony" for the bill, which Gov. McCrory circulated
through a YouTube video rather than doing a traditional signing ceremony at the
Governor's mansion, he noted that voter fraud is very rare but it should be
protected against anyway. Funny how he didn't use the same rationale when he
slashed state spending on food stamps (and hunger is a lot less rare than voter
fraud).
In
an article on similar food stamp cuts that will take in Pennsylvania under an
all-Republican state government, it was stated that: "Life may get harsher
and hungrier for nearly three million people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on
Nov. 1, when food-stamp benefits will be cut overnight for the first time in
U.S. history. It will mean 21 lost meals per month for a family of four ---
devastating arithmetic for families already living either on the edge or within
the abyss of poverty, according to experts on food stamps, now called SNAP for
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program."
2. Some
specifics from the NC State Democratic Party on the GOP "education"
plan include: the firing of over 4,000 teachers and 3,800 teachers assistants;
a clear plan for privatizing public education; increases in college tuition and
the loss of much financial aid at both the University of North Carolina and
community college campuses; ending the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program
(similar to Teach for America); abolishing teacher tenure; and providing for no
teacher pay raises. I do not have any figures on what will happen to class
sizes in North Carolina but I have been told by a senior K-12 educator who
follows education developments nationally that in some states facing similar draconian
cuts, class size will possibly rise to 50(!)
3. North
Carolina now has a set of draconian
abortion-rights-destruction laws among the most of that type in the nation.
4. The
"Outer Banks" of North Carolina, which face the Atlantic Ocean and
bound the famous Pamlico Sound, are a series of low-lying islands that have
been on the frontlines confronting hurricanes for as long as there have been hurricanes.
Of course, now with global warming/climate change there are going to be more
hurricanes, more severe hurricanes, and rising seas levels. Responding to
demands of real estate developers working the Outer Banks, last year the North
Carolina legislature passed a law prohibiting oceanographers employed in any
way by the state, including at the universities, from
using the term "rising sea levels" in any publications/research
reports. (This one was actually let go by the then-Democratic Governor, Bev
Purdue.)
5. Assuming
that the Governor signs the bill, North Carolinians with concealed-carry
permits will
be allowed to take their guns into bars and restaurants , unless the
establishment chooses to prohibit them from doing so (except that if someone is
"packing" how is the bar/restaurant supposed to know that?). Now
let's see. In 50% or so of homicides either the killer or the victim or both
are intoxicated. The solution for NC residents? Order in and drink only at
home!
6. Finally,
earlier this year the legislature passed a bill (subsequently withdrawn) that
would have declared North Carolina exempt from the provisions of the Federal
Constitution pertaining
to the separation of Church and State .
And so, once again, if you want to see what the Republican future will look like, you need look no further than North Carolina. This is what "The 15% Solution" to the GOP problem of rapidly declining popularity among the population as a whole, now being implemented by GOP state governments all over the country, will bring us. We don't have to make this stuff up like I did when I originally published my book " The 15% Solution " back in 1996. What we do have to do is organize a massive nation-wide campaign to aggressively take it on, leading up to the 2016 election. The first order of business? As I have said on a number of occasions, create a Progressive Democratic Party out of what is clearly the wreckage of the present one.
A present note (10/8/13): All of a sudden both President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Reid seem to be developing some spine. The more they hold onto the principles which they are presently espousing and refuse to submit to Republican fiscal blackmail the better the chances that the GOP, subject to increasing presssure from the conventional components of the ruling class (manufacturing, banking, finance, and etc.) will indeed be forced to abandon its Koch Brothers/Club for Growth branch of the ruling class strategy. Time will of course tell on that one.
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