Clearly we live in a nation where people are free to speak their minds. Darn if we actually use them. As Chris Fitzsimon earnestly points out in his June 26 post on NC Policy Watch, The Follies, all Republicans present during the vote to fund a $25 million North Carolina Aquariums Fishing Pier in Nags Head voted in favor of House Bill 638. For someone who is so keenly aware of the bill’s movement – and for those who are keeping score at home – in the Legislature, well, let’s just point out that the pier bill is actually House Bill 628. Fitzsimon’s House bill reference is actually to the Greenville Housing Authority.
In spite of that, the fact that all the homework to get the pier under construction had already been done prior to being placed in front of the Senate April 14 for final approval, and was “shovel ready” within 24 hours of it being signed into law (the construction contract was awarded to Clancy and Theys on April 15), doesn’t raise any eyebrows?
Legislators who are trying to take care of an enormous, historical budget gap in North Carolina may have been hoodwinked by the initial approval of the bill, but that doesn’t mean while both bodies are working out the details of the budget, they can’t go back to correct a wrong. Nothing is final until the budget is put into place. And that means lawmakers need to be as realistic to the needs of North Carolinians as possible; by not raising taxes, and by cutting both unnecessary programs and funding for pending boondoggles that will inevitably make things worse in years to come. The job of the General Assembly is to serve the state, not just the Outer Banks.
Hey guys, thanks for catching the typo about the pier bill. The column is now corrected online.
I have one question. Don’t you think that when Berger and other Republicans complain about the funding for the pier, they should at least acknowledge that they all voted for it?
They can say they changed their mind, but it seems more than a little disingenuous to just rail against something they all supported without saying they helped pass it.
Chris,
I don’t think it’s very fair for us to look at the actions of the Republicans through this lens.
Perhaps it makes the issue more clear if we look at what it would infer if Republicans voted against this bill. This bill was thought to be a large job creating bill in the middle of a recession. If the Republicans had voted against this bill, we would be hearing instead of how the Republicans were against creating jobs that would help the economy of coastal North Carolina.
I don’t think the Republicans really had a choice but to vote for this bill, even though they are against it in principle.
I will go halfway to Chris’ side of this argument. The Republicans deserve just as much criticism as the Democrats. I have a feeling in the coming election you will see both sides use it as an issue without telling the other side of the story (normal political SOP).
The real problem is that no one but the leadership knew what they were voting for and for that alone, they all deserve to be criticized.