Causey: Berger’s petty politics creating safety concerns
One of the more negative aspects of the recent passage of the state budget was the stripping of state fire marshal duties from Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. Sadly, this is the kind of stuff that happens when you – like Causey did – report an attempted bribe to the FBI and criticize a sweetheart deal for a big donor to legislative Republicans:
One of North Carolina’s top Republican politicians blasted his fellow GOP leaders in the state legislature Monday, saying that he was blindsided by a provision in the new state budget that makes a big policy change in his department.
State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey says a provision that strips him of a key fire-safety role was tucked away in the budget without any prior public debate.
In North Carolina the state insurance commissioner, one of 10 statewide elected officials, also serves as fire marshal. Currently that’s Causey, a Republican who won election to the role in 2016 and again in 2020.
The budget would remove that power from Causey and any future insurance commissioners by instead creating a separate state fire marshal. The insurance commissioner would pick the fire marshal, the new rule proposes, but the state legislature would have the ability to block someone from taking office in that role.
Causey says he was never asked for his own opinion before the change was pushed through in the state budget, which passed Friday, and that other fire safety officials across the state were also in the dark.
“I especially detest the way these items were added without input from the department, the State Firefighters Association, county fire marshals or fire chiefs,” Causey wrote on Monday. “I have yet to meet the first person outside of the General Assembly that favors an independent State Fire Marshal.”
Tim Bradley, who leads the North Carolina State Firefighters Association, confirmed that nobody asked his group about the changes either.
“All I could say I we were surprised by the change,” he said. “The [Insurance] Commissioner’s position has been State Fire Marshal for decades.”
It’s unclear who suggested that the provision be added to the budget or why. Spokespeople for legislative leaders didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, and the budget itself was negotiated in secret
The change appears part of a broader trend at the legislature in recent years of stripping power from the executive branch and giving it to the legislature instead. Many of the changes have targeted Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, but others have targeted GOP leaders, such as Causey. Some of those moves have been ruled unconstitutional, and various parts of the new budget could face lawsuits as well.
Lawmakers passed the budget last week without committee hearings or other opportunities for the general public to comment on what was or wasn’t included. And it was done in a procedural way that also prohibited any changes from being made once it did become public, less than 24 hours before being voted on.
The limited transparency, following months of secret negotiations, has angered advocates of government transparency. Now the ranks of critics include Causey, one of the state’s top Republican politicians.
“No input or discussion allowed on changes to the Office of the State Fire Marshal is very disturbing,” he said.
Causey has been at odds with others in the GOP before. He wore a wire for the FBI to inform on his own party’s relationship with Greg Lindberg. The billionaire Durham businessman was the largest donor to the North Carolina Republican Party — until his 2020 conviction for trying to use those political contributions as bribes.[…]
Causey also took a stand against legislative leaders seeking to change law that could potentially be quite lucrative for Blue Cross NC – a huge donor to legislative Republicans.
The more immediate cause of “Boss Hogg” Berger’s revenge on Causey was Causey blowing the whistle on Berger and Moore’s special interest sweatheart deal for Blue Cross, allowing Blue Cross to corruptly raid their reserves, to the detriment of NC health policyholders. Berger and Moore have descended to being little more than prostitutes for the liberal special interests, so much so that they ought to mount red lights above their office doors.
Hopefully recent polling will encourage a strong primary challenge to Boss Hogg Berger. Berger is an embarassment to North Carolina Republicans, and we badly need to have someone “flip the Berger”. Ditto, his RINO sidekick “Casino Jim” Perry, who was also involved in the attack on Causey.
Welcome to the Life in the NCGA. DO NOT FORGET: LEADERSHIP WENT AFTER FOLWELL TOO!
Do you see a pattern? They attack and punish TRUE CONSERVATIVES. The NCGA has turned into a Pay to Play -Self Service Entity. Leadership has gotten more BRAZEN, that’s all. Nothing new to see hear folks.
I encourage a primary as well, but the consequences…….the consequences if one fails to take out Leadership. Brutal.
We KNOW what to do.
We elect & re-elect Falwell & Causey & FIGHT with every breathe for them. I’m READY!
Grassroots & fellow Conservatives from each county need. network. Either here or some other home but we HAVE to organize & begin.
Otherwise, this state is GONE. Gone like the USA. Tx & Fl are fighting for their lives to remain conservative. Va, Ga are gone.
You do realize Coop & Dems have accepted $millions in fed grants to BRING in lib, woke, teachers now in our public schools.
Our GA & R’s in the GA have left us, no longer represent us & have no similar characteristics, traits, morals & values. Sound familiar; it’s DC politics.
Dem Party left me yrs ago. Now R party has as well!
We need network ‘of the people’ . Not flim flam , self-absorbed, me, me, me to organize. The NC GOP has disintegrated & is now disingenuous. There are still many conservative, older Dems that will support conservative causes. See Robeson Co, heavily D, but supported Trump. Columbus Co, another D-heavy county supporting R’s. NOT mod, lib R’s, but Conservatives.
1 more election cycle & results like past 2Y, & Dems will control NC.
Is there much real difference between the Berger / Moore mafia and the Dems? Berger and Moore push major Dem agenda items because the special interests want them, too.
There need to be targets on the backs on our rotten to the core “leadership” in the primaries. Moore is gone. Berger needs a challenge, and so do his cronies Jim Perry and Llyod Hise. Bell, Saine, and Hall need primary challengers in the House. Then we need to go after the “yes-men”, the “go along / get along” types that allow themselves to be controlled by the rotten apples in the “leadership”.
What is the point of having a Republican majority when they vote for Democrat policy like the Obamacare Medicaid expansion and the Green New Deal, to name just two?
It’s so cute when people talk about the possibility of winning against a corrupt legislator.,
There are currently more than 425k registrations on NC’s voter rolls that are missing critical personal identifying information Driver’s License # AND last 4 digits of their SSN.
How can their citizenship status by verified with the DMV or SSA without this information? Their death status with DHHS? Their felony/incarceration status with the DOC?
Furthermore, this current crop of legislators believes it’s perfectly fine to hand count only one election on the ballot to see if it matches the results determined by the black box voting equipment. Here’s a hint: the one race that’s “audited” is never a legislative race.
When will people figure out the clues we’re living in someone’s fictional show, fight to escape, walk up the stairs and out the door of our Truman Show?
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