#FAIL: HB 1224 dies. Thom The Therrible learns karma is a female dog.
The Speaker of The House tried to ram through a bill containing a smorgasbord of odds-and-ends spending desired by the governor and various special interests. It got shot down once in the GOP caucus. It got shot down on the House floor Friday in a late-in-the-day revolt.
Speaker Tillis and his allies took the hardball route this week. They loaded up the legislation with even more pork, and threatened non-compliant conservatives with a potential ouster from the GOP caucus. Once that shenanigan went public, things continued to go south for the speaker. He took some tough questions during a Monday caucus meeting, but said the hardball disloyalty effort was not needed — he already had his votes. (Or so he thought.)
Once again, the man from Huntersville got surprised on the House floor. HB 1224 went down in a blaze of glory, by a margin of 47-54. The vote sends a rather loud, clear and unpleasant message to Tillis and Gov. McCrory — who both staked a lot of political capital to the passage of the legislation. 
Sources on the House floor tell me this development also kills off HB 189 — which would have brought film incentives and all kinds of other high-dollar goodies into play..
The only real piece of excitement left — I’m told — is a decision on the big coal ash cleanup. The House plan doesn’t really hold Duke Power to a timetable, while the Senate version does. It will be interesting to see which version comes out on top. Given Tillis’s recent spate of luck, it’s probably not hard to figure out.
Well I’ll be. Thom thought he had the votes, but didn’t get the votes, so the votes he thought he had turned out to be “No” votes, which gave more votes to the NO votes, and the November votes are just a few votes away.
Didn’t see the roll call linked above. For anyone interested in seeing how their Representative voted:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/voteHistory/RollCallVoteTranscript.pl?sSession=2013&sChamber=H&RCS=1862
Eric, thanks for posting the vote. I’m confused. Here are the Republicans that voted no against the Tillis and McCrory treachery, but it seems that Reps Stam and Dollar have a history of touting support for the man with Potomac Fever they call Toll Road Tillis. Why would these people Stam and Dollar mislead the public to vote for such a wretch? I just don’t know what to think.
Representative(s): Blust; Brawley, R.; Brown, R.; Bumgardner; Catlin; Cleveland; Collins; Daughtry; Davis; Dollar; Elmore; Ford; Hager; Hardister; Hastings; Howard; Jones; Lambeth; Millis; Pittman; Setzer; Speciale; Stam; Starnes; Stone; Warren, H.; Wells; Younts
Tillis may have screwed the pooch on this one. In a legislative session when he could have done things that would have helped conservatives get a comfort level to hold their nose and vote for him, Tillis has instead veered way off to the left, and even allied with Democrats to push liberal legislation over the objection of most Republicans. Uggh! We do NOT need that in the US Senate. Thanks a lot Karl Rove for sticking us with this dud as a Senate candidate. How about keeping you stinking nose out of North Carolina in the future?
Thom Tillis is the Democrat in the US Senate race right? Who represents the Republicans and conservatives in that race?
Yeppers! There are two DimoKKKraps in the race, Hagan and Tillis.
I’m betting Tillis goes home and Hagan back to DC.
I’m still having flashbacks to last March when I was at the Guilford County Republican HQ and some nitwit was insisting to me that Tillis was the only electable candidate in the GOP field. What a fool.
Maybe we need a write-in conservative candidate to oppose TIllis and Hagan that can appeal to a wide swath of NC. What are Brannon and Harris doing these days? 🙂
The qualifying period for write-ins is over and three qualified. The most intriguing one is conservative former State Representative John Rhodes (R-Mecklenburg) who was Tillis’ predecessor in the House seat now held by Tillis.
We have a write in, after much hard work and signature collection. Issue is, there are three write ins. If the goal is to take the US Senate, we are in a real deep kimshi. Vote in this POS, or split the party vote and Hagan goes back. She voted 96%. Brannon is supporting the Rhodes write in campaign–if you are interested.
Hagan being relected is the lesser of the two evils considering Tillis is the othe candidate. As the establishment says, hold your nose and vote for the lesser of the two evils. Okay establishment Hagan it is, the lesser of the two evils. I haven’t checked out the write in candidates but I will.
It should be noted Bill Brawley, Rob Bryan and Ruth Samuelson – all of whom are so establishment that you can feel the suction of their mouths from their districts to Cornelius – all lined up like good little puppets behind their hero Tillis.
While actual principled Republicans like Pittman and Robert Brawley opposed the omnipotent…..errrrrrr I mean the impotent one.
Tillis should step down from the Speakership AND from the U.S. Senate candidacy and let a REAL conservative run against the liberal Hagan. That would be Dr. Greg Brannon, the 2nd place finisher!
Not only can we thank Thom Tilli$ for pushing toll roads down the throats of the citizens of North Carolina, but it looks like he has already learned the money game played in Washington.
First you take a piece of legislation, like funding incentives for the movie industry, then you refuse to let it come to a vote on the floor until the executives and companies who want it have paid a “toll” to allow the bill to move down the legislative highway. Notice these bills were held until the last minute.
Peter Schweizer’s book, Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets, calls the vote scheduling donation extraction maneuver the “tollbooth” strategy.
He alleges Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) collected over $200,000 in donations from executives and companies just days before holding votes on three bills of critical importance to their industries.
No wonder Tilli$ was playing hard ball. There was much at stake.
Since the House refused to vote for the bills Tilli$ was paid for, does he have to give the money back?
Here is a link that explains it in detail.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/10/24/EXTORTION-Speaker-Boehner-Collected-Tollbooth-Fee-Before-Key-Votes
Tilli$ has never been anything but a rent boy for the $pecial interest$. He would not know a political principle if one jumped up and bit him. It is sad to have such a lousy choice as we have in the US Senate race, and we can only thank the meddling of outside party bosses like Karl Rove for this situation.
“It’s always wise to save one’s receipt for a purchase made in case a return is necessary” Thom Thumb
Will there be a restocking fee for the merchandise that was never delivered?
There’s nothing like the Republican Establishment—which is hell-bent on destroying conservatism. HB 1224 sought to give taxpayer money to “save” the Canton mill threatened by EPA regulations. It is the EPA that is at fault here, not conservatives protecting the taxpayers. And guess who created the job-killing EPA? Nixon and the GOP Establishment in Washington. There is nothing new under the sun. Point proved. Long live the GOP Establishment!
Republicans ought to be rallying to the cry of reforming the EPA by eviscerating its decree powers of regulation. Require an economic impact statement on all EPA regs and for any that impact the economy by more than a million dollars, require Congressional approval. The reign of the EPA eco-fascists needs to be brought to an end.
What all of you seem to be forgetting is this… If he gets to Washington, he is a JR. Senator. He has to tow the mark for awhile before he can do any real damage as a RINO. However…there is one other thing. That is what they make RECALL elections for–when the SOB like this goes to Washington and forgets he represents us.
There are no recall elections for US Senate, and none for legislators, governors, etc. in North Carolina. Some states have recall for their governors, legislators, etc. but NC never has. If we did have it for US Senators, I would be passing petitions on both of NC’s current Senators.