#ncga: A conservative direction? (THAT is not what the numbers tell us.)
If you believe the GOPe campaign rhetoric, they’ve got our state headed in a “conservative direction.” *Wow. That sounds great. We must be cutting taxes and the size of government all over the doggone place. Right? (Um, right?)*
Well, we decided to verify all that talk with the good folks at the National Association of State Budget Officers. This organization publishes a helpful document called a “State Expenditure Report.” (This report covers 2013-2015. Republicans have controlled the purse strings in Raleigh during that entire period, and — arguably — HAVE in DC. )
Check out page 8 of the linked document. It shows that — over the last three years — North Carolina 
state government has been one of the biggest spenders in the southeastern United States. Only the folks in Richmond and Tallahassee have the folks in Raleigh beat. Georgia comes in a close 4th behind North Carolina in the ranking of big spenders in the southeast.
The NASBO study offers up the following spending data (capital inclusive) for North Carolina State government:
- FY 2013: General Fund — $20.2 billion;
- federal funds — $12.64 billion;
- other state funds — $9.8 billion;
- Bonds — $231 million
- (2013 TOTAL: $42.86 billion)
- FY 2014: General Fund — $20.23 billion;
- federal funds — $13.51 billion;
- other state funds — $9.86 billion;
- Bonds — $187 million
- (2014 TOTAL: $43.79 billion)
- FY 2015: General Fund — $20.67 billion;
- federal funds — $13.93 billion;
- other state funds — $9.76 billion;
- Bonds — $101 million
- (2014 TOTAL: $44.46 billion)
Gee. And here I am thinking “conservative” means tightening your purse strings and spending LESS. *Silly me.*
You can blame some of this on mandatory federal spending. (But the GOP had de jure control of THAT during this entire period!) I do see the General Fund spending creeping up each of those years. (And THAT has been under the control of Republican majorities.)
In fact, there are a lot of Republicans moving in a progressive direction.
Take the issue of expanding green energy, a key part of the agenda of President Obama, but opposed by the Republican Party platforms. Many in Republican legislative ranks are now supporting the progressive agenda of President Obama and the Democratic Party platform over their own party’s platform. That is a historic win for the polar bears. These progressive Republicans do not mind throwing their own constituents under the bus. Who really cares if redneck peons cannot afford air conditioning when electric rates ”necessarily skyrocket” as President Obama has predicted will result from his program?
In the legislature, David Lewis, Nelson Dollar, Tim Moore, John Skoza,and Charles Jeter have been particularly helpful in advancing President Obama’s green agenda, at the expense of their own party’s position. Their efforts should be saluted by all progressives.
It was not always this way. When the Renewable Energy Mandate was first passed, virtually all Republicans in the legislature voted conservative and against those mandates. Thom Tillis was one of the few progressive Republicans who voted for the Polar Bears and for the Mandates.
We progressives thank these progressive Republicans for helping move President Obama’s green energy agenda forward. There are still some of those nasty conservatives still around like Larry Pittman and Justin Burr, but it is the progressives who are in the drivers seat in the GOP.
Thanks for the reference. Just for a for instance, if we weren’t giving millions of dollars to big corporations who don’t need it, which I consider a move toward socialism, that money could be spent on things that are actually government responsibilities and help reduce the need for more revenues.
It proves the point there is no difference in Establishment or Socialist. They are all for big government expenditures. Look at Dick Burr and Thom Tillabus, their voting record shows an insatiable desire to fund anything Liberal democrats desire: Obama Care, illegal immigration, Obama Trade, EPA over reach, the list goes on and on. And Dallas Woodhouse Hasan, and the rest of the cronies are the key players in advancing this horrific agenda in North Carolina.
It just follows the trend where Red states spend more Federal dollars per dollars taken in by the IRS while Blue states tend to send more money to the Federal government compared to what they get back.
http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/united-states-federal-tax-dollars/