#ncga Gov. Pat & Uncle Art hit Jones Street
Gov. Pat McCrory and his former budget director Art Pope got together with NCGA Republicans this morning to talk road bonds. Of course, we had a mole or two (or three) in the room.
Said one mole:
“It was disappointing, to say the least, to see Art up there with the governor taking part in this. This proposal saddles the people of North Carolina with a whole lot of extra cost during some trying economic times. A lot of us would prefer to see the state sacrifice first before demanding more from the people. Past irresponsible behavior in this chamber does not justify shaking more money out of people’s wallets here in the present.”
Art Pope, as far as I can tell, is a nice person. (I’ve had limited dealings with him.) But it appears to me that having powerful people pay attention to him is more important, in his eyes, than any ideological fights.
My moles tell me that the governor’s team was very interested in getting any bond issue vote put on the primary ballot rather than the general election ballot. Explained another mole:
”You’ve got lower turnout in the primaries. It’s much easier to manage who gets to the polls in those cases. It’s a shame there is so much focus on pulling the wool over the eyes of the taxpayers.”
Disappointing to see Art Pope endorsing Pat McCrory to say the least. Come on Pat, give up that expensive notion of crisscrossing our metropolitan regions with that expensive boondoggle called light rail. I’m sure there are plenty more that can be taken off the table, like HOT lanes that will not ease congestion. Imagine how much that is going to cost in businesses leaving the state.