#NCGA: If Gov. Pat wants a fight, Mr. Berger is glad to give him one.
The media, Democrats, and Bill Barber’s rabble have tried to pitch us a narrative about some unified Republican front in Raleigh. Unfortunately, all we’ve been able to see lately is the Charlotte mafia — led by Speaker Thom and Gov. Pat — taking swing after swing at senate president pro tem (and fellow Republican) Phil Berger and his team in the General Assembly’s upper chamber.
I’ve been watching the political silliness up-close at the state and national level for more than a quarter century. I really don’t understand the logic here. Speaker Thom wants to move up to the US Senate in five months. Gov. Pat wants to get stuff passed on Jones Street and get reelected in two years and five months. And here they both are picking a really unnecessary fight with arguably the most powerful Republican in The Tar Heel State.
After Gov. Pat ran to the media, threatening to veto the senate’s budget and expressing “disappointment” with that chamber, Berger’s office issued a written statement:
[…] “I’m disappointed by the governor’s threat to veto the largest teacher pay raise in state history and surprised by his demand for a budget without cuts to teacher assistants and Medicaid – given that his own budget included almost $20 million in cuts to teacher assistants along with significant, though ultimately unachievable, cuts to Medicaid.
“The governor has been unable to sustain any of his previous vetoes in the Senate. It would be more helpful for him to work with members of both chambers of the legislature, since his unwillingness to listen to those who have an honest disagreement with him on spending priorities in favor of staging media stunts and budget gimmicks is a major reason the budget has not been finalized.”
Wow. You would think ol’ Bev was still hanging around town …
I think you have McCrory and Tillis’ political objectives correct. The issue here is their belief that they have to be seen as moderate in order to succeed at their goals.
Polling data (mainly from left-of-center PPP) is telling the consultants who do Pat & Thom’s thinking for them that the NCGA is unpopular because it’s too conservative for a moderate state. The thinking here is that while Berger & the Senators are safe from moderate backlash in their gerrymandered districts, Pat & Thom both have to run statewide, and so need to be seen as standing up to those “extremists” in the Senate.
Since the same group of bottom-feeders inform the decision-making in the Governor’s mansion and the Tillis for Senate campaign, Pat & Thom have clearly come to an agreement on how to proceed. Pat puffs himself up and attacks Berger & the Senate for being too extreme and not caring about poor people, while Thom makes a show of trying to stay above the fray and only attacking Kay Hagan. He also puts out a budget that tries to give everyone everything they want, but which depends on fantasy lottery money to do so.
The problem here, of course, is that this strategry only makes logical sense if you assume that PPP, WRAL, and the N&O are completely impartial and would never put any spin on public sentiment. We know this is not the case, yet the Pat & Thom show are clearly planning their 2014 and 2016 campaign strategy as if it was.
And that’s why we don’t have a budget, and why we can’t get a strong Common Core repeal bill.
But by golly, we got a bill to drop a possum! Thank God for that.
I remember Tillis pushing that “we can’t push conservatism too quickly on people who arent used to it” crap at a North Wake Republicans meeting several years ago.
I knew right then and there that this guy wasn’t for real. The Governor, on the other hand, has been pretty transparent since day 1 as to what he’s about.
I do believe that the majority of the Republican Party is pretty conservative but are unwilling to properly vet the pretenders who come among us masquerading as one of us. As a result, we have less than conservative leadership.
If the rank-and-file would wake up to that little fact, we could change our leadership starting with ensuring that we no longer have “the Governor’s man” as the Chair of our Party.
You’d think…ol’ Bev was still hanging around town…..
She is and is channeling through McCrory’s political mentor Democrat Governor
Jim Hunt. The Democrats initiatives are being carried by the Charlotte Mafia in Tillis and McCrory.
Is Bev still in town? Seems to me that McCrory is taking tips from her.
Apparently Charlotte politics has been hijacked by the progressives.
I would support Berger,Sr if he chose to primary McCrory in 2016. Berger at least is the sane person in the room.
I’m reading this and just now a political add against Tillis saying teachers pay is 46 in the nation. Republicans finally get in charge of all State Government and we become the laughing stock. Where is the NCGOP State party? We would think that the leadership could work this out and unite the party. Real leadership doesn’t always carry popular public support, but it does show ones core principles. What are we voting for again?