#NCGA: Sources say Tillis Senate race likely a factor in House-Senate budget talks
A well-placed Jones Street source — who has a vote on the floor of his chamber — tells us that Phil Berger and his team may have the upper hand on Thom Tillis and his House leadership team in the budget negotiations:
“This session is keeping Thom from getting out there and raising money like he would like to be doing. Everyone knows he would like to wrap this up so he can get out there and run 100 percent for the Senate. So, Berger and his team know they can hold firm and wait for Thom and his team to say ‘uncle.’ ”
Just like in Congress, if the two chambers of the general assembly pass differing legislation, they have to come together in a conference committee and work out the differences. Media reports are already speculating that the legislative session could run into July.
Teacher pay, Medicaid and film incentives are just some of the differences separating the two chambers. The state’s fiscal year ends on the last day of June. There is already some talk of a truncated, stop-gap budgetary measure if there is no agreement by the end of the month.
What’s the problem? The Republican super majority’s will certainly lower taxes, decrease the size of government, decrease spending, and eliminate costly toll roads. What’s the problem, what could possibly go wrong?
More and more Republicans are coming to realize that Tillis is North Carolina’s Thad Cochran–bought and paid for by the totally corrupt GOP Establishment. Conservatives should simply write-in their ballot choice or stay at home. The GOP is one big hoax.
I will have to re-register to vote, after I move to another county next week. I’m seriously considering going unaffiliated, and changing my phone number so that I don’t need to listen to the NCGOP plead for money anymore.
I’ve been to enough conventions – and seen enough times how they play us for door fees, but never leave enough time to debate the business. The rules are always stacked to present anything substantive from being submitted from the floor. And if anything gets into the platform that is “inconvenient” (like toll road language) it just gets deleted by the Platform Committee the following year.
Staying at home is NOT a good plan since there are other candidates on the ballot in other races who ARE good conservatives. Please at least show up to vote for them. If you cannot stomach either candidate in a particular race, you can always skip that one race or write in someone for it.
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As to Tillis and Cochran, I don’t think Tillis has slid quite that far. Yes both may have sleazy relationships with lobbyists, but Tillis at least has a more respectable personal life. He does not have his mistress on his legislative office payroll and take her on junkets all around the world at taxpayer expense like Cochran does (and does not even have a mistress at all as far as I know). He does not brag about having had indecent relationships with farm animals in his youth like Cochran did toward the end of the campaign. He seems to know what is going on around him, as Cochran often does not. At least Tillis has an open door to all lobbyists, unlike Cochran who lets Haley ”Boss Hogg” Barbour pimp him to the special interests.
But don’t forget that the same GOP “pimps” in Washington financed both Tillis’ and Cochran’s campaigns. All their money came from the same source. Tillis is thus bought and paid for before he even gets to DC–assuming he does. Nothing will change; in fact, things will continue to get worse.