Power Politics, Hypocrisy and Delusion

I have waited 24 hours to blog about the General Assembly's incredibly misguided action yesterday in turning the "terrible" Goodyear legislative subsidy into a "really terrible" handout. Having spent several hours at the Legislative Building being buffeted by the hot air being blown around by supporters of the "compromise" bill, I felt like I needed to head to the "Y" to be steam cleaned. During the course of the debate I periodically spent time with conservatives lamenting what was going on; then later spent time with the liberal contingency who sat shaking their collective heads as to what was transpiring. So how could this $60 million taxpayer handout to two giant tire companies, one owned by a Japanese company, take place when both conservatives and liberals opposed it?

First and foremost was the power politics of the Senate leadership in the form of Senator Tony Rand of Cumberland County. This original $40 million handout was in Tony the Tiger's district and he thought it was just greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat!!!! One could see the spineless democrats afraid to do what was right because of the fear that Tony might get'm. Secondly, and maybe most distressing was watching several liberals like Dan Blue and Deborah Ross, who have previously been opponents of these types of giveaways, trying to justify their votes to support the legislation. They knew what was right and then did just the opposite. Finally, there were the delusional supporters who I think actually believed this was good legislation. Frightening.

However, kudos go out to three brave democrats in the House who showed courage and adherence to principle. Paul Luebke, Jennifer Weiss, and Pricey Harrison are not only to be commended but deserve the respect of taxpayers across the political spectrum. And my hat is off to the Republicans who for the most part (a few misguided souls in the House went with the Democrats) stood up for what was right. This is to my mind a defining moment for the GOP who need to take this issue and take it to the public in the '08 elections to decide what was right.

For the record, the original bill was for $40 million for the Goodyear plant in Cumberland County to modernize. They and their supporters (and lobbyists) said they had to have that $4 million a year for 10 years. But it was such a bad bill that Governor Easley vetoed it. After the great compromise, Goodyear seemed perfectly happy to settle for around $2.5 million a year. And then Bridgestone/Firestone got around $23 million to help modernize its plant. Oops, they actually have already spent $60 million to modernize without expecting any subsidy, but what the heck let's help them out anyway. I would suggest that the CEO for Goodyear who makes a reported $17 million per year should explain to the taxpayers of NC why he couldn't kick in a little of his paycheck to help modernize the plant instead of asking the taxpayers of the state to do so. Oh, and maybe Goodyear could pay a little corporate income tax to the state (they've paid nothing for 5 years) to maybe help pay for some of the teachers we need, or mental health services, or fix a couple of bridges. Nah, why make those poor old giant corporations pay anything.

And let's not forget Governor "this is bad legislation" Easley who rolled over for the compromise and added $20 million more to the original bill for Bridgestone/Firestone. Once again politics has risen to new heights of hypocrisy.

While it was a dark day for North Carolina yesterday, it has given me one more great issue to campaign on across this state. And it has given the NC Institute for Constitutional Law another great case to take to court. So expect to hear and read a lot more about this issue...it's where the rubber meets the road.