Republican dominance of NC General Assembly

At the risk of framing national and state-wide issues in the context of myself as an individual, I would like to say that this past Tuesday, we did it. I, along with thousands of other volunteers across the state put forth hundreds of dollars and hours this election cycle to advance conservative causes, and to put a stop to the anti-growth, anti-individual agenda of Barack Obama and his minions in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. November 2nd, 2010 represents the end of liberalism at the federal level for at least another generation. The rebuke that conservatives were able to put off for eight years this decade, Democrats got in just two, and there is no sign that voters will be clamoring for more of the “stimulus” programs, burdensome regulations, or union bailouts that we got under Obama anytime soon. However, as they say, “politics is all local,” and what most of the UNC Greensboro community seems to be ignoring is the longest-lasting ramification of this election: the fact that for the first time in more than a century, Republicans control the North Carolina legislature.

The North Carolina General Assembly is made up of 170 seats, and is bicameral, with two major factions: Democrats and Republicans. The General Assembly controls the state budget, taxation, and state-wide policy issues. It is also one of the few state legislatures to not give the governor of the state any real veto power. Any symbolic “veto” by the governor of North Carolina can be overridden with a simple majority vote.

Since the late 1800s, it has also been controlled by the Democratic Party, and has been among the most liberal bodies in the southeast. Region-wide, our state ranks among the highest in taxes, being one of the few to have both a sales tax and an income tax on top of property taxes and others, and ranks among the worst in terms of overall business climate. Burdensome regulations at the state level have long plagued the small businesses that deliver the overwhelming majority of jobs to our state.

With such an iron-cast grip on the state legislature, the party has also long been a scourge to both the taxpayer and to the voter. Many of its leaders have enjoyed Jim Black-esque scandals involving dips into the state’s general budget, and Congressional districts drawn to favor Democrats have long be the stuff of legend. At least once, violations have been so egregious that they have been struck down by the Supreme Court.

With the Democratic Party finally out of power, Republicans stand poised to bring real change to the state of North Carolina. Districts, following the 2010 census, will almost certainly be re-drawn more fairly, to end the reign of our dirtiest politicians, like Mel Watt (D-NC) and Brad Miller (D-NC). Taxes, among the highest in the southeast, will almost certainly go down, as freshman legislators elected by the Tea Party finally make the difficult choices and cut pork and waste from the general budget, hopefully including cuts to the paychecks of unionized state workers, who are paid grossly more than their private sector counterparts. And hopefully, just hopefully, the raids on the general budget, the costly trips on private planes, for private use, and the backroom deals will finally end.