Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:
___
March 21
The News & Observer of Raleigh on “dark money” fundraising
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em apparently is the new mantra for those of the Democratic political persuasion, who now are adopting tried-and-true methods of money-for-access fundraising by Republicans. It’s not good and it frankly does not reflect well on Gov. Roy Cooper and his supporters.
A nonprofit group, recently formed, called Moving North Carolina Forward, falls under a category of “social welfare nonprofits” that will allow it to carry out political activities without the rules that apply to PACs, or political action committees. Mark Binker of WRAL reports that means the group likely won’t have to say who its donors are. But an invitation to one event includes a reception with the governor and another meeting and suggests large donations, from $10,000 to $100,000. (The big givers would be called “executive partners.”)
These groups are legal. A group was created by supporters of former Gov. Pat McCrory after he won election in 2012, and events raised money and included appearances by McCrory.
Perhaps Democrats think they’d be tying their hands not to participate in “dark money” fundraising (so dubbed because donors can be secret) but the practice is a sorry commentary on the state of politics and could well give the impression that people with big money can purchase access to the governor or his most influential advisers. That’s not a good impression for Democrats, who boast of their representation of working people and average citizens, to leave.
Online:
https://www.newsobserver.com/
___
March 19
The StarNews of Wilmington on making Superior and District Court races party-lined:
Twenty years ago, Republicans were complaining that the political system was blocking any GOP lawyer, no matter how learned, competent or respected, from becoming a North Carolina judge.
Partisan politics, the argument went, gave too many judge seats to party hacks and the siblings of politicians rather than the best qualified candidates.
Finally, beginning in 1996, a group of Republicans and reform-minded Democrats changed the system, making Tar Heel judicial elections non-partisan. Among those voting for the measure was a state senator named Roy Cooper.
Things have changed, though. Emboldened by Republican success, the GOP leadership clique in the legislature appears convinced that enough “yellow dog Republicans” in this state will vote for anyone with a “(R)” after their name.
Accordingly, they are switching judicial races back to partisan contests. The Court of Appeals became partisan a while ago - and Phil Berger Jr., the Senate majority leader’s son, became an appeals judge.
The Supreme Court was repartisanized in December. Now, the General Assembly has passed a bill making Superior and District Court races party-lined.
Gov. Cooper struck back by slapping the bill with his first veto. Good for him.
It may be a merely a symbolic gesture; the bill passed by veto-proof margins in both houses. But some Republican legislators chose to break with the pack on this one, and others just happened to be out of Raleigh for the vote. Perhaps enough Republicans could be persuaded to do the right thing.
Lots of folks are becoming alarmed at the amount of money being pumped into judicial campaigns. Special interests seem to be out, effectively, to buy judges who’ll be sympathetic to them when they go to court.
(Did you notice all those campaign signs for judge candidates in the medians this past election? Who do you think paid for them?)
Another bill sliding its way through the legislature would cut the size of the Court of Appeals from 15 judges to 12. That would clog the court’s busy schedule further and make it harder for clients with little cash to get an appeals hearing. But it would probably prevent Cooper from making any interim appointments to the court during his term.
To paraphrase that great Republican, Ronald Reagan, it’s no way to run a railroad - or a courthouse. This is not what the Republican Party used to stand for. Ask your local Republican state legislators if they approve of these shenanigans. Then ask them why.
Online:
https://www.starnewsonline.com
___
March 19
The Asheville Citizen-Times on Republicans’ health care plan:
Buncombe County has nearly 240,000 people. Of those, nearly 15,000 could lose health insurance if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. That number alone should shame any member of Congress who supports straight repeal. Unfortunately, it probably won’t.
The plan unveiled by House leaders would presumably be less draconian, but the winners and losers in the GOP’s political game may not change much.
Low-income people and those in their 50s and 60s would be hardest hit by the Republican plan. Their subsidies would fall by half or three-quarters over what they get through the Affordable Care Act.
More dire estimates indicate that a full repeal will cost nearly 24 million people their coverage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the GOP bill will leave 14 million fewer people with insurance by 2018 and 24 million by 2026. No difference there in the long run.
And no wonder. The bill eliminates the penalties for not being insured. Younger and healthier people can get a free ride until they need care. That defeats the fundamental premise of insurance, to be affordable by spreading the cost through as many people as possible. Those Republicans who decry redistribution of income don’t seem to understand what insurance is.
Subsidies based on income would be replaced by tax credits based on age. A married couple over age 60 would be eligible for a $4,000 credit if their income was not more than $150,000 a year. The credit is phased out after that on a sliding scale allowing some people making more than $200,000 to get assistance. Meanwhile, many poorer people will not be able to afford coverage even with the credit.
People with pre-existing conditions could face massive increases in premiums if they let their coverage lapse. Someone who loses his employer-based coverage when laid off could find it impossible to get coverage once he gets a new job.
Medicaid would be changed from payment for services to block grants to the states on a per capita basis. There’s no way this will not curtail coverage. For one thing, states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would have to bear the entire cost of new enrollees in that income category after 2020.
More than 20 taxes enacted under the ACA would be repealed. Among those are a 3.8 percent investment tax on the well-to-do and a 0.9 percent surcharge on wages above $250,000. The situation would have been even worse had not GOP leaders in the House put a cap on the subsidies.
The situation could be especially harmful to the ability of rural counties to attract and keep doctors because fewer of their patients would have insurance.
“This is a massive tax cut for unpopular industries and wealthy individuals,” said Andy Slavitt, who administered Medicare and Medicaid during the Obama administration. “It is about cutting care for lower-income people, seniors, people with disabilities and kids to pay for the tax cut.”
The best word to describe this plan is “heartless.” The best news is that there’s no chance it will get through Congress. Republicans on the right don’t like the subsidies and moderate Republicans don’t like the cuts in Medicaid. Democrats are united in their opposition. Even if it somehow clears the House it is dead in the Senate.
The ACA is not perfect. It is convoluted because it builds on a health care system that is convoluted. The U.S. has every conceivable system ranging from socialized medicine (the military and Veterans Affairs) to catch-as-catch-can for the uninsured. And there still are more than 1 million uninsured in North Carolina alone.
Once this bill is put to rest, Republicans and Democrats should set aside partisan fighting to save the ACA without destroying it.
Online:
https://www.citizen-times.com/
Please read our comment policy before commenting.