"Moyers and Company" begins new "State of Conflict" series
What a sad state of affairs of late for this once great state, the "Great North State".
This apparently new series on "Moyers and Company" focused on North Carolina last night in its first episode Other states will follow. As it was stumbled upon on one of the PBS channels available here, no regular timetable can be cited.
What has happened in North Carolina politics over the last four years has overwhelmed a tradition of open-minded governance with a special emphasis on education. North Carolina is a southern state with a tradition of conservative views for sure, but compared to other southern states over my lifetime it was the most moderate of all and more progressive in many of its policies. It was never a state of resentment and hate, just one of mostly moderation, accepting the status quo, and generally one of politeness.
In just four years a combination of huge cash inflows into local elections by a wealthy and politically involved businessman named Art Pope, a sort of Koch brother type on a state level who finances multiple political action groups, cutbacks in spending on heathcare and education have been passed. The state refused to participate in the Affordable Health Care act Medicaid grants. That effectively cuts off federal aid that would benefit many low income people. The state has cut $61 million from public college funds, a huge number relative to a mid-sized state. The state seems to have gone over the top in regulating voting rights, although some additional oversight may have been necessary, hard to know from here.
Gerrymandering, using state of the art analysis paid for by Pope's PAC's, has now walled off many districts into Republican strongholds. Pope himself seems low key and has a key administrative job under the Republican governor. His actions do not seem low key. The head of Civitas, a major Pope PAC, was interviewed throughout and came off as amazingly disingenuous, sweating like Nixon at the famous Kennedy debate.
There are two sides to every story and while not detailed it was mentioned that several top Democrats had been involved in state government scandals in recent years and at least one got jail time. So from afar it seems that the Democrats helped set the table for this debacle. "Two sides to every story" does not mean they are equal in importance. The PAC assault by the Republicans is clearly the most important and destructive element of what is going on.
I'm sure that in comparison to my relatives and friends who live in North Carolina, this post is superficial. Having a hometown just three miles from the southern NC border, what has gone on there was not news to me, but the Moyers and Company program added much new information.
This apparently new series on "Moyers and Company" focused on North Carolina last night in its first episode Other states will follow. As it was stumbled upon on one of the PBS channels available here, no regular timetable can be cited.
What has happened in North Carolina politics over the last four years has overwhelmed a tradition of open-minded governance with a special emphasis on education. North Carolina is a southern state with a tradition of conservative views for sure, but compared to other southern states over my lifetime it was the most moderate of all and more progressive in many of its policies. It was never a state of resentment and hate, just one of mostly moderation, accepting the status quo, and generally one of politeness.
In just four years a combination of huge cash inflows into local elections by a wealthy and politically involved businessman named Art Pope, a sort of Koch brother type on a state level who finances multiple political action groups, cutbacks in spending on heathcare and education have been passed. The state refused to participate in the Affordable Health Care act Medicaid grants. That effectively cuts off federal aid that would benefit many low income people. The state has cut $61 million from public college funds, a huge number relative to a mid-sized state. The state seems to have gone over the top in regulating voting rights, although some additional oversight may have been necessary, hard to know from here.
Gerrymandering, using state of the art analysis paid for by Pope's PAC's, has now walled off many districts into Republican strongholds. Pope himself seems low key and has a key administrative job under the Republican governor. His actions do not seem low key. The head of Civitas, a major Pope PAC, was interviewed throughout and came off as amazingly disingenuous, sweating like Nixon at the famous Kennedy debate.
There are two sides to every story and while not detailed it was mentioned that several top Democrats had been involved in state government scandals in recent years and at least one got jail time. So from afar it seems that the Democrats helped set the table for this debacle. "Two sides to every story" does not mean they are equal in importance. The PAC assault by the Republicans is clearly the most important and destructive element of what is going on.
I'm sure that in comparison to my relatives and friends who live in North Carolina, this post is superficial. Having a hometown just three miles from the southern NC border, what has gone on there was not news to me, but the Moyers and Company program added much new information.
posted by John Borden at 12:00 PM
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