Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Note to Bill Faison: Run or get off the pot
But you sound a little silly telling the governor she should step aside so you can take her place.
I'll add that Faison, an Orange County Democrat, has done good work of late with his creation of a jobs caucus among House Democrats. This allows him, whenever the Republicans call a legislative session to mess with stuff that has nothing to do with creating jobs, to say they're wasting our time and tax dollars with sideshows.
And maybe the indictment yesterday of some of Perdue's 2008 campaign supporters is the tip of a bad scandal coming for Perdue herself (though it looks like a lot less than that from here).
Our friend Rob Schofield at N.C. Policy Watch thinks Perdue is on her last legs because she's too conservative, and he may be right that she should be more expressly progressive, though I'd say she's been decently progressive so far. How this opens the door to an even more pro-bidness Dem like Faison, I dunno.
Then there's the fact that the anti-gay "DOMA" amendment to the state constitution is slated for a vote in the 2012 primaries, and so far the Republicans have the big primary battles (president, possible governor, lieutenant governor) and Dems have none ... so a Perdue-Faison primary might help to turn out more of the pro-gay rights, anti-DOMA discrimination voters.
But again, that's a reason to mount a primary challenge. It's not a reason to kneecap your party's sitting governor while the Republicans take notes.
By the way, when I said get off the pot above, I didn't mean to imply anything about your smoking.
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North Carolina Must Ensure Racial Justice: Veto Senate Bill 9
By Rep. Bill Faison
I call on the Governor to immediately veto Senate Bill 9, Republican legislation that allows the death penalty to be executed without court review confirming that race was not a factor in the death sentence.
We are a nation and a people of laws. Our laws and procedures keep both the government and powerful people from running over us as individuals. I have worked hard in the Legislature to protect people. In contests between rich and powerful businesses and people, I always choose people. In contests between the power of governments and individual rights, I always choose individuals. Our laws are our shield and protection and the heart of those laws are the steps required before any penalties can be imposed.
It is hard to imagine anyone saying it is ‘ok’ to impose a ‘death penalty’ rather than ‘life in prison without benefit of parole’ just because of someone’s race, no matter what the race may be. It is worth remembering that 72 percent of North Carolinians support life in prison without the possibility of parole as the most appropriate punishment for first degree murder according to an Elon University poll conducted in 2009.
Two years ago, the Legislature passed a law making it clear that race cannot be a factor in imposing the death penalty. More than two thirds of North Carolinians support what this law does according to Public Policy Polling. The hurdles to proving race as a factor are tough to meet, and the same trial judges who impose death sentences hear the evidence. The steps for proof allow consideration of testimony from prosecutors, law enforcement officers, jurors, lawyers and other members of the criminal justice system as well as statistical evidence. The judge is searching for the truth. Reliable information helps the judge reach a decision. Sometimes that truth lies in the cold hard mathematical numbers, but no matter where the truth lies, it should be on the table. Remember, even if race is found to be a factor, then the sentence becomes life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This law, The Racial Justice Act, was led by NC House by Reps. Larry Womble and Earline Parmon, and Senator Floyd McKissick. I co-sponsored the bill in the House and shepherded it through the committee I chaired, Ways and Means. On the floor of the House, I argued along with others for its passage, saying, “no man should be executed for the color of his skin.” The bill passed the House on a party line vote. On final reading, all voting Democrats but one voted for it and all voting Republicans voted against it. Within five days of being presented to the Governor, I stood with the Acts’ principle sponsors and many of my colleagues in the Old House Chamber in the Capital as the Governor signed the bill in a very public ceremony. North Carolina was the second state to pass landmark Racial Justice legislation.
The Republicans continue focusing on a radical social agenda rather than focusing on the State’s high rate of unemployment and the economy. Now, they have repealed the Racial Justice Act in a rushed, post-Thanksgiving mini session of the General Assembly that cost the NC taxpayers $150,000. Meanwhile, they do not have any meaningful plans for dealing with the economic problems and the unemployment crisis that we all face. The Republicans’ focus on a radical social agenda is sacrificing our children’s education and their future. The Republicans have cut jobs for teachers and teachers’ aides. They have cut school funding, dropping us to 49th nationally in per pupil spending. Education is the escalator to success and they are trying to unplug the escalator. They have even gone after women, treating them as if neither they nor their doctors have enough sense to do what is needed to provide for their personal medical care. They are wasting over a million dollars of our money on “do-nothing” legislative sessions and constitutional amendments that do nothing to change the existing law.
African Americans have been hit harder by the Great Recession than folks in general. The jobless rate among African Americans is about twice that of the rest of the State. Moreover, the loss of wealth in the recession hit African Americans three times harder that other folks. Rather than looking for ways to help the African American community recover the Republicans are focused on issues that promote racial divide rather than racial unity. We are one people. We are Americans and we are North Carolinians. This is not the way we treat each other and not the way we ought to be treating each other.
The Governor signed the Racial Justice Act into law in a public ceremony within five days of its passage. The radical Republican repeal of the Act was presented to the Governor on November 29. Almost two weeks have passed and the Governor has not vetoed this divisive, misguided legislation. I call on the Governor to veto this bill now. I call on the Republican Leadership in the General Assembly to set aside their radical social agenda and go to work on the economic and educational issues that matter to all of us.
Unless Obama capitalizes on the Occupy movement (pardon the pun) to run a successful populist campaign in NC, Bev will have a difficult time defeating McCrory. That said, Faison's opposing her in a contested primary virtually assures McCrory of a win. The question is whether Dems will convince Bev that she is a liability to the ticket, incumbency notwithstanding, and step aside. Usually these conversations happen behind closed doors, so I can't blame Faison for coming out.
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