Cooper threatens to sue over North Carolina GOP 'power grab'

[kwassa]

Source: Politico

The legislation proposed by Republicans would reduce the number of state government employees Cooper can hire and fire at will from 1,500 to 300, strip the governor of the power to appoint trustees to the University of North Carolina and give it to the General Assembly, and require Senate confirmation for Cabinet appointments. Another proposal would shift control of one state office from the governor to the lieutenant governor — who will still be a Republican next year.

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That fight was litigated county by county in front of election boards controlled by the governor's party. Under current state law, that power would shift to Democrats once Cooper takes office, but the bill Republican legislators are pushing would split the boards equally between members of the two parties instead of letting Democrats take control. It would also give Republicans control of the state election board in even years, when major elections take place. (Democrats would control the chairmanships in odd years.)

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Other Democrats have gone further than Cooper, calling the proposed changes a "coup." Republicans have defended the measures as necessary to restore the balance of power between different branches of state government, but there's no indication any of the proposals were under consideration when McCrory was still governor.

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Cooper's powers were already likely to be limited. While the governor-elect has proposed expanding Medicaid and investing in renewable energy, Republicans — thanks in part to a heavily gerrymandered legislative map — hold veto-proof majorities in both of North Carolina's legislative chambers.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/roy-cooper-republican-power-grab-north-carolina-232682

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A blatant power grab without a hint of embarrassment by the GOP legislature, stealing the governor's powers.

[SpankMe]

1. Yep...if you can't win the governorship fair and square,...

...then nullify it with legislation after the fact.

USA is doomed. Liberals move west so we can create our own space.

[oasis]

2. Wake up Dems. Your inability to drag yourselves to the polls Nov.8

has put all of us up shit creek.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. It's an attempt to overturn the voters' decision

by politically castrating the newly elected governor

Dems really need to be stark and blunt about what the GOP is doing to us

[LisaM]

8. There was a funny user comment regarding the GOP's pointless attempt to stop the Michigan recount.

"Why not just make it illegal to vote for anyone but the GOP? Quit pussyfooting around!!"

To me, that sums it up.

[wildeyed]

4. They are proposing to deadlock the Board of Elections and then make nearly impossible

to appeal cases to the judiciary. It will be nearly impossible to run an election in this state if it passes. I am sure that is the point. They break it and then use that as an excuse to throw it away. Poof. No more elections...

It is a diabolically vicious piece of legislation. The NC GOP must have gotten tons of help form ALEC because they are not bright enough to do something like this on their own.

[Qutzupalotl]

5. More proposals detailed in a Slate article:

- Allow a Democrat to chair the State Board of Elections in odd-numbered years—when there are typically no elections—and allow a Republican to chair the board in even-numbered years—when state and federal elections are normally held.

- Make Supreme Court elections partisan and introduce party primaries. Republicans believe they lost the 2016 Supreme Court election because the candidates lacked a partisan identification.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/12/15/north_carolina_legislative_coup_an_attack_on_democracy.html

[wildeyed]

6. Actually, they might have lost the supreme court election because of DU.

I have been meaning to post this thought, but there were a couple of threads during the campaign about how Mecklenburg Dems (Charlotte) ran out of money for the "Blue Ballot" handout and DU kicked in to fund a second printing. I think that Dems just did a better job of getting the word out to their followers about who to support for the judicial race by handing that ballot our to voters waiting in the long lines engineered but the GOP. Hoisted on their own petard! Now NCGOP is sooooo salty that they got out-campaigned and want a do-over. Typical for that bunch of baby-men.

[Qutzupalotl]

10. Likely so. I think that's why DU was hacked:

our election-watching, particularly on election day, is second to none. When DU went down, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go to get polling place reports from the ground.

DU's strength — that we're a central hub of info and a meeting place — is also our weakness, in that our servers are the weak link in ensuring election integrity (apart from official channels).

[Volaris]

11. That OUR servers should be a target of ANYTHING during an election

Is to me, beyond ridiculous. We're not An Official Election anything, that we fill that function by default of there not being a better way or system is simply,
Fucking Crazy.

[Qutzupalotl]

12. Agreed. But we have more eyes and ears around than the feds do or can

so we're a prime target, unfortunately.

[riversedge]

7. Repugs are fighting dirty and past time for Dems to fight dirty also.

[Maven]

9. DO IT.

These hyenas need (another) whipping in court.

We need to BE RUTHLESS.