'Twas the week before Christmas, and through the Carolina mist,
The new Sheriff in town was making her list.
Who’s been naughty or nice, who knows who and who gave,
For those well-connected, a position they must save.
Change swept through D.C, not much to Raleigh came
Some faces are new, but the real power’s the same.
Big business can get in doors, through which they want to go,
To sign off on an appointment, or use their veto.
Bev’s promising to find the best for each and every position,
Let’s hope that’s the reason for the frustrating transition.
Solving the state’s problems is an order that’s tall,
And she needs to find a dress for the ball after all.
After the dancing and parade and her formal address,
The new governor takes over a state in distress.
Layoffs keep coming and houses won’t sell,
Last month again state revenues fell.
The budget’s the biggest mess, but not far behind,
is probation and parole and the folks they can’t find.
Mental health’s not much better, there’s Umstead and Cherry,
And even the new hospital has the federal folks wary.
Families who need help still find frustration the norm
Coping with 2001’s mismanaged reform.
Then there’s DOT and the monthly scandal de jour,
Reform is on the way we hear, but we’ve heard that before.
The 21st Century Committee wants more tolls and taxes too,
And measuring our miles then charging us what’s due.
Urban loop fever still seems to be widespread,
Tippett’s wants one from the department he’s led.
Despite lofty claims that the committees vision was nifty,
The final report reads like it was written in 1950.
The new gov's challenges are every bit as tough as they seem,
Let’s hope she keeps that in mind while assembling her team.
There’s revenue and commerce and human services to fill,
Benton’s not staying, but wait, maybe he will.
Ross wants to stay at DEHNR but Bev has said no,
Beck and Beatty and Tippett are all set to go.
Crime Control’s still open and anybody’s guess
Who’d want DOT or Correction, considering the mess?
When the team’s finally set, to Jones Street Bev will go
At least over there, the faces she’ll know.
It seems just the same with little internal strife,
Hackney will be speaker and Basnight Pro Tem for life.
Holliman and Rand are back as majority leaders,
Berger and Stam again head the GOPers,
The economy is bad and the state budget’s worse,
Raising revenue’s the way, not a political curse
Don’t cut health care or housing or money for our kids learning,
Teachers and state workers need more than they’re earning.
The state health plan’s in shambles and needs an infusion,
of both funding and better leaders to end the confusion.
And if we all love the state’s children as much as we profess
why deny undocumented kids community college access?
The Right is still wrong with their message and views,
People with next to nothing are not free to choose.
The sane answer this year is not slashing and burning,
It’s tax reform in line with the economy’s turning.
Let’s cut waste where we find it, but not programs that matter,
Things are tough enough and the safety net’s tattered.
The election this year was one for historians to ponder,
Registrations were up and poll lines stretched to yonder.
Obama and Biden changed the state from red to blue,
And helped elect Hagan and Dalton and Perdue.
Dole’s gone back to Kansas or maybe the Watergate,
Kay Hagan’s moving to D.C. to try and legislate.
Perdue and McCrory’s battle was close to the end,
In 2012, we might see the fight again.
Some pols are leaving the departments they have long led
So long to Merritt and Moore and Jim Long’s tie of red.
New blood is in line for the Council of State
As Goodwin and Cowell and Wood are on the way.
And finally, our leader Mike Easley is through,
After doing some things that he needed to do.
Learn and Earn’s a good plan and so is More-at-Four.
But we don’t need a lottery preying on the poor.
Thanks for what you did Mike and oh before you go,
Mental health’s still a mess, in case you want to know.
Now its Bev’s time to lead and here’s wishing her the best,
Dealing with Basnight, Hackney, Rand, and the rest.
If there’s one plea we make as you assume your new post,
Families who are struggling need your help the most.
They didn’t write you a check or come shake your hand,
They’re just hanging in there every day the best they can.
Their plight is our plight and their pain is ours too,
Seek out their voices as you decide what to do.
Governor Mike was an enigma, but he planted the right seed
Here’s to one North Carolina where we all have what we need.
