Fitzsimon File

The horrific House budget staggered one step closer to reality Thursday in a chaotic afternoon at the General Assembly.

One committee narrowly voted to abolish the center Mary Easley runs at N.C. State, another recessed in confusion before barely approving a budget that was changed to slash 170 more jobs from the Department of Correction, and a key appropriations chair was set up to vote by telephone to make sure the absurd health and human services plan advanced.

The story Thursday was not only that the worst budget in a generation is advancing in the House, with its unprecedented cuts to public schools and services for the most vulnerable people in North Carolina.

Most of the proposals approved in subcommittees Thursday had been seen before, though they didn't look any less devastating the second time.  The news Thursday was the chaos and political posturing that surrounded the votes that must surely confounded the people who packed the committee rooms came to protest the budget cuts.
Conservative Republicans, who have been complaining about the size of state government for years, voted against every budget subcommittee report and the deep cuts they would make to state government.

Republican Pearl Burris-Floyd complained at a news conference that the cuts in human services were draconian and that the House should "do right by people who can't do for themselves."  When a reporter asked her if that meant she would support a tax increase, she said "absolutely not," that she would prefer cutting other places in state government.

Floyd complained that human services accounts for 23 percent of the state budget, but is bearing 50 percent of the cuts made to fill the $4.6 billion budget hole.

Other Republicans complained earlier in the week about the cuts to education, but they don't support raising new revenue either.

Instead they are against everything, a disingenuous position, but one that put Democrats in an uncomfortable position Thursday. Most Democrats voted for the budget reports that slash 10,000 jobs in education, abolish widely recognized substance abuse treatment programs, and end community services to thousands of children with disabilities.

Parents of those children who were looking on in the committee room must have been scratching their heads as legislators who normally fight for the services their children need were insisting on passing a budget that eliminated them.

It is no secret that many House Democrats support the more sensible position of balancing budget cuts with a reasonable tax package to limit some of the damage to education and human services. But as the House Democratic Caucus wrestles with what taxes to raise, if any, the budget clock is ticking and their Neanderthal proposal moves along, now scheduled to be on the House floor next week.

It's hard to decide whose posturing is more frustrating at this point, Democrats supporting a budget that would set the state back 20 years or Republicans voting against cutting the budget they claim is too big.  One prominent think tanker on the right praised the House budget recently, saying it contained many things they had been advocating for years.

Rep. Jean Farmer-Butterfield moved that provisions in the health and human services budget be sent to the full Appropriations Committee, but not before she said she had serious problems with the budget and wished that a revenue package was part of the plan to limit the cuts.

Republican Nelson Dollar, who also opposes raising one penny of new revenue, then complained about the budget process and expressed concern for the people the cuts hurt, prompting applause from the advocates in the room.

Quite a day at the General Assembly. Democrats are voting for a budget they know will do serious damage to public schools and end vital services to thousands of people who need them.  It may have started out as a way to build a case for raising taxes, but it has tuned into a dangerous game of chicken with people's lives at stake.

Republicans are voting against the budget and complaining about the cuts and the process used to develop them, while at the same rejecting any suggestion of raising new revenue to protect the schools and services they are all of a sudden are so worried about. 

Republicans have no real plan, just stale anti-tax rhetoric and inspiration from Joe the Plumber.

Here's a thought. Stop playing all the games and do your job. Pass a budget that balances new taxes and reasonable cuts and protects the fundamental institutions of the state and the people who rely on them. It's not that complicated.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 4th, 2009 at 6:58 pm and is filed under Fitzsimon File. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.