Jim Black backers hurt own cause
Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
By Chris Fitzsimon
There was a time when complaints against N.C. House Speaker Jim Black were based on impressions and suspicions. That time is past. Facts are piling up to condemn him. His party-line supporters should rethink their support.
Black has unwaveringly defended the right of video poker companies to operate even though critics as unimpeachable as the state sheriffs’ association called for a ban on the gambling venue. Black has ignored the sheriffs’ counsel and waves off heavy campaign fund contributions from the video poker industry as coincidental politics.
It could be coincidence. After all, trying to buy political favor and actual selling out are two different realities. While the links are suspicious, they are not conclusively damning.
Black also got a Republican legislator to roll over and become a Democrat, putting the House in gridlock and paving the way for Black’s continued reign as a House leader. Subsequent revelations about the lawmaker, Michael Decker, receiving special favors and a state job created an awful impression. Still, the taste must have been bitter to Black, but it wasn’t hemlock.
Now the speaker has entered a new phase in his defense: He must explain away strong evidence of vote-buying and political payoffs. (more…)
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