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Related News & Views radio interview:

• Sen. Richard Burr

Lobbying is an important part of governing in a democracy—a process by which groups can consolidate talent, skill, and resources to effectively advocate positions; to provide legislators with vital information; to raise issues and consciousness; and to alert legislators to unintended consequences of a proposed bill.  All of these are legitimate attributes of lobbying.  But, in Raleigh, lobbyists  have, to a far greater degree than is healthy, moved from providing information to, too often, seizing control of the agenda and the money behind some of those lobbyists has become an aphrodisiatic which is increasingly hard to refuse in modern campaigns.

The debate in Raleigh for several months now has been about the Speaker, a matter to which I will return in a moment.  But that really is a failure to see the forest thru the trees.  The real issue is not one man—it is structural defects in a system that must be repaired, as the Speaker himself has come to understand, so the General Assembly will, once again, be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people of North Carolina.
 
Public confidence is a fragile thing.  When elected, there is a covenant created between legislator and citizen that, at a minimum, requires us to exercise our best judgment on any issue, often resolving vastly meritorious competing interests, and to do so always with the greater public interest in mind.  It is my experience that people will stand with you even if they disagree with your vote and position on an issue as long as they remain confident your reason for being in office is for the long term public interest and not short term self or partisan interest.  Like any solid relationship, the relationship between legislator and constituent will survive disagreements on issues, but can not endure a breach of faith and trust.
 
Thus, it is imperative the Legislature address and remedy the growing gap between the influence of special interest lobbyists and the individual citizen, who is now too often left stranded on the sideline of policy debate, unheard, unseen, and unattended.  Democrats have always been the party to assure the most vulnerable and least represented in our society had a voice at the table and now, more than ever, advocacy for the poor, the disconnected and the needy is crucial.  It is incumbent on us to pass meaningful lobbying reform, governmental process reform and establish a true ethical code for legislators, their staffs, and our offices.  We need to learn from our institutional and individual mistakes.  We teach character education in our schools, a major component of which is responsibility of the individual to themselves and each other, and we should expect no less of ourselves as a legislators and as a General Assembly.   We must admit that business as usual is not good for the public’s business in Raleigh or Washington.

I now turn my comments, briefly, to the Speaker of the North Carolina House.  I do not know, nor does any legislator or anyone in this room know, the truth of the allegations against the Speaker.  Investigative processes have been underway for some time and eventually those findings will become manifest in one forum or another.

But the debate that has grown over the last several months is not just about what is legal or illegal.  It is about responsibility.  Our ultimate responsibility is to serve the citizens of North Carolina, to prevent problems from occurring whenever possible, to alleviate human suffering wherever possible, to recognize issues when they arise, promptly search for solutions to aid our state, and effect meaningful, lasting remedies to improve the lives of every North Carolinian.
 
Last full session, nearly 3000 bills were filed in the General Assembly. We cover issues of health care, education, jobs and the economy, transportation, commerce, scientific advancement, aging, and crime and justice to name but a few.  We debate and decide issues from stem cell research to alternative fuels, from globalization to municipal incorporation, and from new roads to new lotteries.  And, given the growth and diversity of the state, with infinite needs and finite resources, it is a tough enough job to govern when leadership is allowed to be on task, focused and in harmony with members.  It becomes increasingly difficult to do the public’s business when the issue most discussed is none of the above, but instead the institutions’ leadership travails.  And, there is no question the latter is now dominant—and that simply can not be allowed to continue. 

Our responsibility is to the people of North Carolina—not to any one person; our responsibility is to solve the existing problems of the state, not to create new ones; and it is always remember the most important thing we do is earn and retain the public trust and confidence every day.  I fear that our path on that road is slowly being blocked by our own instransigent refusal to act.  In short, our failure to resolve the House leadership controversy any longer amounts to an abdication of responsibility and it is unfair to the people of North Carolina, our colleagues and to Jim Black.  I, therefore, forwarded yesterday a formal request to the Majority Leader of the North Carolina House to call, as soon as possible, a Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss and decide the issue of House leadership for the short session.
 
The late Admiral Hyman Rickover once said, “great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; and small minds discuss other people.”  We have now spent enough time in this state (in the press and otherwise) discussing one person and we can not afford to continue to let that discussion dominate the agenda for North Carolina.  It is time to decide, one way or another, on leadership of the House and then for us all to focus fully on the people of this State and their issues that demand our undivided attention, best effort and judgment: education, health care, jobs and economic development.  

It is time to act responsibly, and move decisively, if not belatedly, to regain the public trust and confidence and to remind ourselves that we are a government of laws, not men.  The Democratic tradition is to confront problems and resolve issues even when very painful to do so—it is time for us all to live up to that tradition.

Peter Skillern was a menacing defensive end at Tucker High School in Georgia. He ran fast, hit hard and regularly toppled ball carriers who dwarfed his 150-pound-when-fully-suited frame.

"Yeah, I was smaller, but I guess I was meaner, or at least more aggressive," Skillern, 43, says. "It’s really about having the ability to hit harder than your weight, and your opponent."

It’s that ability — or will — to whack opponents no matter their size that has made Skillern a formidable force as head of the nonprofit Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina.

In that role, Skillern makes a living sticking up for low-income borrowers and chasing unscrupulous lenders out of poor neighborhoods. Under his leadership, the Community Reinvestment Association fights what he sees as unfair practices among banks, predatory mortgage lenders and payday lenders — those who make high-interest short-term loans to people between paychecks. His targets have included major banks such as Citigroup, Bank of America and Wachovia Bank, and he was among those instrumental in getting payday lending banished from North Carolina this year.

"There are tremendous imbalances in the financial field between consumers with money and people without," Skillern says. "And we are all called on to be social witnesses."

Now that North Carolina is one of a dozen states that have outlawed payday lenders, Skillern says he will lobby federal regulators for reform nationally. (more…)