North State Journal for Wednesday, February 15, 2017
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north STATEment Neal Robbins, publisher | Drew Elliot, opinion editor | Ray Nothstine, deputy opinion editor
Visual Voices
EDITORIAL | Ray Nothstine
NC Democrats should lead to expand party For Democrats, former Gov. Pat McCrory’s new role as a commentator Sunday was a visible reminder of one of the few bright spots in the last election cycle. He appeared as a panelist on the most recent Meet the Press episode. But the toppling of McCrory, even in victory, is a reminder too of some of their constraints, now weighed down by destructive identity politics. Perhaps the most prescient Meet the Press guest Sunday for Democrats though was not McCrory, but former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb. Pushed aside by his own party, Webb is trying to get Democrats to recall some of their history that helped them champion the common man. “[T]he Democratic Party over the past five or six years has moved very far to the left,” Webb lamented Sunday. “When you can’t have a Jefferson/ Jackson dinner which was the primary celebratory event of the Democratic Party for years because Jefferson and Jackson It should bother were slaveholders, they were Democrats that also great Americans in their many Americans view day, something just different Donald Trump as a has happened to the Democratic Party.” Last month Democrats voice and vessel for the showcased the real depth of forgotten man. some of their absurdity when one of their candidates for party chairman declared her job is to “shut other white people down.” Webb went on to point out that the Democratic Party has lost its base, largely because of ideological rigidity and identity politics. It should bother Democrats that many Americans view Donald Trump as a voice and vessel for the forgotten man. After all, Trump was a powerful tabloid symbol of opulence and excess through the 1980s and beyond. If losing the working class to Donald Trump is not a devastating irony for Democrats, then probably no wakeup call is looming on the political horizon. Largely now a coastal and urban party, North Carolina’s geographic diversity and electoral importance can serve as a national model to broaden Democrats’ appeal to voters. However, this will require Gov. Roy Cooper to govern more as a centrist in the mold of Jim Hunt and the new Democrats of the 1990s, who rode the success of former Arkansas governor and eventual president Bill Clinton to victory. That means reaching beyond the constituency that is motivated by more government dependency and the politics of outrage that is already showing signs of collapsing under its own weight. While tempting, it may not be enough for North Carolina and national Democrats to simply wait out key demographic shifts. Trump’s campaign hijacked the sophisticated turnout models by speaking to the real needs and concerns of voters, even making inroads with some minority groups, surpassing Mitt Romney’s more outreach-oriented but lackluster presidential campaign. Former Georgia governor and Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat, published a book in 2003 titled “A National Party No More.” It was widely panned by Democrats and critics in the media. Yet, Miller’s warnings to a party he has belonged to all his life turned out to be prophetic. Democrats are experiencing terrible growing pains in a country that seems to want to move back to the political center after eight years of leftward leadership under President Barack Obama. It makes sense that Southern Democrats, traditionally more moderate, lead the effort to retool and rebuild their party toward national relevance again. Democrats in North Carolina would be wise to lead the charge instead of following a loud but less appealing ideology.
EDITORIAL | Drew Elliot
Half a billion to the good North Carolina’s projected budget surplus is one of only four in the nation.
“Many cities and many states still are in a fragile position,” Terry McAuliffe said recently about states’ balance sheets. The governor of Virginia, a Democrat, certainly was not talking about North Carolina. Here, revenues are coming in so hot they need a drag chute before they land in the treasury. But McAuliffe is right about Virginia. The Old Dominion was one of 25 states that dealt with budget deficits in fiscal year 2016. And Virginia, along with 23 other states, is dealing with projected budget deficits for this year too, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers. Apparently, most of the states believed the spin that the nation’s economy was on solid footing and poised for a breakout. (Also, Brexit is certain to be voted down, and Hillary Clinton will easily win the presidential election.) Consider the situation regionally. Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina all had surpluses in 2016. And all are meeting revenue targets for 2017 except North Carolina, whose cup overfloweth. What else do those states have in common? They all had conservatives in charge of budgeting. The Carolinas and Tennessee all
had a “Republican trifecta” in charge — House, Senate, and governor —when these budgets were passed. (Georgia was unable to report revenue projections to NASBO.) So how good is North Carolina’s projected surplus, one of only four in the nation? The consensus report of the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal research staff and the governor’s Office of State Budget and Management summarized that revenue should “be above the budgeted amount by $552.5 million (up 2.5 percent) and that stable, modest growth will occur during the next biennium. “The anticipated revenue surplus,” the report continued, “is predominately the result of stronger-than-expected wage growth increasing both personal income tax and sales tax collections.” Assuming the surplus continues until June 30 — and at half a billion, it would take something catastrophic for it to disappear entirely — conservatives in full control in Raleigh will have delivered budget surpluses for three straight fiscal years. And lest anyone think that surpluses are a result of “slashing” budgets or “gutting” government services — some favorite scare
words the news media uses — note that the overall budget has grown every year, from $21.2 billion in 2015, to $21.7 billion in 2016, to $22.3 billion this fiscal year. When the GOP gained control of the General Assembly, liberals cried foul when legislators held to what the tax-and-spenders considered recession-era “austerity” budget levels. Predictably, they called for more and more spending. Some even specifically mentioned that plenty of Republican-controlled states were loosening up their belts. And while there were moves in Raleigh to spend away the gates, thankfully leadership held firm. The Tarheel State now enjoys a combination of steady economic growth, real personal income growth that is outpacing the nation, and tax rates that are competitive with our neighbors. Thanks to state leadership standing tall in Raleigh, the state is now standing tall among the union.