Politicizing the Budget Veto
Any speculation as to whether Governor Perdue would veto the recently passed North Carolina budget was put to rest on Sunday when she did what any good partisan running for reelection would do…she vetoed it and proceeded to send a fundraising email to supporters the following day claiming that the Republican-drawn budget will do “generational damage” to schools, vulnerable populations, and disaster preparedness.
I think the maiming of kittens was included somewhere as well, because, you know, Republicans are just evil.
The GOP enjoys a veto-proof majority in the State Senate and the budget initially passed with support from five conservative democrats in the State House making a veto override scheduled for Wednesday all but certain to pass.
Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said, “The governor has made it very clear that she’ll leave the political analysis to the pundits. This truly was a decision that she made from the heart.”
When it comes to multi-billion dollar budgets, clearly the heart is the best organ with which to make serious decisions affecting the lives of millions of North Carolina residents. You certainly wouldn’t want to use you brain, because you may actually discover that most of your complaints are without merit.
To that end, we will take the advice to let the pundits conduct the political analysis.
This from the Mecklenburg Republican Party:
In what some are calling a historic move, Governor Beverly Perdue has vetoed the General Assembly’s nearly $20 billion bipartisan state budget. This is the first time a NC governor has ever vetoed a budget proposal. In vetoing the state budget on Sunday afternoon, Gov. Perdue declared that the budget plan represented the first time that the NC General Assembly had turned its back on NC schools and stated that she would not “put [her] name on a plan that so blatantly ignores the values that have built this great North Carolina.”
It would also appear that the Governor won’t put her name on a budget plan that doesn’t raise our taxes. The vetoed budget came in at over $1 billion less than last year’s budget and has been characterized as one more step towards fiscal responsibility and a healthy economy. While Governor Perdue claims that the proposed budget would do “generational damage” as a result of decreased education funding, the bipartisan plan calls for a mere $200 less per student than her own plan. Recognizing that education is key to producing a healthy economy, the bipartisan budget plan also calls for more focused spending on what is actually occurring in the classroom rather than on needless and even redundant administrative jobs. As NC Republican Senate Caucus Political Director Nathan Babcock put it, we simply “cannot continue throwing money at a broken system that produces graduation rates that rank 43rd in the nation.” Such national rankings certainly don’t make this state or its economy great, and something has to change.
In addition to more focused and more effective spending on education, the budget plan is expected to produce thousands of jobs in the private sector by reducing taxes for small business job creators, as well as allowing the temporary sales tax to expire as Gov. Perdue has, in the past, stated she would support. Between the Republican’s super majority in the Senate and the bipartisan votes that the plan garnered in the House, an override vote of the Governor’s veto is expected as early as tomorrow.
MeckGOP Chairman Gideon Moore stated, “Gov. Perdue gave her word to the voters of North Carolina that the tax increases passed by the Democratic General Assembly were temporary. Now, she is showing her true tax-and-spend colors by taking extraordinary action to make those tax increases permanent. If Gov. Perdue won’t keep her word, I trust that the bipartisan coalition in the General Assembly will keep faith with North Carolina’s taxpayers and move North Carolina’s government to strong financial footing by overriding this veto.”
MeckGOP Vice-Chairwoman Patricia Murray added, “Mecklenburg County and North Carolina are in the midst of a prolonged recession which means making a number of difficult choices. We applaud the bipartisan coalition in the General Assembly for making those choices and working to move North Carolina to sound financial footing while creating an environment conducive to private-sector job growth. It’s a true shame that, with this veto, Gov. Perdue has placed partisanship and big government spending over the best interests of North Carolina.”
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