As Gov. Cooper and others offer ideas, where is the GOP agenda for a better North Carolina?
The field of Republicans seeking to succeed Sen. Richard Burr in 2022 is filling up with an wide assortment of candidates.
There’s one, and possibly two, U.S. congressmen who are certified Donald Trump loyalists. Former Gov. Pat McCrory jumped in last week. Lara Trump, the former president’s daughter-in-law, is weighing a run. And Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, restless after four months in his first elected office, is testing the waters for a move up to the Senate. There’s also newcomer Jen Banwart of Raleigh, who plans to run without accepting donations.
While there’s no shortage of Republicans who want to be North Carolina’s next senator, there is still the question of why. What does it mean to be a Republican and how does the party want to make things better in North Carolina and the nation?
Those lining up for Burr’s Senate seat are seeking to replace a man who once was the quintessential Republican. Burr served five terms in the House and was elected three times to the Senate. But he was censured by the state party in February after voting to convict Trump at the impeachment trial.
All about Trump
If Burr is not in the party’s good graces, who is? If it’s only those who blindly support Trump, there’s not much to run on. Trump’s agenda never really extended beyond increasing his personal power and wealth.
McCrory, as he mulled entering the Senate race, confidently said in February that substantial issues will come up. He said, “Issues trump everything.” Talk about Freudian slips. The former governor may have really meant the truth – for Republicans in 2022, Trump will be everything.
On the national level, President Joe Biden is rolling out big proposals like a 21st century FDR, while Republicans parse the meaning of infrastructure.
In North Carolina it’s the same: ideas vs. vacuity.
Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has proposed a budget that calls for a 10 percent pay hike for teachers over two years, Medicaid expansion to cover a half million more North Carolinians, a $4.7 billion bond issue to support all levels of education, health care and other areas and $100 million to increase the use of clean energy.
A governor’s task force has offered recommendations on supporting racial equity in the criminal justice system.
The State Board of Education and the Cooper administration, in response to the Leandro school funding case, have offered a plan that calls for at least $5.6 billion in new education spending through 2028.
Last week, three Democratic state lawmakers proposed responding to economic inequality widened by the pandemic with “A Tax Plan for a Just Recovery.” It would roll back some of the Republican tax cuts on corporations and the top 1 percent of earners to generate nearly $2 billion in new state revenue. The extra money would go to support education, health care and infrastructure.
Big ideas vs. tax cuts
These are bold ideas and they’re likely to go nowhere with Republicans fixated on their last and seemingly only idea – tax cuts. Those cuts arguably have improved the state’s business climate, but lawmakers also have to support the well-being of the people and the upkeep and expansion of the state’s infrastructure. Republicans might dismiss that as an argument for more government, but what is their plan for solving the very real challenges North Carolina faces?
Republicans state lawmakers have proposed increases in education funding and they support a push to improve the reading skills of schoolchildren, but the level of spending they will allow is well short of what’s needed. Meanwhile, their attention was focused last week on defending a voter ID requirement in state court and bills that target transgender children. That’s not vision. Those are solutions in search of a problem.
Republicans and Democrats alike want the power of elected office, but what Republicans want to do with that power to benefit the state and nation now and for tomorrow is a mystery, perhaps even to them.
Barnett: 919-829-4512, nbarnett@newsobserver.com
