If you want to know what is important to people just read their checkbooks and credit card bills. They are far more enlightening than press releases or diaries. The same is true of political parties. After about seven months of total Republican control, the values of that party’s leaders have become apparent in their tax reform law and their budget.
They eliminated the tax on estates of over $5 million so that the wealthiest North Carolinians will no longer pay it when tens of millions of dollars are passed from one generation to the next; and they reformed the income and corporate taxes so that those with the highest incomes will pay less than in the past. They are sure that they reduced the State’s revenue but they are not sure by how much. Good government requires matching tax revenue with necessary spending.
After reducing the state’s income they announced that they did not have enough money to budget a salary increase for teachers. Our teacher salaries were already extremely low and may well be the lowest in the nation after another year with no adjustment. Most state employees were treated little better. Republican leaders did not consider the state’s financial obligations and the needs of our schools before they cut taxes. That is not good government.
Probably the most troubled department in State Government is the Department of Health and Human Services which is responsible for Medicaid, all of our mental health services, and many other programs. To lead this critical area, the Governor picked Dr. Aldona Wos, a physician who has not been involved full-time in health policy or medical practice for many years. She is very wealthy and has been among the largest fund raisers for former President George W. Bush and for Governor McCrory in both of his campaigns for governor. President Bush rewarded Dr. Wos by appointing her as Ambassador to Estonia. Likewise, the Governor made her DHHS Secretary and she hired a young McCrory campaign staffer, Matthew McKillip, as the Chief Policy Officer of DHHS. At age 24, he has no previous health service education or experience but he has worked for a right wing think tank and now he is leading health policy development for the state.
After only a few months on the job, he has received a 35% salary increase. That is just one example of large raises for campaign supporters while there is nothing left over for teachers or other public employees. How might those other employees feel about this?
Republican leaders said that the state does not have enough money to maintain the unemployment compensation program so they cut the maximum monthly benefit by 35% and cut the maximum length of benefits from 26 weeks to 20. As a result of the change, we lost eligibility for over $700 million in federal funds intended for North Carolina’s unemployed workers while our unemployment rate remains one of the highest in the nation.
Then they turned down the Medicaid expansion which would have been totally paid by the federal government for the first 3 years and would have been over 90% federally funded thereafter. That expansion would have covered most of our low-income working people at federal expense. Through 2019 it would have brought $15 billion federal dollars to the state and created 25,000 new jobs (mostly in the private sector). That would have helped mightily with our unemployment problem. Our middle class and poor will have to pay the federal taxes to fund the expansion but we won’t get the health care or the jobs.
The inescapable conclusion is that the Governor and legislative leaders think it is more important to cut taxes for the wealthy than it is to provide health care for low income workers and fair salaries to teachers. You can read their values in the state’s checkbook. This is particularly sad, because these are not the values of most North Carolinians; and many Republicans also disapprove. Some must be wondering how their party got away from them. In retrospect, the answer seems to be that a few very wealthy people not only bought the election with incredible amounts of spending; they also bought the soul of a once proud political party. It’s quite a set of values: Take care of your wealthy donors and reduce their taxes then pay for it by denying fair wages to teachers and other public employees and by cutting back on the public education and health services which would help the poor improve their earning power. They may preach family values but support for families is not written in their checkbook.
After doing such things, the only sure way to stay in office is to prevent those who disagree and those you have harmed from voting. That is a subject for another day.