We did it again: This week’s politics return NC to an unflattering national spotlight
Much of the country is up in arms over North Carolina politics — and it’s not the first time.
Republicans in the N.C. House of Representatives voted Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the state budget, when only about half of the 120 members were around.
The vote came around the same time many people throughout the country were remembering the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. And that timing drew some comparisons.
Rep. Deb Butler’s shouts of “I will not yield” became the rallying cry for infuriated Democrats. But political pundits, television personalities and best-selling authors also had something to say about it.
NC's history of national joke fodder
North Carolina has a bit of a history providing fodder for political firestorms that draw the ire of comics and celebrities alike.
In 2016, the General Assembly introduced the now-infamous “bathroom bill” that would have banned transgender people from using the restroom of their choice in publicly owned buildings.
Legislators also attempted to reduce the governor’s powers between Election Day and inauguration that same year.
The News & Observer reported three N.C. House Republicans introduced a bill in 2017 seeking to drop a provision in the state constitution that prohibits secession — 156 years after North Carolina first seceded from the union during the Civil War.
Rep. Larry Pittman, a Republican from Concord, compared Abraham Lincoln to Adolph Hitler around the same time, according to Politifact.
Republicans didn’t break any rules Wednesday with the vote, according to the News & Observer, but the saga isn’t over yet.
The Senate would also have to override Cooper’s veto for the budget to pass, the newspaper reported.
This story was originally published September 12, 2019 at 4:43 PM with the headline "We did it again: This week’s politics return NC to an unflattering national spotlight."
