James Kasprzak: Checks and balances

The defenders of House Bill 2 feel we should ignore the objections of other states, of the federal government, of cities and entertainers and academic institutions across the country. They have said we should disregard boycotts by athletic associations, colleges, the objections of Google, Apple and the Bank of America, other large companies and venture capital financial companies. After all, they are outsiders and don’t share our “values.”

So who does have the right to object? What about the people and political institutions of North Carolina? When the federal government objects to HB2, we call it “government overreach.” When the state leadership objects to the civil liberties laws of Charlotte and other cities and counties in our state, isn’t that also political “overreach”?

History has shown that whenever one party rules absolutely, bad things, even evil thing, will happen. We need a balance of power at the state level and not the supermajority of the current legislature and the agreeable concurrence of the governor of the same party.

A political balance keeps government modest and sane.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 4:00 PM with the headline "James Kasprzak: Checks and balances."