Charlotte M. Speltz: Berger’s power has gone to his head

Regarding the March 23 Point of View “Berger’s demand for submission”: Thanks to Gene Nichol, who clearly recognizes the power ploys of Senate leader Phil Berger.

I have been shaking my head in disgust since I heard Berger’s rebuttal to Gov. Roy Cooper. Did he even listen to the speech? Why did he not respond to Cooper’s call for “common ground” and for shared responsibility of the executive and legislative branches to work together for all North Carolinians?

I laughed out loud when Berger referenced Thoreau’s quote “that government is best which governs least.” How was it less government when it passed laws prohibiting voting rights, discriminating against LGBT residents, redrawing districts to disallow North Carolinians a proper voice in elections, refusing teacher tenure and pay for master’s degrees, solving a nonexistent problem (HB2) without a review process or refusing Medicaid health care to poor people?

Now Republicans advocate judges become partisan. The third constitutional branch was always to be partisan-free, as noted by Neil Gorsuch in his confirmation hearing.

Berger needs to heed Lord Acton’s quote: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Charlotte M. Speltz: Berger’s power has gone to his head."