William Bolick: Building break

Regarding the Dec. 3 news article “McCrory: ‘The results speak for themselves’ ”: So, Gov. Pat McCrory wants to continue “rebuilding North Carolina.”

During McCrory’s first term, this rebuilding included denying Medicaid benefits to thousands of poor North Carolinians, hiring incompetents to run DHHS and DENR, seeking preferential treatment for his former employer (Duke Energy), driving hundreds of teachers out of the profession (and out of the state), signing gun proliferation and voter suppression measures into law and persuading major employers such as Volvo to take their money and jobs elsewhere.

Our governor has repeatedly bowed to the wishes of a runaway legislature that prefers to pursue a radical conservative agenda and write laws based on ALEC-provided templates. He has largely been hidden from sight, other than to take any opportunity to appear in military fatigues following a natural disaster or show up at a “safe” photo op.

He has claimed credit for an economic recovery engineered and implemented by the federal government. Even so, our state’s unemployment rate is among the worst in the nation.

If this is “rebuilding North Carolina,” perhaps it’s time we take a much needed four- to eight-year break from these labors.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "William Bolick: Building break."