Now walk the walk
Published January 20, 2017
[caption id="attachment_13284" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Photo courtesy WRAL[/caption]
Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, January 18, 2017.
GOP leaders had good things to say last week in Raleigh about effective unity and working with Roy Cooper, the new Democratic governor. They’ve talked the talk. Now we want both parties to walk the walk of unity.
That’s the hard part, that of bringing their high-road talk to fruition.
The 170 recently-elected members of the state House and Senate met in the Legislative Building last week to be sworn in and seated, The Associated Press reported. Tim Moore was elected to a second term as House Speaker, and Phil Berger to a fourth term as Senate leader. Other officers and administrators were elected before the legislature adjourned until Jan. 25.
“Let us remember all that we can accomplish when we work together,” Berger told those assembled, The AP reported.
Moore added: “North Carolina has always existed with a little rivalry and yes, even some division — but, in the end, there’s always much more that unites us.” He also said, “There’s always a healthy competition for influence among the branches,” adding that Cooper is “an honorable man.”
“But,” he continued, “we certainly have differences of opinion, just like we do on this House floor.”
The legislative leaders and Cooper certainly have differences of opinion over how much power he should have. The Republicans obviously don’t think Cooper should have as much power as his GOP predecessor, Pat McCrory, and rushed through legislation last month stripping power from the governor’s office, legislation that McCrory signed.
Cooper is fighting that legislation in court. We hope he succeeds in regaining those powers.
If the GOP is really serious about unity, it would rescind this wrongheaded legislation.
We expect the parties to differ.
