| mySPIN |
 The Caste System is Alive and Well in Our Senate
by Tom Campbell
April 9, 2009
The North Carolina State Senate proclaimed a budget this week and the process resembles the way a caste system operates.
At the top you have a handful of “those who know what is best.” In India, they are called the Brahmins. They breathe rarified air and do not like open meetings or open doors. About 10 in number, they are all Democrats, mostly white, mostly older males. One is not to question, just accept their edicts as truth.
On the next rung are the “sheep.” Numbering slightly more than 20 they are the rest of the Senate Democrats. A sheep hopes that some day one of the elite at the top will die, retire, or be defeated so they might rise in the caste. They scurry from committee to committee meeting and even introduce legislation that, if properly approved in advance, may reach the floor for a vote. The sheep could probably wander home except for times when those who know what is best need them to say “aye.” Never question, never criticize, never oppose is their mantra.
At the bottom, the outcasts, are the “obviously unimportant,” a.k.a. Republicans. They are grist for the mill, the ones at the back of the chamber who mostly vote no. Even they are not sure what role they are supposed to play, but they continue to attend Senate sessions and grumble. Their great hope is that one day the voters will actually notice what is going on in their State Senate and send enough Republicans to Raleigh so they can outvote the top two castes. It has never happened before, but should this unlikely event occur it is very probable they will become those who know what is best.
If you are wondering how our Senate strayed so far from representative government, three seminal events point to the change.
The first occurred in 1977, when we changed our Constitution to allow gubernatorial succession. Our Lieutenant Governor, then the most powerful force in the Senate, could remain in control for eight years, upsetting the balance of power in the Legislature. In response the House changed longstanding rules to allow the Speaker to serve more than one two-year term. In 1989, a Republican was elected Lieutenant Governor and the Democratic majority in the Senate quickly transferred power to the Senate President Pro Tem. Since the House Speaker could serve indefinitely, they did not restrict how long the Pro Tem could remain in power.
The game changer occurred when both the Speaker and Pro Tem became the chief fundraisers for their respective houses. These powerful people now had large sums to see their friends elected and gave massive funds to the state political parties, earmarked for these friends as unlimited “in kind” contributions.
Here’s how it works. Those who know what’s best dole out large sums of cash to elect friends to office. Those friends, when elected, keep those who know what’s best in power, and if they vote like good sheep, meaning the way the power wants them to, they get enough campaign money to get re-elected.
This system will remain in place as long as we allow those who know what’s best to buy their flocks or members. Cut off the flow of money and you will break the rank and file dependence on those in power. Until then, the caste system will continue alive and well. |
|
