Thoughts on the GOP's pathetic anti-Cooper attacks and austerity budget

It felt like a partial victory when Republicans passed two or three “mini-budgets” to keep at least some public services funded, despite the lack of a full state budget. In North Carolina, we now subject ourselves to the soft bigotry of low expectations. We know what the legislature is capable of—destructive, radical conservatism—so when they toss at least a perfunctory concession to positive government, we feel a sense of reassurance that they declined to do their worst.

But I think one key thing to understand is that failing to pass a budget does not, in fact, feel like a failure for Senator Berger’s Republicans. Without a budget, spending will not go up and tax cuts will not be delayed or canceled. As a result, state spending will continue to shrink as a proportion of GDP and the latest round of our endless succession of tax cuts will deliver its promised windfall to the donor class. Passivity allows Republicans to reduce the size of government without lifting a finger.

It’s worth considering the quiet radicalism of no-budget governance. If legislators do not pass an annual budget, state government continues to operate according to appropriations allocated in the previous fiscal year. That means that state spending does not increase at all. So what? This represents an even greater victory for small-government conservatives than the “TABOR” (taxpayer bill of rights) budgeting they have favored for over a decade. Under TABOR rules, spending cannot increase at a rate higher than the combination of inflation and population growth. Draconian, but it means that spending can rise. When Republicans do not pass a budget, spending doesn’t increase—period. Republicans get to maintain a greater level of fiscal austerity greater even than what would prevail under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

The GOP would very much like to puncture Roy Cooper’s sterling image. With the help of British tabloid journalists, they have started their project. And it flopped, miserably. The Daily Mail—which once falsely reported that Barack Obama was planning to moving to Asheville*—reported the juicy, irrelevant story that Roy Cooper had a first marriage before betrothing with his wife Kristin, the widely admired former First Lady of our state. The Mail did not establish that there was anything untoward about Cooper’s divorce or that he or Kristin committed adultery. The Fleet Street chaps just retrieved some spaghetti from the early 90s and threw it against the wall.

Cooper is a man of integrity.

I’m struck by how ineffectual the early Republican attacks on Cooper have been. They’re calling him “Radical Roy.” The best Trumpian nickname I’ve heard NCGOPers come up with was “Status Quo Bev” in 2008. Proto-Trumpian, I suppose. Perdue was both the first woman governor of a patriarchal Southern state, and the first politician to enjoy the pleasure of beating Pat McCrory. But “Status Quo Bev” resonated because she was a product of the Eastern North Carolina Democratic Machine. I hardly even need to explain why “Radical Roy” is ridiculous.

Did you know that Roy Cooper is an admirer of Zohran Mamdani?! Readers may be interested to know that Cooper, a small-town lawyer who grew up picking tobacco, has successfully created a mirage of moderate politics while secretly worshipping New York City socialists. I Googled “Roy Cooper Zohran Mamdani” and found only Republican oppo-research hit pieces. Based on my research—and do correct me if I’m wrong—Cooper has never even said anything about Mamdani.

Do Republicans really have so little oppo on Cooper that they’re resorting to this drivel? He has been in office for 40 years. But, given the paucity of convincing attacks coming from the usually ruthless NCGOP, it appears he truly has lived a life of integrity and served the public honestly and well. That seems like a fairly solid endorsement of his candidacy.