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North Carolina GOP Goes Back on Promise to Fully Repeal ‘Bathroom Law’ HB2

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@NCNAACP
After Christmas, the NC NAACP leadership will convene to write a proposal to the Nat'l NAACP to call for a national economic boycott of #NC
 

Ekai

Member
It's stories like this and the silence from centrists around here who claim to support LGBT rights yet blab on and on about "compromise!" that only contribute to my dislike of Democrats. This is precisely why compromise MUST be rejected. This is why these centrists shouldn't be allowed control of the party. They continue to demonstrate no spine and a complete willingness to bend the knee to Republicans at a moment's notice. All to the detriment of the people they claim to care about. Centrists, please, be honest you don't care about: 1) the LGBT community. 2) the poor . 3) racial minorities. 4) religious minorities. etc. etc. etc.
 
Wait til he's gone then?

The stipulation came from the NC GOP. It wouldn't have changed if you waited until after Cooper came to office. McCrory was only involved because he had to call a special session of the legislature so they could come back and potentially pass the repeal.

Bonus stupidity: The first version of Charlotte's repeal bill contained a provision that if the Senate didn't repeal HB2 before the new year, the repeal was undone. Which is smart, because that's some teeth to ensure the other side lives up to their end of the bargain. Of course, the GOP complained about it and refused to move with that in place, so Charlotte came back and removed that provision to make it an unconditional full repeal.
 

Ekai

Member
Yeah, just Ned Starking this whole thing.

Honestly, given how often the Centrists have thrown minorities/the poor under the bus in the name of "compromise", I'd say they aren't even Ned Starking. They seem to happily let their constituents suffer.
 
It is sort of amusing that there are constant calls to not roadblock and meet the GOP halfway so that we don't knock down things that will "hurt our constituents" or people that they claim to care about yet they continually throw these people under the bus themselves. Like, they're already being hurt. You're not helping them by letting shit like this happen over and over.
 

Ekai

Member
It is sort of amusing that there are constant calls to not roadblock and meet the GOP halfway so that we don't knock down things that will "hurt our constituents" or people that they claim to care about yet they continually throw these people under the bus themselves. Like, they're already being hurt. You're not helping them by letting shit like this happen over and over.

Pretty much. The trans community is used to being shoved under the bus though.
 

Blader

Member
On the topic of compromise vs. gridlock, there's a significant difference between national Congressional/presidential politics and state v. local politics.

But it's a moot point anyway, because the NC GOP has a veto proof majority in the state senate and assembly, so there's really no reason for NC Dems to try to compromise; Republicans have the power to do as they please regardless.
 
It's stories like this and the silence from centrists around here who claim to support LGBT rights yet blab on and on about "compromise!" that only contribute to my dislike of Democrats. This is precisely why compromise MUST be rejected. This is why these centrists shouldn't be allowed control of the party. They continue to demonstrate no spine and a complete willingness to bend the knee to Republicans at a moment's notice. All to the detriment of the people they claim to care about. Centrists, please, be honest you don't care about: 1) the LGBT community. 2) the poor . 3) racial minorities. 4) religious minorities. etc. etc. etc.

If anything needs to be learned from this year it's that this nonsense of assuming that Republicans want to do things in good faith needs to stop. Democrats are good at being assholes to each other but always want to walk on pins and needles when it comes to the party that is hurting people.
 

Opto

Banned
Honestly, given how often the Centrists have thrown minorities/the poor under the bus in the name of "compromise", I'd say they aren't even Ned Starking. They seem to happily let their constituents suffer.

Well his actions and inactions led to similar suffering so I think it's apt enough :p
 

Ogodei

Member
It's not like they really "played" Charlotte, since Charlotte's law is overridden by HB2 and there's nothing to stop Charlotte from putting their unenforceable law back up as a protest.

Is your AG a Democrat? Could they just elect to not enforce HB2?
 
Ogodei said:
It's not like they really "played" Charlotte, since Charlotte's law is overridden by HB2 and there's nothing to stop Charlotte from putting their unenforceable law back up as a protest.

Is your AG a Democrat? Could they just elect to not enforce HB2?

They played Charlotte because they eroded Charlotte's position of moral superiority on this. They can point and say "they sold you out once, do you believe that they're truly in this to defend you" if they ever tried to put the non-discrimination ordinance back into place.

As for the AG question, they don't really have the option to not enforce the law. But current AG Roy Cooper (D), the governor-elect, has chosen not to defend the law on behalf of the state in any court proceedings, and his successor Josh Stein (D), will probably follow suit.

Just a reminder this "law" recently lost them 700 jobs.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/charlo...a.com/amp/news/business/article110775227.html

It's astounding that the people of NC aren't up in arms over this.

It's important to not forget the state/city dynamics here. There has always been at best, healthy tension and at worst, downright disdain between the city of Charlotte and the state government of NC.

These are quotes from just yesterday's session:

Jim Morrill @jimmorrill
Sen. Buck Newton calls Charlotte council 'the lunatic left.' Criticizes 'the hateful crowd from California and elsewhere,"

“So when you talk about trust, I think the city of Charlotte has been as disingenuous as anybody I’ve ever seen,” said State Sen. Harry Brown, a Republican from Onslow County.

Republican Sen. Andrew Brock, who represents parts of Iredell and Rowan counties, hammered the city.

“President Reagan said trust but verify,” he said. “Did the city fully repeal it? Nope. They said it was a technicality. No way it was a technicality.”

He said the City Council pulled “the worst stunt I have ever seen.”

In the House, Republican State Rep. Jeff Collins of Rocky Mount opened the debate by saying the entire session was unneeded and “unconstitutional.” He blamed Charlotte for having to call the special session.

So when CoStar doesn't bring 700 jobs, or PayPal doesn't bring 400 jobs, or when the ACC pulls its college football championship game, or when the NBA pulls the All-Star Game, they don't see that as hurting North Carolina, they see that as hurting Charlotte. Which they don't mind that much. That'll teach those radical, out of touch liberals. They had grown too big for their britches anyway. And its not even just CLT here. Any economic fallout from this has and will disproportionately affect cities (Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington) who to be quite frank, the NC GOP do not care about. As long as rednecks in the sticks keep voting them in, they are cool.

I don't see any amount of economic fallout short of the NFL pulling the nuclear option and forcing the Panthers to move back to South Carolina that would get the NCGA to repeal. It's going to take the courts.
 

Raven117

Member
The Republicans now firmly under the control of the Tea Party (which they are now just "Republicans") have embraced scorched earth tactics, they believe they are fighting for their "way of life." True or not...remains to be seen...but it doesn't matter...they believe it therefore it is real.

IMO this a disservice to all of us. Fiscal Conservatism does deserve a seat at the table to help effectuate solid policy, but that message has been not only lost, but twisted...
 

Averon

Member
They played Charlotte because they eroded Charlotte's position of moral superiority on this. They can point and say "they sold you out once, do you believe that they're truly in this to defend you" if they ever tried to put the non-discrimination ordinance back into place.

As for the AG question, they don't really have the option to not enforce the law. But current AG Roy Cooper (D), the governor-elect, has chosen not to defend the law on behalf of the state in any court proceedings, and his successor Josh Stein (D), will probably follow suit.



It's important to not forget the state/city dynamics here. There has always been at best, healthy tension and at worst, downright disdain between the city of Charlotte and the state government of NC.

These are quotes from just yesterday's session:









So when CoStar doesn't bring 700 jobs, or PayPal doesn't bring 400 jobs, or when the ACC pulls its college football championship game, or when the NBA pulls the All-Star Game, they don't see that as hurting North Carolina, they see that as hurting Charlotte. Which they don't mind that much. That'll teach those radical, out of touch liberals. They had grown too big for their britches anyway. And its not even just CLT here. Any economic fallout from this has and will disproportionately affect cities (Raleigh-Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Wilmington) who to be quite frank, the NC GOP do not care about. As long as rednecks in the sticks keep voting them in, they are cool.

I don't see any amount of economic fallout short of the NFL pulling the nuclear option and forcing the Panthers to move back to South Carolina that would get the NCGA to repeal. It's going to take the courts.

Sounds like they are mad that "liberals" are moving into NC and is slowly and steadily changing the demographics and--most importantly for them--voting tendencies of the electorate in NC.
 
Sounds like they are mad that "liberals" are moving into NC and is slowly and steadily changing the demographics and--most importantly for them--voting tendencies of the electorate in NC.

Exactly.

You keep the already liberal cities (and to be clear, Charlotte isn't THAT liberal, but as you can see from those quotes above, the NC GOP treats it like it's San Francisco) from being attractive to more young, progressive thinkers, and you marginalize their influence on the state policies and politics.

Good example: the minimum wage provision of House Bill 2 (that no one ever talks about). It prevents municipalities from setting and enforcing a city-wide minimum wage, instead defaulting to the state set wage. That's not inherently a problem, New York State does the same thing ($15 an hour state wide will be required by 2021, with specific provisions in place for faster implementation in the NYC metro). But the NC state mandated minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour and doesn't look like it will ever increase any time soon. $7.25 could maybe keep a roof over your head in most parts of the state, it's not going to do much for you in ever-growing Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham with increasing costs of living. Now the city governments are powerless to increase that wage in support of their citizenry.
 

Trouble

Banned
Look at the latest election results. Look at what the NC GOP pulled off when they lost the governorship. What's the fucking point?

This kind of defeatism is exactly what they want from left. They haven't won when they gain temporary power, then win when you give up and stop fighting.
 

Vena

Member
Look at the latest election results. Look at what the NC GOP pulled off when they lost the governorship. What's the fucking point?

They lost the governorship, and they are about to lose their supermajority... so long as people go out and vote.

So why would you think giving up your voice is a good decision?
 
Exactly.

You keep the already liberal cities (and to be clear, Charlotte isn't THAT liberal, but as you can see from those quotes above, the NC GOP treats it like it's San Francisco) from being attractive to more young, progressive thinkers, and you marginalize their influence on the state policies and politics.

Good example: the minimum wage provision of House Bill 2 (that no one ever talks about). It prevents municipalities from setting and enforcing a city-wide minimum wage, instead defaulting to the state set wage. That's not inherently a problem, New York State does the same thing ($15 an hour state wide will be required by 2021, with specific provisions in place for faster implementation in the NYC metro). But the NC state mandated minimum wage is currently $7.25/hour and doesn't look like it will ever increase any time soon. $7.25 could maybe keep a roof over your head in most parts of the state, it's not going to do much for you in ever-growing Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham with increasing costs of living. Now the city governments are powerless to increase that wage in support of their citizenry.

Yeah, this isn't just a "bathroom" law, it goes deeper than that.
 

teiresias

Member
Is there some reason Charlotte can't just pass their legislation again?

In any event, I've been saying forever the Dems are horrible about wanting to work across the aisle in the face of the GOP working in bad faith at all levels of government. It didn't help that Obama spent most of his presidency making the same mistake over and over again.
 
Yeah, this isn't just a "bathroom" law, it goes deeper than that.

It's interesting, we often talk about voters (especially Republican) voting against their self-interests. Here it's pretty evident.

There's language in this law that prevents cities from setting regulations on a wide-range of issues, from child labor laws to maximum consecutive hours worked to minimum wage. The first draft of the bill signed into law by McCrory (which has since been removed, but really only because they wanted to throw a bone to the NBA) prevented an employee's right to sue their employers for wrongful termination on the basis of discrimination for any reason (including race, gender, sexuality, religion...)

There's so much here that's terrible for anyone that's not a white, straight, business-owner, but as soon as the word bathroom was put into the public consciousness, the GOP was able to use the specter of "man pretending to be trans to gain access to women's private facilities with the intent to do your daughters/wives/mothers/sisters harm" to drive public support.
 
It's interesting, we often talk about voters (especially Republican) voting against their self-interests. Here it's pretty evident.

There's language in this law that prevents cities from setting regulations on a wide-range of issues, from child labor laws to maximum consecutive hours worked to minimum wage. The first draft of the bill signed into law by McCrory (which has since been removed, but really only because they wanted to throw a bone to the NBA) prevented an employee's right to sue their employers for wrongful termination on the basis of discrimination for any reason (including race, gender, sexuality, religion...)

There's so much here that's terrible for anyone that's not a white, straight, business-owner, but as soon as the word bathroom was put into the public consciousness, the GOP was able to use the specter of "man pretending to be trans to gain access to women's private facilities with the intent to do your daughters/wives/mothers/sisters harm" to drive public support.

Yep, exactly, I'm pretty sure Rev William Barber's been screaming about this.
 

VariantX

Member
It is sort of amusing that there are constant calls to not roadblock and meet the GOP halfway so that we don't knock down things that will "hurt our constituents" or people that they claim to care about yet they continually throw these people under the bus themselves. Like, they're already being hurt. You're not helping them by letting shit like this happen over and over.

It's stupid at this point really, your constituents are getting fucked over right now while they're blaming you for all the fuckery they're causing. The GOP is burning down the building while they're looking for a big enough olive branch instead of a bucket of water. They're not playing the same game you are and never will as long as they can get away with it.
 
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