Editorial: Berger's criticism reflects more on his behavior than actions of his targets

CBC Editorial: Friday, Oct. 4, 2019; Editorial #8469
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.

Ever wondered how anyone comes up with the stuff that arises out of the North Carolina Senate?

At a news conference on Tuesday, Senate Leader Phil Berger, the Republican from Rockingham County finally came out about why he can’t get the votes to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the legislature’s budget bill.

Berger looks to “indications” from un-named sources and unsubstantiated data. He listens to “stories.”

Just look and listen to what he said at a news conference in the Legislative Building. (We’ve added the emphasis).

“Indications I've gotten from some Democrats in the Senate are that they would like for the budget to become law, but they are afraid of reprisals from the governor. Stories include that he’s introduced them to their primary opponents if they don’t fall in line and follow his orders.”

Maybe Berger has that notion, because maybe that’s how he keeps the Republicans in the Senate under his thumb. (It takes one to know one, they say.) Of course, these are indications from some Republicans in the Senate based on stories we’ve heard.

Maybe he’s just shocked that his ploy to buy Democratic votes with more than $300 million in local pork barrel spending that suddenly appeared in the budget wasn’t enough to get them to melt their resolve to sustain Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget veto.

We’ll go with what Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, a Wake County Democrat said. “All of the Democrats have told me and told each other – both privately and in companies where all of us were present – and they’ve told the governor – that they will support his veto on the budget.”

Let’s get real here. No one – including disingenuous members (Republicans and Democrats) of the legislature – should believe for a moment that votes on critical issues don’t have consequences. Those consequences sometimes are political. Berger knows this. He’s taken the art of political payback to new heights.

But his focus on the governor is just silly. A Senate Democrat that votes to override the governor’s budget veto has a lot more to worry about than Roy Cooper. The line to run for that seat will be a mile long -- whether prompted by political party leaders or generated by grassroots reaction.

It would be easy to ask what kind of threat did Berger possibly make toward House Speaker Tim Moore to get him to cheat and sneak a vote on the budget? We might wonder why else would the speaker have shown such low regard for integrity and fairness toward his fellow members of the state House?

But, of course, this comes from some stories we’ve heard. And we cannot tell you who told us. We have no evidence on which to base such allegations.

Sen. Berger: Stop the political games and disingenuous rhetoric. Send the budget bill back to the House of Representatives and demand a full and fair vote on the veto override.

How you play the game DOES matter.