NC GOPer Says The Quiet Part Out Loud: Down With Integrity, Yay Corruption

By Aliza Worthington — November 1, 2019

As often as I curse the goddesses for Twitter, I thank them. Here we find Sen. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina sharing a video of him calling out his fellow state senators of the GOP persuasion for failing to call a vote, prompting them to admit to their corruption red-handed and laughing about it.

Quick background: Republican-majority North Carolina legislature passed a budget. Democratic Governor Roy Cooper vetoed it, because it included corporate tax breaks, but did not include a pay raise for teachers, nor Medicaid expansion funding. GOP-led NC Senate would like to override that veto, but cannot as long as those pesky Democratic senators actually show up for the vote. So, they keep cancelling the vote, and trying to trick the Dems into missing the vote so they can override Gov. Cooper's veto.

Silly Republicans.

And now, North Carolina does not have a budget as a result.

Sen. Jeff Jackson called them on this gross and corrupt maneuvering, and GOP Senator Jerry Tillman basically stood up and said, "Yup."

Check this out - it’s a video that shows political corruption in our state Senate happening *in real time.*

First I point out that GOP leadership keeps canceling the veto override vote every time all the Dems are present - hoping they can catch us unaware and override the veto. pic.twitter.com/JGsdtLutqa

— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 31, 2019

THEN a Republican Senator stands up and says, "We'll call [a vote] at the right time. I hope you'll miss it."

Then all the Republican Senators erupt in laughter.

(Corruption = comedy?)

You can tell by my reaction that, in my view, he just made my case for me.

— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 31, 2019

Watch for yourself.

And keep in mind: This isn’t just a harmless game. *It’s the reason there’s no budget in NC* - because they've opted for corruption instead of compromise for the last three months.

— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 31, 2019

To be clear:

Repeatedly postponing a vote not because some members are absent but because all members are *present* isn’t just a dumb political game - it’s a failure of integrity.

It's petty corruption. And every day it continues it's hurting our state. #CallTheVote

— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 31, 2019

Aaaand they just did it *again.*

They brought us into session this morning, saw all the Dems were there, so they called a recess,

then another,

then another,

then another,

then another,

and every time we came back all the Dems were there.

So they cancelled the vote.

— Sen. Jeff Jackson (@JeffJacksonNC) October 31, 2019

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