I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. - Grover Norquist, NPR interview, May 2001 Republicans want smaller government the way burglars want smaller police forces - it makes it easier to steal stuff. Libertarians forget: an effective government keeps others from ruling you. You end up with warlords. This is why Germany was the last state to develop in modern Europe - the Hapsburgs were a loose confederacy of self-interested duchies and fiefdoms that sparred constantly and kept their dominion poor, uneducated and superstitious. Great for the Hapsburgs. Shitty for everyone else. The modern Republican Party, everybody. What if every deposed despot were to systematically reduce the powers of the office they were leaving?
There is something to be said for Government in Moderation, of course. I think the pendulum has swung a little far to the left, and would like to see properly enforced laws and decision power returned to judges, instead of the ever-increasing legislation. Nobody wins when new laws get implemented, because new laws - by their very design - create new loopholes. So, generally speaking, I'd like to see power move from the law-makers to the law-enforcers.
You're speaking in generalities. Let's talk specifics: So that's not smaller, that's bigger. That's also taking an odd number (which cannot tie) and replacing it with an even one (which always will). What about HB17? An important part of the bill that might go unnoticed involves changes the oversight of the controversial Achievement School District (ASD) program. The ASD program places five low-performing elementary schools under the operation of a charter school operator. The program is based off a similar program in Tennessee that has failed to improve student performance. So that doesn't shrink government, either - it just changes who wields it. Oh, and sets up charter schools. But then, they filed 26 other bills. Certainly worthy of a special session. Government. Shrinking all the way to permanence. So, generally speaking, you can want whatever you want. But specifically speaking, there has never been an elected official who thinks that they should have less power so their opponents can have more.Senate Bill 4 dramatically reshapes the governor's power in election oversight. Previously, the governor appointed a majority of state election board officials on the five-person panel. SB4 expands the board to eight members. The governor now appoints four and Republicans select the other four. Republicans call it bipartisan good governance. Democrats call it a power grab.
In nearly every way possible, the bill strips power from the State Board of Education to provide more authority to the newly-elected Republican Superintendent-elect of Public Schools, Mark Johnson. If the bill becomes law, it will certainly be challenged in court due to constitutional issues.
The proposals were wide ranging. A 43-page regulatory reform bill proposed dozens of things including changing the name of the Board of Refrigeration Examiners to the Board of Commercial Refrigeration Examiners.
House Bill 17 requires the Governor's cabinet appointments to go through senate confirmation. It also makes 1,200 McCrory appointees permanent state employees.