… here’s an animated recap.
Two weeks ago, Republicans greeted surprising news of a budget surplus that, factoring in unspent money reverting back to the General Fund, amounted to about $850 million:
Now, voters might have expected more fiscal discipline from House Republicans — if not out of a supposed philosophical difference from previous Democrat-led chambers, then at least from a “dance with the one that brung ya” perspective — but …
Meanwhile, the corporate cronies — including the ones shamelessly cheered on by our “anti-cronyism” posturing media who are supposedly opposed to “outrageous bow[s] to an industry with political clout” — took their very, very familiar place:
And the House budget writers were like:
A process that to working North Carolinians looked more like:
But when they complained, when disgusted donors announced they were holding back donations, and when principled groups like Americans for Prosperity and others complained, the leadership’s response was like:
Message received.