Apparently, Rob Christensen, Jim Morrill and Mark Johnson are serious when they call Governor Bev Perdue a reformer.
Carter Wrenn has a different take on Perdue’s first few months in office.
After the election Perdue filled her administration with Democratic standard bearers and high-powered lobbyists. Next the lobbyists went wild passing out $250 million in no bid contracts and one of Perdue?s Cabinet Secretaries landed in hot water for leasing $2 million in automobiles his department didn?t use.
And the state budget fight turned into open warfare between special interest groups that had supported Perdue ? with the Governor, initially, declaring she was going to cut spending and not going to raise taxes, which led to the Teacher?s Union attacking her, which led to Perdue changing directions and endorsing a $2 billion tax increase.
While Perdue’s efforts to make government more transparent deserve recognition, it is a real stretch to suggest that she is a reformer.
