The Balance of Power Must Be Restored in NC, Sooner Rather Than Later | Eastern NC Now

    We recently published a story about the new proposal from the State Elections Board that would constitute an excess government overreach of power for the Executive Director. This is essentially an attempt on the part of Governor Cooper, who control the Board of Elections to be able to establish his ability to issue more restrictions such as we have suffered the last two months. Click HERE to review that earlier article.

    We also have been treated by the Governor to more power mongering in the form of not calling the Legislature into session for the Annual Budget review. Forgive us if we sense a rat here. It might be that he fears the Republican controlled Legislature would begin to chop away at this abusive executive orders growing from the ChiCom virus, and perhaps from the budget battle in the last session.

    On of the Executive Virus Orders required approval from the elected Council of State. Cooper ignored this, simply thumbing his nose at the law.

    Moreover, his strongarm ruling closing schools was yet another overreach. Traditionally in North Carolina local boards of education were the ones in control of the school calendar. Not so with this Governor.

    What all this represents is a real weakness in the laws delineating the balance of powers between the three branches of government in North Carolina. It is that task that the Legislature should be about.

    We think the Legislature leadership should proceed to plan statutory provisions and needed constitutional amendments to fix his mess. The most important this we think that needs to be done is to divest the power to declare a long term (i.e, more than 30 days) state of emergency without Legislative review and/or a timely procedure to provide relief from unconstitutional mandates by either of the other two branches. But in our opinion, there are many other issues that need to be addressed.

    Governor Cooper may mean well (we'll give him the benefit of the doubt) regardless of how well intentioned; he has grossly distorted the powers of the Executive Branch. Most citizens of our state recognize this, and if one doubts that, all they need to do is go about town. The craziness of the definitions of "essential" and "non-essential" carry that argument. But as an attorney, (i.e. ex-Attorney General) Governor Cooper should know better and have more respect for the Constitutions he put his hand on a Bible and swore to uphold. We are mighty disappointed in that. He made a liar of every Civics teacher in this state for several generations. Pandemics do not suspend the Rule of Law.