REPUBLICAN N.C. SENATOR BOB RUCHO – DEMOCRATS HAVE SPENT US TO DEATH. NOW IT IS TIME TO CLEAN UP THE MESS
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Two approaches to state budget shortfall
Excerpts from a speech Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, delivered on the N.C. Senate floor last week:
“Here we are in a situation where we’ve got double-digit unemployment. And the reality is that it’s probably close to 17 percent unemployment with people who are either unemployed or underemployed. And yet, last debate, where were you (Democrats)? You just said, ‘We’re going to keep spending! We’re just going to keep putting more money in the pile.’ Because of the fact that, God forbid, we stop spending and make sure that government just doesn’t run at the same level.
“I want you to take responsibility for the way you’ve all led this state in the past 10 to 12 years – because of the fact that you spent us to death. And now when we have to make some tough decisions you’re crying about $75 million, where in reality – how many billions? – $1.7 billion we put in incentives. …
“And you talk about the incentives and how great they were. Well, I’ll tell you what a good incentive is: It’s lowering your tax rates, cut your government spending to a normal level, and allowing businesses to function in the creative environment. And then you’re going to see the jobs. … The reality is, we’ve got to grow our existing businesses. …
“You know, one thing’s for sure, I’m not a great hunter, but you shoot where the ducks are. The ducks are our businesses, the small businesses that exist in this state at this time. And what this is, this is the first step to a pathway that the majority party in this Senate is going to show you and the rest of this state and the business environment which way we’re going so you really understand how to put an economy back together again.
“Pay attention. This is what you should have done when you had a turn. And unfortunately you didn’t – and the people are distressed about it. And they were distressed in the election and they said, ‘Find another way to do this, because surely what you’ve done didn’t work.’
“Now, do you take full blame for the recession? No. But you sure aggravated it. You added a billion dollars of new taxes on top of the existing businesses. You punished the people who are working. You made it harder for the businesses to expand and grow – and maybe even survive, for that matter. You also used $1.6 billion in stimulus money – one time money for ongoing expenses. How many of you said no to that? Let’s put the blame where it needs to be. Don’t come back now crying about jobs. You should have done something last time when you could have done something more about it.
“What this does is a big step forward to reduce some of the pain and suffering that will occur in the next budget. Some of it is recurring. There are going to be … some very tough decisions that need to be made. If we’re going to put our financial house back in order, then, very simply, we need to make the tough cuts. Is it going to be fun? None of us are going to have fun doing this. Is it the right thing to do? That’s what the people elected us to do – to go out there and do the right thing and put this state back where we can enjoy the prosperity and share it across the board. …
“We need to put those people back to work. They’re counting on us. If we do business as usual, then we fail them and we fail this state. And we can’t let that happen.
“Ladies and gentleman, you will see over the next period of time a continuation of a policy Senator (Phil) Berger, Senator (Tom) Apodaca, and all the leaders in this Senate will bring forward that will put this state on the pathway to prosperity.
“Hang on. It’s going to take us a little time to recover from 100 years of disaster. But guess what? We’re going to go ahead and we’re going to show you how to do it. You’re welcome to join us or you can cry about it. But the fact is, you have a responsibility because you’ve got as many people that you’re representing as the rest of us. Don’t fall back and do business as usual. It’s time to go ahead and do the right thing.”
Bob Rucho is co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee.
