Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Dale Folwell Slams Republicans in #NCGA for Secrecy Provision

 

Dale Folwell, state treasurer and current candidate in the Republican primary next March for governor, denounced his fellow Republicans in NCHouse & Senate on October 10th for slipping the provision into the state budget that exempted them from the public records act. He published his statement about it on his official state treasurer website the next day. The act of removing themselves from accountability was so outrageously anti-democratic and prima facie evidence of corruption to boot, that a straight-laced puritan like Dale Folwell couldn't help but break ranks. Folwell wrote:

By allowing individual lawmakers to determine what records are public and what material can be destroyed without ever seeing the sunshine of public view creates a system without standards or accountability. It prevents the public from learning who and what influenced decision-making on their behalf.

In the interview Folwell gave to Dan Kane on October 10th, he emphasized how simple and easy a legislative task it would be for Berger and Moore to simply have their chambers repeal that secrecy provision right now, for the sake of democracy and for the sake of Berger-Moore's own reputations as honorable men. (It's so cute of Folwell to confuse those two with honorable men!)

As far as we can tell, Folwell's press release caused nary a ripple on the placid surface of Republican domination. That's how effective Folwell is as a challenger to Mark Robinson, or to anybody.

In his commentary for NCNewsline Oct. 19, editor Rob Schofield praised Folwell for doing the right thing, despite its effectiveness (lack of).


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