How/Why Speaker Tim Moore Punished Fellow Republican Julia Howard

Julia Howard and Speaker Tim Moore

Totally indebted to Jeffrey Billman's "Primer" and to "Under the Dome" for the information that follows. Billman first:

Check out this timeline:

April 13, 2:29 p.m.: Charlotte reporter emails House Speaker Tim Moore asking for an interview about a bill to change the tax code related to Paycheck Protection Program loans.

April 13, 5:36 p.m.: Moore tells reporter, “I just want you to know that I have not advocated for that bill.”

April 13, 6 p.m.: State Rep. Julia Howard, the chair of the Finance Committee, opens a committee meeting with “I was given orders from the Speaker that we would hear this PPP bill today.” ...

“If passed, House Bill 334 would exempt some federal coronavirus relief loans from state taxes. Records show some of the bill’s strongest backers would likely save thousands of dollars, including one lawmaker whose businesses could gain some $20,000. House Speaker Tim Moore’s law firm could stand to benefit a more modest amount, as much as $1,300.”

“Rep. John Bradford, a Republican from Cornelius and a supporter of the bill, for example, could see his businesses’ taxes owed reduced by up to $20,000. Bradford is the CEO of a software company and sole owner of a property management company.” (N&O)

So long as the change applies to all PPP recipients and not just the lawmakers’ companies, they don’t have to recuse themselves.

"Under the Dome" yesterday afternoon:

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore removed fellow Republican Rep. Julia Howard from her position as a senior finance committee chair Tuesday.

The move comes after Howard, one of the longest-serving members of North Carolina’s General Assembly, publicly opposed a bill that was backed by Moore and would benefit some North Carolina lawmakers who received federal coronavirus relief money from the Paycheck Protection Program. The bill, if signed into law, would give tax breaks to businesses that received those loans, including dozens of lawmakers’ businesses.

By revoking Howard’s chairmanship, Moore acted swiftly to punish a challenge to his control. With the legislature sharply divided along party lines, infighting in the speaker’s party presents a challenge to his ability to advance his, and his party’s, agenda....

Just on the face of it, Tim Moore lied to the reporter: "I just want you to know that I have not advocated for that bill." And when has Moore ever passed up an opportunity to benefit personally from the power of his office? 

Sunday Morning Smorgasbord

Paul Stam

Interesting and lengthy analysis of what to expect from the NC General Assembly in the legislative session about to convene, including projected intra-party spats between Republican big-heads. Best quote is from House Speaker Pro Tem Paul Stam, who said that the GA must cut back on state regulations. "I hope, by the end of the session, we'll have the craziest rules whacked down," said Stam.

By "craziest rules," Stam evidently did not mean the various and humiliating intrusions into a woman's right to choose an abortion, including vaginal probing, all of which he enthusiastically supported.

Julia Howard, an NC House member from Mocksville, is leading the GOP charge to reduce unemployment benefits for the jobless. Even though the federal government is picking up the tab, Julia and her friends want to reduce the top benefit by 35% anyway and also reduce the amount of time people can receive benefits. Why? They feel current benefits are "too generous" and make people "dependent" on the government.

To which Progress NC hatches a "what if":

...let's pretend Julia's karma has caught up with her. She's lost her re-election bid and returned to Mocksville only to find that, because she and her peers were too busy passing judgement on the unemployed to address economic development or job creation, her services as a real estate broker are no longer needed. Your mission: tell us, please, what Julia should do to earn a living now. That $350 a week in unemployment benefits won't last forever.

Speaking of Virginia Foxx clones, we came across this album sleeve on Facebook, where people were asking, "Who dat woman?"

How the GOP Leadership in Raleigh Looks to the Hard Right

Thom Tillis

The Thom Tillis consolidation of personal power in the NC General Assembly, as seen from the perspective of Brant Clifton, a conservative blogger who professes a doctrine of skepticism about men in power. Worth reading for insights about...

Why the extreme right of the House Republican caucus grumbles about Tillis.

The power struggle between three GOP members for the Speaker Pro-Tem office, the # 2 spot in the House.

The contempt for women that lingers like unwashable B O in the mainstream of the Republican Party. Clifton himself refers to Rep. Julia Howard and her quest for the Speaker Pro-Tem position as "lady parts," but admits that she's got the inside track to get the job if Thom Tillis wants her there.

Current Majority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam is disliked by some in the GOP because he "plays too nice with the Democrats."

Rep. David Lewis of Harnett County, vying for Majority Leader of the NC House, is "a scandal waiting to happen."

Ruth Samuelson, from Charlotte, is famous in these parts for being a key Republican opponent of Dan Soucek's late and unlamented ETJ bill that targeted Boone. She's considered a RINO (Republican In Name Only) by some.