How will the Moral Monday movement affect politics in NC & the South?

The Nation article here; Wiki article here.

So far, all MM has tangibly accomplished is to file a lot of lawsuits. But they have high hopes.

So: Will this movement fizzle out like OWS, or will it get somewhere, perhaps even transform politics all across the South?

I wish them well. Part of the reason Republicanism is so reprehensible is that due to checks and balance voters don’t often get to see it in its pure form. I’m sure there is a lot of sticker shock in North Carolina.

Since the Republicans took control, North Carolina’s unemployment rate has dropped from 9.5% to 6.9%.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST370000000000003

One year. That’s incredible. I’m sure North Carolina voters are very upset about all the work they are having to do. You know, since now Democrats are lauding the virtues of less people working.

Did you notice the size of the labor force dropped about 120,000 during that time frame? The number of employed is stagnant, the labor force is shrinking. That’s some great economic policy there!

That’s a nationwide trend. Staying even on number employed is an accomplishment under the current administration. Not many states have done it.

Now if you want to see crappy economic policy, check out Obama’s home state:

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST170000000000003

The unemployment rate is down from 10.1in Sep 2011 to 8.6 in Dec 2013.

How is down bad?

That’s what I was saying about NC, which saw a much steeper drop in unemployment over a shorter time period. State economic stats are relative, and NC is doing much better relative to most states. In terms of measuring straight unemployment, no state did better in 2013.

But, what effect will Moral Monday have on NC politics?

Little, as long as Republicans continue to preside over an economy that’s outperforming relative to a) other states, and b) how the economy was doing under a Democratic administration.

I think the demonstrators get that, which is why they are couching their objections to GOP policy in moral terms rather than in terms of the effectiveness of those policies.

I didn’t know Obama was born in Illinois.

He votes there. It’s his home state.

You cite appears to suggest that whatever bumbling incompetence Mr. Obama committed, he did it in 2008.

Neither did I…I thought it was Nairobi :stuck_out_tongue:

Actually, it’s Gov. Quinn, although I doubt there is anything he did that Obama disagrees with.

When’s the last time a bunch of yahoos standing around accomplished anything, other than get tear gassed and arrested?

Props for the alliteration, but putting “moral” in your group’s name is just blech. What’s next, Family Friday?

Well,

since you asked… :stuck_out_tongue:

Generally, however, I agree.

Let’s free ourselves from the notion that administrations, be they federal or state, create jobs. Sure, at the federal level, we can ramp up spending on infrastructure and create some jobs. The stimulus worked and may have prevented a second depression, but overall the economy has its own cycles that run pretty much independent of politics. At the state level, governors can’t do squat about bringing in jobs. They can target some tax breaks for selected industries, but beyond that they don’t have a lot to do with how employment tracks up or down.

Back to North Carolina, I hope it’s not too late for them. When Republicans take control, the first thing they do is gerrymander the districts to keep themselves in power. Then they make it harder for the opposition to vote. If the anti whack-a-doodle voters get sufficiently motivated, they can turn back the tids. I just hope NC and Wisconsin serve as examples of why we can never let Republicans control any branch of government anywhere.

In one year?

What exactly did they do to accomplish that? What laws, and when did they take effect?

We’re not dumb, adaher. We don’t go for simply correlation-causation nonsense. We know unemployment is dropping nationwide (under a Democratic administration). North Carolina’s unemployment rate chart closely follows the national one:

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

This past weekend, in the Ukraine.

Look at it this way: The right stole the word from the left, to whom it rightfully belongs, and now the left is stealing it back, which is perfectly moral. :wink: