# I Pit the North Carolina General Assembly **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 13, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272 "2013-05-13T23:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/1 "2013-05-13T23:30:41Z")
First there was this ban on [municipal internet](http://savencbb.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/wilson-largely-exempted-but-nc-takes-a-big-step-backward/). Then a ban on the use of [climate science](http://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-bans-latest-science-rising-sea-level/story?id=16913782#.UZF1m5V8Yuk) by the coastal commission. Now they are writing a bill to [ban automobile sales](http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/05/13/north_carolina_tesla_ban_bill_would_prevent_unfair_competition_with_car.html) which are direct from the manufacturer. This means they are banning Tesla from North Carolina, unless they change their business model and set up a dealer network. North Carolina is no longer on my shortlist for a retirement location. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/2 "2013-05-13T23:35:36Z")
Weirder still: > [@](#): > > In its current form, North Carolina’s bill would be the harshest of a handful of anti-Tesla regulations around the country. In Texas, the company is fighting a law under which the employees of its “showroom” in Austin are not allowed to sell any vehicles, offer test drives, or even tell customers how much the car costs. But at least Texas still lets people buy the car online, which North Carolina’s law would prohibit. So, if Texas’ anti-Tesla agenda is not about the auto-dealerships, then what is it about?! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/3 "2013-05-14T01:23:10Z")
I know what it is! They’ve got the car confused with the [Death Ray](http://davidszondy.com/future/tesla/teslaray.htm)! Yeah, right, like Texas pols are gonna vote **against** a death ray . . . ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/4 "2013-05-14T14:15:24Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So, if Texas’ anti-Tesla agenda is not about the auto-dealerships, then what is it about?! It is, but it’s not alone. The vast majority of states (\> 40, anyway) have laws restricting direct sales of cars to consumers. Texas has somewhat harsher laws than average but not totally out of line with the norm. The difference is that Texas, like California, is a large state with lots of people who have money to buy cars. So, of course, it’s going to be one of the early battleground states. Tesla estimates it could currently sell 1500-2000 cars a year, which is major for them. For what it’s worth, there are some lawmakers in Texas, unlike in North Carolina, trying to ease restrictions on direct manufacturer sales of automobiles to consumers ([link](http://www.legis.state.tx.us/billlookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB3351)). We’ll see how far it gets, though, as the car dealer lobby is openly fighting against it. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/5 "2013-05-14T14:33:43Z")
North Carolina was in Democratic control for most of the last century. When Republicans took over legislative in 2010, and then when they took the Governorship in 2012, they’ve got totally insane. The bills making national press are laughingstock quality, but a lot of much more pernicious stuff is going on, including lots of inside-baseball ways of taking power away from urban Democratic strongholds to give it to rural Republican strongholds. It’s despicable politics. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/6 "2013-05-14T14:36:35Z")
I imagine the auto dealer lobby is strongest in states where it funds high school football. I’m no political scientist, but I did watch Friday Night Lights. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/7 "2013-05-14T15:00:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > North Carolina was in Democratic control for most of the last century. When Republicans took over legislative in 2010, and then when they took the Governorship in 2012, they’ve got totally insane. The bills making national press are laughingstock quality, but a lot of much more pernicious stuff is going on, including lots of inside-baseball ways of taking power away from urban Democratic strongholds to give it to rural Republican strongholds. It’s despicable politics. Yes - The Asshole is strong in this GA. Hopefully, folks wise up nest year. Doubt it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/8 "2013-05-14T16:59:11Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Yes - The Asshole is strong in this GA. Hopefully, folks wise up nest year. Doubt it, though. Nah, it’ll take at least 5-10 years for the influx of northerners and Latinos to reliably outweigh the slack-jawed “we don’t need no science or civil liberties” contingent. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/9 "2013-05-15T02:46:10Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Nah, it’ll take at least 5-10 years for the influx of northerners and Latinos to reliably outweigh the slack-jawed “we don’t need no science or civil liberties” contingent. But it **will** happen. ---
**Author:** ![hende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aca169/32.png) [@hende](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hende)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/10 "2013-05-15T13:10:00Z")
As a side question, what is the purpose of having laws to restrict the direct sale of cars to consumers? With 40+ states having laws around this, I would have to assume there is a benefit to the consumer, I just can’t put my finger on what. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/11 "2013-05-15T13:17:00Z")
There’s a Planet Money [episode](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/19/172402376/why-buying-a-car-never-changes)examining this issue, hende. I recall the gist being that auto dealers used to be very much economically vulnerable to manipulation by manufacturers, and sympathetic in the community because they were local businesses that often were tied to many community organizations (think little league). The economic picture has changed a bit, but the auto dealer lobby remains very powerful. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/12 "2013-05-15T15:18:40Z")
> [@hende](#): > > As a side question, what is the purpose of having laws to restrict the direct sale of cars to consumers? The purpose is to get the political support and donations of retail auto dealers. Oh, and to create/preserve jobs for them, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![hende](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/aca169/32.png) [@hende](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hende)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/13 "2013-05-15T16:30:02Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The purpose is to get the political support and donations of retail auto dealers. Oh, and to create/preserve jobs for them, etc., etc. That may be true today, but I can’t imagine that is why they were originally set up. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/14 "2013-05-15T17:03:57Z")
> [@hende](#): > > As a side question, what is the purpose of having laws to restrict the direct sale of cars to consumers? Some areas, such as the People’s Republic of North Carolina, are run by people who just plain hate freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/15 "2013-05-15T18:17:51Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Some areas, such as the People’s Republic of North Carolina, are run by people who just plain hate freedom. We also can’t buy liquor at a CVS. Fascists. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/16 "2013-05-15T18:52:29Z")
I almost think that the big stupid stunts like this one–and the one establishing a state religion–are done to distract people from the much more pernicious bureaucratic stuff like the extreme gerrymandering and the attempts to repeal voting access and the shifting of power away from urban areas. It’s totally disgusting. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/17 "2013-05-15T19:55:32Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > North Carolina was in Democratic control for most of the last century. When Republicans took over legislative in 2010, and then when they took the Governorship in 2012, they’ve got totally insane. The bills making national press are laughingstock quality, but a lot of much more pernicious stuff is going on, including lots of inside-baseball ways of taking power away from urban Democratic strongholds to give it to rural Republican strongholds. It’s despicable politics. [https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/385370\_10151435439536275\_2116743355\_n.jpg](https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/385370_10151435439536275_2116743355_n.jpg) It really does seem that Republicans let their true inner lunacy out only when they have complete control. Here, in New York they usually tend to be fairly reasonable, although Peter King will occasionally spout something stupid about Aa-rabs and some upstate guys are occasionally pretty backwoodsy. But I recently listened to a talk from a Democrat about the Suffolk County Legislature and there really was an appreciation of the cooperative nature of the Republicans in that body. Sure, they were more conservative than the Democrats, but, unlike their US Congress GOP comrades, they did not block measures (even though they might have in some cases) for the sheer sake of blocking Democratic initiatives. I wonder if they’d turn as crazy as the folks in Wisconsin and North Carolina if they ever gained complete control. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/18 "2013-05-15T23:58:19Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > We also can’t buy liquor at a CVS. Fascists. Whenever I go to Maine on vacation, I always have to go to a supermarket to marvel at their liquor aisle. (Bow Street Market in Freeport has a liquor section that rivals my local ABC store.) Hell, wasn’t the Got to Be NC Festival launched because the giant anti-alcohol stick up Steve Troxler’s ass practically banned wineries from the State Fair? > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I almost think that the big stupid stunts like this one–and the one establishing a state religion–are done to distract people from the much more pernicious bureaucratic stuff like the extreme gerrymandering and the attempts to repeal voting access and the shifting of power away from urban areas. It’s totally disgusting. I absolutely believe that…I also believe that they’re aiming to keep a good chunk of the population ignorant, as evidenced by the approval of a bill to remove charter schools from oversight by the State Board of Education. This GA has an utter disregard for the majority of the population…the latest example being some senator who suggested that people who would be negatively affected by the proposed tax reforms should just spend less. Heck, one rep thought it would be “funny” to compare kicking puppies to exercise during the debate for the puppy mill bill. And the power grab for Asheville’s water system was just plain scary. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/19 "2013-05-16T00:40:44Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > North Carolina was in Democratic control for most of the last century. When Republicans took over legislative in 2010, and then when they took the Governorship in 2012, they’ve got totally insane. The bills making national press are laughingstock quality, but a lot of much more pernicious stuff is going on, including lots of inside-baseball ways of taking power away from urban Democratic strongholds to give it to rural Republican strongholds. It’s despicable politics. Inaccurate. You’re forgetting Jessie Helms. You’re also forgetting that the Dixiecrats who ran the state for a long time bore more resemblance to modern day republicans. I grew up there. It’s not any crazier now. ETA: I think most of these bills are done to appease certain lobbies. They will never pass, but a few select politicians are looked upon favorably by the car dealers. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272/20 "2013-05-16T20:50:11Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Inaccurate. You’re forgetting Jessie Helms. You’re also forgetting that the Dixiecrats who ran the state for a long time bore more resemblance to modern day republicans. > > I grew up there. It’s not any crazier now. > > ETA: I think most of these bills are done to appease certain lobbies. They will never pass, but a few select politicians are looked upon favorably by the car dealers. I grew up here too, and I’m not forgetting a jot or tittle of that. Jesse Helms, and I’m saying this very advisedly, **was not as crazy as these sumbitches**. He was terrible, yes, but he was a lot cannier than they are. Dude was a brilliant student of Macchiavelli. And the Dixiecrats? Also terrible, don’t get me wrong. But also **not this crazy**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-north-carolina-general-assembly/658272.md?page=2)