Hold off on replacement for Justice Kennedy
To the Editor:
Justice Kennedy played a pivotal role on the Supreme Court for 30 years. He was the deciding vote in many close cases involving civil rights and civil liberties. Without his moderating influence, the balance on the Court could shift dramatically to the right.
This court has already undermined basic rights we all believed we enjoy as Americans – the right to strong unions that bargain collectively; one person, one vote principles; redistricting; and regarding the right of women to make their own health care decisions.
The stakes for nominating a replacement could not be higher at any moment in our history.
The court serves as the guardian of our rights and liberties. The country desperately needs a fair-minded and independent jurist. Now is not the time for a divisive and biased appointment who will shake the public’s faith in the justice system.
The constitutional process for appointing and confirming the next justice must be careful, deliberative and conducted with bipartisan support. The Senate should not consider a nominee until a new Senate is seated next year. Moreover, the new Senate should ensure that the nominee has a demonstrated commitment to equal justice and civil rights. The names identified on Trump’s shortlist do not fit that bill. For the good of the American people, we urge the President and the Senate to carefully exercise their respective roles under the Constitution in light of the consequential impact of this nomination on our democracy.
The NAACP and its members are committed to protecting the gains won through the sacrifices of our ancestors and to protecting civil rights for generations to come.
Our justice system – and indeed the very peace and tranquility of our nation – hang in the balance.
We will not go silently into the night. We can’t.
The NAACP
Baltimore, Maryland
Income tax rate cap amendment is bad deal
To the Editor:
The passage of Senate Bill 75, proposing a constitutional amendment capping the income tax rate to lock in recent legislative decisions to reduce rates, is fiscally irresponsible and unnecessary.
In order to keep funding vital public services such as schools and public safety, lawmakers will likely have to raise the sales tax or fees, which will eat into middle class families’ paychecks and financially hurt those who are already struggling to get by.
Lawmakers are not trying to bring greater democracy to the budget process; they are trying to take choices away from future generations of North Carolinians.
Constitutions should be flexible and enduring frameworks for governing, not the place to impose the arbitrary whims of the moment on future generations.
Today’s [June 28] vote shows just how arbitrary the rate is that legislators choose to enshrine in the state Constitution. The bottom line is that this is about further locking in low tax rates that primarily benefit the wealthy, cutting public investments that serve the common good and shifting the costs for our state’s needs to local governments and the middle class.
In the end, the results of this unnecessary amendment will be costly for us all.
Alexandra Sirota, Director
Budget & Tax Center
Raleigh
1 comment
July 2018
Thanks to the Chronicle for giving such a clear explanation of the upcoming issues / amendments in the November mid-terms. I plead with everyone to be smart, do some homework, talk to others before deciding on your vote. As Ms Sirota of the state Budget and Tax Center in Raleigh said, it is a big thing to ‘change’ a state’s constitution & if it’s a bad idea, it cannot easily be a ‘do-over’. In the Maryland county in which I previously lived for 30 years, residents voted to cap taxes in the 1970’s; but problems arose when the county saw tremendous growth, and county services could no longer keep up with the population. Today we take for granted everyday services, like libraries, district police offices in the neighborhoods (they called it community policing in Maryland), garbage collection, leaf collection, pot-hole repair and the like. But my personal community in Maryland faced shortened library hours, staff cuts, reductions in leaf collections, less frequent street re-surfacing, etc. “You don’t miss your water til the well runs dry” summed it up.
It’s been said that our primary turn-out here in Winston was about 14- 15% of the eligible voters. If accurate, that is dismal. So in November, no matter how you vote, let’s do better. Stand up, speak out, make some noise as John Lewis (Georgia Rep) says. Let’s make sure our elected officials know that we are watching, listening to what they say. Do we the people want to have our judicial votes taken away to allow someone else in authority appoint our judges? Do we want to lose our ability to vote early because some persons want voting hours / days restricted? Do we want our seniors or those with limited income to be denied their right to vote simply because they cannot afford a new “voter card” – one which we will be asked to approve in November without having ANY idea of “what” kind of card will be required? What’s next? A poll tax?
As Bernie Mac used to say:
“Listen America”! We need to say with our feet and voting fingers– “Watch what you are doing today . . . . .because we are listening, we are waiting and we the people WILL vote”.
Thanks, Chronicle, for listening.
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