North Carolina Republicans brace for 'bathroom law' blowback

[don-o]

North Carolina Republicans brace for 'bathroom law' blowback

Elena Schneider

05/09/16 06:50 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. — Republicans in North Carolina are increasingly worried that the state’s new “bathroom law” blocking protections for the LGBT community will cost the GOP dearly in November’s elections.

They say the reason is simple: The party that took over North Carolina as champions of small government is now seen by moderate voters as the party of the bathroom police.

Republican lawmakers and strategists in the state say the GOP is badly losing the public relations battle over House Bill 2, the law banning local nondiscrimination ordinances, which Gov. Pat McCrory signed in March. That trend only worsened Monday, when U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the law “state-sponsored discrimination” and compared it to Jim Crow-era laws while announcing new legal action.

 The GOP argument that the law is about public safety has been overrun by a coalition including some of America’s biggest businesses, which says HB2 discriminates against transgender people by, among other things, forcing them to use bathrooms that may not correspond to their gender identities — and the law has come to define the Republican Party in North Carolina.

“The reality is that HB2 hurts,” said state Rep. Charles Jeter, the GOP lawmaker responsible for maintaining his party’s majority in the state legislature. “It doesn’t matter that I’m opposed to it or that I’ve called for its repeal … because the mailer to voters [in my race] is going to say that I was a part of the Republican majority that passed the most discriminatory bill in the state. HB2 is going to have reverberations for our party no matter what we do, in November and probably beyond that.”

Another top Republican strategist in the state said the GOP’s recent run of success in North Carolina may have pushed the party too far.

“The question that will be answered in November is whether the Republicans in the General Assembly overplayed their hand, after feeling empowered by impressive gains in the last three election cycles,” the strategist said. “Republicans could lose their veto-proof majority in one or both [legislative] chambers, with a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the governor’s race.”

Another Republican legislator likened the blowback over the law to the furious public response to the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which helped the GOP make major gains in North Carolina.

“It’s like Obamacare with Obama, which so defined everything about Democrats who were in office when it passed in 2009. And you saw what happened to them in 2010,” said a Republican legislator from an urban district. “I think you always have concerns if perception boils down to one thing equaling another.”

McCrory has staunchly defended the law, especially after the Department of Justice told the state last week that it was in violation of the Civil Rights Act and Title IX, jeopardizing billions of dollars in federal funding. North Carolina and the Obama administration are suing each other over the law and the federal government’s response to it.
 
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[don-o]

Did not take long for the Vichy Pubbies to surface, did it?

[Charlespg]

Did not take long for the Vichy Pubbies to surface, did it?

Nope

****** RINO's

[SZonian]

There are a number of easy ways to squash this so called "blowback"...and I suspect that the vast majority of North Carolinians are not on the side of perverts or mentally ill individuals of the opposite sex sharing facilities with their children.

I applaud the Governor for standing firm in the face of those tyrants from DC.

[bob434]

Ted Cruz NEEDS to come and stand by the Gov. and the State of NC- infact, Texas needs to pass a law of it's own which reflects the law in NC-- This 'blowback' can Easily be squashed IF enough conservative states side with NC and defeat this immoral non existent 'civil rights act protection of perverts' that our government is forcing on us against our will!- Years ago the government tried to force another unconstitutional law on the states, and enough states got together and told the government n no uncertain terms "DO NOT come into our states and try to enforce this law you will be arrested" and the government backed down because it became clear there was no way to enforce their unconstitutional law, and the states would NOT buckle to financial threats by their government

The problem though is to get enough states willing to fore go financial aid while they stand strong- in recent years- we've seen states begin to stand strong, only to fold like a cheap suit just weeks later when the gubmint threatened to withhold federal money

[Free Vulcan]

How do you discriminate against someone who's perpetrating a delusion?

Can pedophiles now call themselves 'trans-generational' and bugger kids at will, because they feel they are actually 12 or 14 years old?

[sinkspur]

This was a solution in search of a problem, and the NC GOP stepped in it by rushing this law into effect.  By jumping offside, they created unnecessary
economic consequences, divided the electorate and invited the US government to step in. 

Cooler heads did not prevail because of grandstanding by the legislature and the governor.  Like the knee-jerk religious freedom laws, states are learning they aren't where their people are.

[sinkspur]

Ted Cruz NEEDS to come and stand by the Gov. and the State of NC- infact, Texas needs to pass a law of it's own which reflects the law in NC-- This 'blowback' can Easily be squashed IF enough conservative states side with NC and defeat this immoral non existent 'civil rights act protection of perverts' that our government is forcing on us against our will!- Years ago the government tried to force another unconstitutional law on the states, and enough states got together and told the government n no uncertain terms "DO NOT come into our states and try to enforce this law you will be arrested" and the government backed down because it became clear there was no way to enforce their unconstitutional law, and the states would NOT buckle to financial threats by their government

The problem though is to get enough states willing to fore go financial aid while they stand strong- in recent years- we've seen states begin to stand strong, only to fold like a cheap suit just weeks later when the gubmint threatened to withhold federal money

Texas won't enact such a law with such a huge technology business base.  What problem is this intended to fix?   Transgender people have been using restrooms for years with no complaints; people aren't even aware of them.  Do the proponents of the law intend to set up bathroom police, inspecting genitals of those entering the restrooms?

I just don't get what all the hysteria is all about.  It's likely that the courts are going to overturn the NC law anyway, so the state will have screwed itself out of jobs and goodwill for nothing.

[sinkspur]

You sound like a leftist in that post.

Listen, we've been through this bogus "calm down it is not necessary" argument before.  Been there, fallen for that scam.  All those state laws and state amendments to define marriage were not necessary, either.  The federal DOMA was not necessary, either.  ESPECIALLY the federal marriage amendment was not necessary.  WAIT, the leftists and their apologists said.  Wait!!  Wait for what?  Until the courts hand down a national mandate for everyone?  Nope.  When it comes to the LMNOPee crowd you better see the hit coming or it will be too late!!!!!!!!!!

I could go on and on about the "not necessary" argument and how it has led over and over to the loss of our Judeo-Christian foundation and the rise of the liberal authoritarian judicial oligarchy.  GET UP AND FIGHT BACK OR WE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING.  It's not just this issue.

I just don't see the problem this is intended to fix.  It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to a non-existent issue.   I'm more libertarian about legal behavior, I guess.

[don-o]

I just don't get what all the hysteria is all about.  It's likely that the courts are going to overturn the NC law anyway, so the state will have screwed itself out of jobs and goodwill for nothing.

It is the mentally ill ones who have pressed this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/opinion/for-transgender-americans-legal-battles-over-restrooms.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-1&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=Blogs&_r=0

Overturn it they may. As Andy Jackson said, "Now let them enforce it."

[don-o]

I could go on and on about the "not necessary" argument and how it has led over and over to the loss of our Judeo-Christian foundation and the rise of the liberal authoritarian judicial oligarchy.  GET UP AND FIGHT BACK OR WE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING.  It's not just this issue.

Post of the day!!!

What we have is bureaucrats interpretation of laws passed by Congress as being the law of the land. It goes way beyond who pees where.

[PinkFlipFlops]

How do you discriminate against someone who's perpetrating a delusion?

Can pedophiles now call themselves 'trans-generational' and bugger kids at will, because they feel they are actually 12 or 14 years old?

That will be the next step down this road of insanity.

[Cyber Liberty]

Ted Cruz NEEDS to come and stand by the Gov. and the State of NC- infact, Texas needs to pass a law of it's own which reflects the law in NC-- This 'blowback' can Easily be squashed IF enough conservative states side with NC and defeat this immoral non existent 'civil rights act protection of perverts' that our government is forcing on us against our will!- Years ago the government tried to force another unconstitutional law on the states, and enough states got together and told the government n no uncertain terms "DO NOT come into our states and try to enforce this law you will be arrested" and the government backed down because it became clear there was no way to enforce their unconstitutional law, and the states would NOT buckle to financial threats by their government

The problem though is to get enough states willing to fore go financial aid while they stand strong- in recent years- we've seen states begin to stand strong, only to fold like a cheap suit just weeks later when the gubmint threatened to withhold federal money

Exactly.  Like the way all those Republican governed states passed laws like Arizona's illegal immigrant law to show solidarity?

[Cyber Liberty]

I just don't see the problem this is intended to fix.  It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to a non-existent issue.   I'm more libertarian about legal behavior, I guess.

IIRC, this whole thing got started when Charlotte passed an ordinance FORCING private businesses to allow men to use the ladies room.  That's not "non-existent", that's a reasoned reaction to a whole lotta angry citizens.

[Free Vulcan]

IIRC, this whole thing got started when Charlotte passed an ordinance FORCING private businesses to allow men to use the ladies room.  That's not "non-existent", that's a reasoned reaction to a whole lotta angry citizens.

And liberals didn't mind at all when cities forced businesses to allow transgenders into bathrooms instead of letting businesses dictate their own policy. They got real upset tough when the state overruled them, suddenly saying there should be local control. Yet they also don't mind the Federal govt trying to override NC either.

The other aspect of this is that it's not just bathrooms, but locker rooms and shower rooms. Places where there are a great deal more privacy issues and issues of vulnerable underage children.

It's funny how the liberal tell us we don't have unlimted 2nd amendment rights, but they demand unlimited LGBT rights.

[Cyber Liberty]

Here is a link to refresh my memory, which didn't need refreshing after all.  This is a story from a VERY leftist publication, and they say Charlotte's ordinance was crafted to force businesses to allow anybody to use any bathroom they like.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/03/north-carolina-lgbt-discrimination-transgender-bathrooms/475125/

[sinkspur]

IIRC, this whole thing got started when Charlotte passed an ordinance FORCING private businesses to allow men to use the ladies room.  That's not "non-existent", that's a reasoned reaction to a whole lotta angry citizens.

So the "reasoned reaction" was met by businesses refusing to relocate to NC and already scheduled conventions pulling out, costing the state millions of dollars in revenue and jobs.  Cutting off nose to spite face.

[bob434]

[[Transgender people have been using restrooms for years with no complaints;]]

First off your claim is false- See the following link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzwMJAFWLtQ

Secondly

Not legally that haven't been using bathrooms opposite their gender- they have done so knowing they are breaking the law, and this has restrained them from being open and blatantly flaunting their 'freedom' and intimidating women and girls- they knew if they tried to, or revealed that they were actually male, they would be arrested- Now the government is stepping in and giving them free reign to use the bathroom without fear of being arrested and they WILL exploit this freedom and there WILL be more and more incidents of violence, rapes, peeping toms- etc-

Right now they are restrained by the fact that it's illegal- but when you remove that fear of being discovers- it does NOT bode well for the women and girls who use the bathrooms- period- Trying to defend a mans' right to use a woman's bathroom legally is an indefensible position- there is nothing good about it=- nothing!

[bob434]

Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver: Some of the Transgender Bathroom Advocates Are Pedophiles

[["This is a common-sense provision. The fact is we know sexual assaults occur, they are going to occur with or without these laws, there's no question about that,” said Staver on the “Faith and Freedom” radio show on May 9.  “People commit sexual assaults. They commit them in buildings. They commit them in restrooms.”

“But what you have now done -- knowing that sexual assaults occur, knowing that they occur in these places where women are trapped and they can't get out -- now what we've done, through these laws, is we've opened the door for every rapist and pedophile,” said Staver.]]

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/michael-w-chapman/liberty-counsels-mat-staver-some-transgender-bathroom-advocates-are

The issue is not abotu whether trannies have used bathrooms all these
years- the issue is now that people want to protect these pedophiles,
rapists, violent offenders by allowing them free open access to women
and children in a small confined area where they will be trapped and
unable to escape- These perverts and criminals will no longer be afraid
to walk into a woman's bathroom- because they will now be protected by
law-

When you remove restrictions, remove constraints, people
ALWAYS take advantage of it and will exploit this- it's a no brainer-
crimes will increase- it's not a matter of if- but a matter of 'how bad
will things get?

Yes, trannies have always used the opposite
bathrooms- BUT they did so knowing they were breaking the law, and
fearing arrest just for being in the bathrooms in the first place, and
this did deter many from even trying to use the opposite bathroom- Now
we're going to remove all constraints? Open the door to ANY man that
wishes to use women's bathrooms? Any pervert? This issue isn't even just
about trannies using opposite bathroom- bad as that is- it's abotu now
allowing ANY man- Any pervert- Any male criminal, any male pedophile to
use bathrooms of women without fear of being arrested now-

When
someone has problems controlling their sexual desires- When a person is a
pedophile, when a person is a rapist- when a person is a violent woman
hating male- the solution is NOT to allow them free access small
confined rooms where potential victims can't escape- That is not a
solution- that is ENABLING the criminal- this is just plain common
sense- You do not give a paedophile free access to a child day care center and turn a blind eye to it- You don't give rapists free access to women's showers and changing rooms and turn a blind eye to it-- what sick twisted moron would do that? Yet that is exactly what the left are demanding we do- open the doors of women's bathrooms to them- invite them in- Because by golly, according to these despicable leftist criminal enablers, we don’t' want them to 'feel uncomfortable'

[Fishrrman]

don-o asked:
"Did not take long for the Vichy Pubbies to surface, did it?"

Heh.
That's why I pretty much skip the Politics forum these days at The Briefing Room.

Da vichy's are all floatin' on top o' the water over there, like lumps of cheese on top of "the whine" ....   ;)

But seriously, you're dead on target.

This is not gonna be "a losing issue" for the Republicans in North Carolina come election time.
Au contraire, it's goin' to be a winner for them!

[Fishrrman]

RAT Patrol wrote:
"You sound like a leftist in that post."

An accurate observation.

"I could go on and on about the "not necessary" argument and how it has led over and over to the loss of our Judeo-Christian foundation and the rise of the liberal authoritarian judicial oligarchy.  GET UP AND FIGHT BACK OR WE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING.  It's not just this issue."

Bravo.

[Cyber Liberty]

So the "reasoned reaction" was met by businesses refusing to relocate to NC and already scheduled conventions pulling out, costing the state millions of dollars in revenue and jobs.  Cutting off nose to spite face.

The effects you list are a result of the media and politicians lying about what's in the law for the purpose of stampeding ignorant fools.  It seems to have worked, right Sinks?  If the law had been truthfully written about none of that would have happened.

[Cyber Liberty]

You sound like a leftist in that post.

@sinkspur  has been sounding like a leftist about this entire subject.  The unthinking believing of the crooked Press is probably the unkindest cut of all.  It's as if some pod-person has taken over.

[don-o]

So the "reasoned reaction" was met by businesses refusing to relocate to NC and already scheduled conventions pulling out, costing the state millions of dollars in revenue and jobs.  Cutting off nose to spite face.

The Almighty Dollar trumps all? Is that your position? I think that is a Yes or No answer would add some clarity.

[sinkspur]

The effects you list are a result of the media and politicians lying about what's in the law for the purpose of stampeding ignorant fools.  It seems to have worked, right Sinks?  If the law had been truthfully written about none of that would have happened.

I just don't see this as that big of a deal.  Others obviously do.    13 states have non-discrimination laws in public accommodations, and I'm not aware of rampant sexual assaults in any of these states. 

A solution in search of a problem is how I see this.  You might differ.