From: lessgovt@gmail.com   
      
   GOP lawmakers feed their power addiction   
   Letters, June 20, 2018, Mountain Xpress   
      
   It is said that power is corrupting. I would add that power also can become    
   an addiction. As with any addiction, those afflicted will commonly do whatever    
   it takes to maintain that addiction, whether it is stealing from one’s   
   family,    
   lying to friends and family, or practicing whatever deception is necessary to    
   feed the addiction. Further, I will argue that these behaviors which exemplify    
   an addiction can be applied today to the actions of the GOP-dominated N.C.   
   General    
   Assembly — that they are stealing from state taxpayers, deceiving the voters   
   and,    
   in my opinion, breaking the law in order to maintain their power.   
      
   How many times since the GOP gained power in 2010 elections have I and many    
   others said, “Well, with this action, be it denying Medicaid expansion,   
   denying    
   ACA funds, denying women’s rights, denying public education funds, denying   
   General    
   Assembly debate on the budget bill, denying voters’ rights, suppressing   
   voters,    
   stripping Gov. Cooper of the usual gubernatorial rights/authority, trying to   
   stack    
   the Boards of Elections, denying cities rights to govern themselves, spending   
   state    
   tax dollars to fund private, sometimes church-affiliated schools, trying to   
   draw    
   judicial districts where they are not needed, continuing their fight to   
   maintain    
   their egregiously gerrymandered districts, taxing the less well-off to benefit   
   the    
   corporations and rich — oh, my, there’s more, we all know that — surely   
   things in    
   North Carolina can’t get any worse, we can’t go back any further.”   
      
   Then, I’ll be damned, it gets worse. The most recent ploy to feed their   
   addiction    
   to power is that of spending state tax dollars to fund so-called pregnancy   
   crisis    
   centers that are in fact run by anti-choice groups that likely have church or    
   religious affiliations, centers that do not offer family planning services,   
   that    
   do not offer other women’s health services. They are there only to convince   
   women    
   that abortion is not a good option.   
      
   Obviously, the GOP, to feed its addiction to power, is courting the   
   anti-choice voters    
   by ignoring the law regarding separation of church and state, thereby stealing   
   the    
   tax dollars of those of us who believe our dollars should go to legitimate   
   family    
   planning centers, that is, those centers that offer the full panoply of   
   options to    
   pregnant women as well as those who choose to not become pregnant, and those   
   men and    
   women who seek other health services such as cancer screening.   
      
   The legitimate centers do not have to offer abortion services; they simply act    
   responsibly by advising women that it is an option. They, the GOP, are   
   deceiving    
   those voters they are courting and, worst of all, they are stealing services   
   from    
   those in need; they are acting unconstitutionally by no longer maintaining   
   separation    
   between the church and state. They will stoop as low as possible to feed their   
   addictions.   
      
   I would be in favor of the state funding, using my tax dollars, a Politicians   
   Anonymous,    
   if there were actually politicians who would admit they have hit bottom and   
   need help to    
   rehabilitate to moral, ethical, compassionate human beings and patriotic   
   Americans who    
   believe in and support democracy. It might be hard initially to find sponsors,   
   but    
   probably AA and NA could help out until there are sufficient recovering   
   politicians    
   to help their own kind.  --- Sandra Houts, Asheville NC   
      
   https://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-gop-lawmakers-feed-their-power-addiction/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)