When Anglico and Rick Martinez agree on the badness of a bill, I have to think it might be a bad bill.

Martinez: [O]n Monday the House spent as much time and more passion on passing resolutions honoring Mars College's 150th anniversary and acknowledging the contribution of Scots to North Carolina than it did debating energy legislation that will add many millions to the electric bills of residential customers."

Comments

[anglico]

I think Rick has said one other thing that makes sense to me, but it was so long ago that I can't remember what it might have been.

The bill in question started off as a pretty good piece of legislation, but Big Power got a hold of it and, boom - now it's just another piece of corporate welfare courtesy of Don Beason and his well-heeled clientele.

[Ed Cone]

For those who don't follow this stuff closely, who's Beason?

[anglico]

Don Beason is the top-ranked lobbyist in Raleigh - a Republican operative who seems to have had a guiding hand in much of the legislation that benefits large businesses in North Carolina. He's also the guy who loaned Jim Black a half-a-million dollars as part of some yet-to-be-determined scheme.

You can find more Mr. Beason here.

Thanks for asking.

[Bubba]

"Republican operative"?

You mean the guy who paid for Jim Black's "celebration" over his election to the Speaker's position?

You mean the guy of whom this was said:
"Don respects that we're faced with finding solutions that work for more than just his clients. Don Beason and his approach are always welcome in my office."

-- Marc Basnight

You mean the guy who said this on his web site?

"Don has established long term relationships with legislative and executive branch leaders in both political parties. The trust earned in these relationships enables him to approach decision makers and propose solutions to his clients’ concerns."

Sounds like an equal opportunity operative to me.

He's a lobbyist, for pete's sake. He owes no loyalty to anyone but himself and his clients.

Also, of all the reports on this situation, yours was the only one
I read that identified him as a "Republican".

[anglico]

I was misinformed. Beason is registered as unaffiliated on the Wake County voter files.

[anglico]

Forgot to mention, his wife is registered as a Republican. He is indeed an equal opportunity operative, though he appears to mostly represent what I would call "Republican interests" in the form of big business and personal greed.

I know, I know, there's always Jim Black. It interesting, though, that most of Black's crooked deals were done with the help of crooked Republicans.

[John Hood]

It is absolutely correct to say that Beason made his political career, such that it is, as a Republican. My understanding is that he was first hired (and fired) by the congressional campaign of Republican "Vinegar Bend" Mizell in the 5th District, which included (and still does) Winston-Salem and other Triad communities. He was previously, as I understand it, a used-car salesman, which is one of those too-good-to-check facts.

Later, he served in the Holshouser administration as a deputy secretary and, briefly, secretary in the Department of Commerce. A decade later, he was an aide to Republican Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner. During the 1990s, he became a lobbyist, working both sides of the aisle with equal vigor, and as far as I am concerned came to typify the pay-for-play syndrome that took over the legislature, particularly during the Black-Morgan years.

Perhaps he is finally being exposed as a crook, and will lose his clients. Good riddance.

[Mick]

Nice attempt at a "kick save" by Anglico but ....

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLL!

for Bubba.

"misinformed"