Moral and political failure

The casinos-for-Medicaid deal collapsed in the state legislature partly because it was an epic political miscalculation. It was also profoundly cynical and morally wrong.

The Republican leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Speaker Tim Moore, did the impossible: They united Trump Republicans and almost all Democrats against the deal.

Democrats were outraged by the very idea of making Medicaid expansion contingent on casinos: “We’ll give 600,000 North Carolinians the health care they need, but only if you give casino owners billions of dollars.”

Freedom Caucus Republicans rebelled against backroom secrecy and heavy-handed pressure to rubber-stamp casinos without any debate or open discussion.

Rock-ribbed Rockingham County Republicans are even threatening to primary Berger in 2024.

We know now why Berger and Moore slipped in a budget provision that will hide legislative records from the public. They don’t want us to find out about the wheeling and dealing over casinos that went on for years – in secret.

Berger says casinos will come up again in next year’s legislative session.

Let’s have at it. That’s an election year – a good time to debate casinos, legislative secrecy, closed-door deals, political donations and the arrogance of absolute power.

That also gives the media – a shoutout here to WRAL for its investigative coverage – and good-government watchdogs more time to dig into who’s paying who and who really would win this rigged game.