News-Record.com

Doug - did you find anything in the report you didn't know already. That was the bit I found kind of weird ... it was a rehash of stuff everyone has known for about a year.

I guess having it all in one official place is useful, but it doesn't strike me as new.

Thanks for letting us know that you're on top of things Binker.

You can unclench your sphincter now

Yojimbo - you'll get a lot farther in life if you learn to use better manners and actually ask questions rather than making assumptions.

For example, if you asked why I rasied the point above, the reply you might have gotten would go something like this:

Should we really be giving the auditor all that much credit for compiling a bunch of information that's been publically available for a year? No doubt it's a nice report, complete with neat graphs and tables and what not. But why did it take nearly seven months into his term as a member of the Council of State to produce it?

That's the question I'd like to hear Doug's thoughts on. Among the many reasons: he knows a lot about politics and government and he rarely uses the term "sphincter" outside a medical discussion.

Thanks, Mark. I think you raise a good question.

I find value in the report to the extent that it shows there are some checks and balances in state government. It's one thing that everyone knows how the legislature does business. It's something else to see an independent authority within state government point to possible improprieties, or at least provide information and refer the question to the attorney general for his investigation.

Is the legislature above the principle of checks and balances, or not? Sure, the press can report on its activites and motivate the public to exert its own influence through the ballot box. But if the legislature's appropriations process violates any state law or treads over separation of power issues, then I'd like the auditor and/or attorney general to take a look.

You're probably right Doug, although that makes what the AG eventually decides to do far more telling. The Auditor can point to the problem all he wants, but it's apparently up to the AG to bring some thunder.

I still question why it took so long...maybe I'm just used to shorter time frames in this business.

I also wonder about the logic of issuing the report on the Thurs. or Fri. before a holiday weekend at the same time his office issued about two dozen other audits....not the sort of timing you'd want to get maximum play out of the report from us press types.

Thanks for pointing this out, looks like its HEADLINE NEWS to me. I doubt that Roy Cooper will do anything. Is this not like getting the fox to guard the hen house????

For clarity: The Doug above is not me.

I don't view Roy Cooper as a fox guarding the henhouse. I think he has plenty of professional integrity, and he is independently elected.

At the same time, he depends of the legislature for his budget, and he has several law-enforcement initiatives hanging in the balance. So it would take a lot of courage on his part to find fault with the actions of legislative leaders.

But it would be hard not to ...