Speaker Jim Black wants State to Pay Legal Fees

I am dumbfounded. Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives Jim Black is asking that the taxpayers of the Tar Heel state pay $200,000 in legal fees for producing thousands of document copies being requested by the Federal Grand-Jury investigating alleged abuses in his office. These monies are not for personal legal fees, but the question is should the hard-working men and women of North Carolina see their tax dollars spent to aid a corrput politician?

Public servants are given a trust by the people to serve and upheld the laws our nation and state. When they betray that trust, the people should not have to foot the bill to bail the office holder out of trouble. Legal monies, whether used for personal or public fees, should come from the individual under investigation.

Jim Black's ethical dilema exemplifies why our political system is in dire need of reform. There is too much money in our electoral process. Special interests our able to influence our government while the needs of the majority go unattended.

I have listened to the debate surrounding the speaker. I renew my calls for the party leadership to ask the speaker to resign. Democrats can not claim to be the party of reform if one of our legislative leaders demonstrates the very issues we are trying to change.

http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/411469.html