The New York Times couldn’t help themselves. So the Demolition Derby between North Carolina and the New York Times continues with one additional pearl of wisdom from the Editorial Page Editor’s Blog.  Gentlemen, start your engines. 

An editorial last week lamented North Carolina’s abandonment of progressive policies in the
seven months since Republicans took control of both the executive and
legislative branches in the Tar Heel State for the first time since
reconstruction. The piece cited backward slides in areas such as public education,
tax fairness, voting, abortion rights and the mean-spirited slashing of
federal unemployment benefits for roughly 70,000 residents.

To that depressing list, I would add one more item: the destruction of North Carolina’s public financing system for judicial elections.

...The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizen United ruling and subsequent
campaign-finance decisions diminished the program’s effectiveness. Now,
instead of making changes to strengthen it, North Carolina is on the
verge of eliminating it. The state legislature is finalizing a budget
that eliminates financial support for the program, making it a hollow
shell.

There’s also a chance the legislature will compound the damage to the
judiciary. A bill expected to be introduced this week would turn the
state’s non-partisan judicial elections into partisan elections with
heightened involvement of the political parties.  Just what North
Carolina needs.