Why Are North Carolina Liberals So @&%*! Angry?
If it's Monday, it must be another protest against tax-cutting Republicans.

The burning heart of liberal activism and indignation this summer can be found, of all places, in the charming capital city of the Tar Heel State. On Monday, for the 11th week in a row, thousands of protesters descended on the copper-domed Capitol denouncing the policies of a Republican Party that for the first time since Reconstruction controls North Carolina's governorship and legislature. Some 800 agitators have been arrested for disrupting the legislature. By all accounts, these "Moral Monday" rallies, though peaceful, are growing in size and volume.

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Unemployment-insurance extensions have also created perverse incentives. North Carolina owes the feds some $2.5 billion for loans to pay extended benefits. The Republicans sensibly asked for a waiver that would keep the extended benefits but cut the size of the monthly checks. The feds refused, so the state has opted for shorter durations of benefits rather than raising the unemployment-insurance tax on employers. [font color="red"](Didn't happen in quite in that order, and there are cuts in addition to shorter durations...)[/font]

North Carolina state Senate Majority Leader Phil Berger told me last week that "this tax only adds to the cost of hiring workers and thus makes unemployment worse." To their credit, Mr. Berger and his fellow GOP lawmakers have passed a pro-growth plan that will slash the state personal income tax rate to 5.75% from 7.75% by 2015; cut the corporate tax to 5% from 6.9%; and eliminate the state estate tax.

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Rev. Barber and the other "religious progressives" say their goal is a new "southern fusion" that unites every ethnic, religious and interest group promoting modern liberalism to repel the tide of conservative policies on the march, not just in North Carolina, but all across the South. His warning to national liberals is, "If Republicans get away with this in North Carolina, with our moderate and centrist heritage, they can do it anywhere." He's planning a national Moral Monday rally in Washington, D.C., in August.

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Mr. Moore is a member of the Journal's editorial board.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324448104578615701537475998.html