N.C. Rep. John Rhodes is known as a conservative leader who is not afraid to speak his mind. He lived up to his reputation in a recent speech to the Iredell Republican Men’s Club.

Rhodes was unsparing in his criticism of former Co-Speaker Richard Morgan. In 2003, Morgan and four other Republicans delivered the votes that put the Democrats in effective control of the state House of Representatives. The General Assembly then drew new legislative districts that favored the Democrats and a handful of Morgan’s Republican allies.

In the 2004 election, Republican legislative candidates outpolled Democrats by about 100,000 votes statewide. But due to the new Gerrymandered districts, Democrats won majorities in both the state House and Senate.

Rhodes lamented the fact that many House Republicans are co-operating with the Democrat majority rather than fighting. He said some had sold out to get a roomier office or a few small pork-barrel projects for their districts.

The General Assembly will pass several tax increases this year, Rhodes predicted. These new taxes will cost the state jobs by making it more difficult to recruit industry. While raising taxes on most individuals and businesses, the powers-that-be in Raleigh are attempting to create jobs by offering ever larger “incentives” to a few favored businesses. The incentives for the Dell plant in Winston-Salem came to $190,000 per job for jobs with an average pay of $25,000 per year.

Rhodes said a bill had been introduced to apportion North Carolina’s Presidential Electors by Congressional District. Currently, in all but two small states, the Presidential candidate who carries a state receives all that state’s electoral votes. Thus in last year’s election all of North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes were cast for George W. Bush. If the proposed legislation had been in effect, the result would have been nine electoral votes for Bush and six for Kerry.

The Republican candidate for President has carried North Carolina in every election since 1976. If its electoral votes are apportioned by Congressional District, the likely result will be to give the Democrat candidate for President several extra electoral votes. If the proposed bill had been in effect in 2000, Al Gore would have been elected President.

A case can be made that every state should apportion its electoral votes. But the current proposal to have North Carolina make a change without other states doing likewise is a partisan political ploy.

Rhodes predicted the bill will pass. “Morgan’s sellout could put Hillary Clinton in the White House,” he concluded.