What would Jesus finance?
Two senators got into a biblical brawl this morning over a bill to start a pilot program to publicly finance three statewide positions.
On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Neal Hunt of Raleigh said the program would lead to "mediocre candidates."
This morning, Democratic Sen. Steve Goss of Boone took exception, saying that "money alone does not make a candidate."
"There's some pretty good mediocre people out in this world, and I'm glad to be a representative of these people," he said.
Goss, an ordained minister, said that he's never heard anyone at a wedding or a funeral talk about money, and he read Ecclesiastes 3:1-7, the "to every thing there is a season" verse from the Old Testament often read at funerals.
More after the jump.
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Later in the session, Hunt said he was misunderstood when he used the word "mediocre."
"That had nothing to do with having money," he said. "Mediocre has to do with not being a leader. My point was that a leader can go out and generate funds. He can go out and raise money without having to rely on taxpayer largess."
He then quoted from 1 Timothy 3:2-7, a verse from the New Testament about leadership.
The two senators agreed on one thing, however. They both used the King James version.
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Mediocre candidates
Given the email responses to questions I ask of representatives on Mr. Hunt's side of the aisle, it's hard to imagine there could be a less-informed bunch in Raleigh. Mediocre would be a step up.