What goes around ... Politicians need to be careful about changing rules

Republican legislators in Raleigh are currently working to change some of the rules regarding the powers of the governor in order to reduce those of incoming Democrat Roy Cooper.

They should be careful about what rules they change. What goes around comes around, we have learned over the years.

Whenever one party is in power in either Raleigh or Washington, it is prone to changing the game to keep the upper hand.

It is a short-sighted policy that can come back to haunt you when the other party comes to power, as it eventually will.

Republicans who weaken the governorship now will find the shoe on the other foot if Democrats eventually take back the Legislature and a Republican governor is elected.

Democrats are hardly guiltless. When they held sway a few years back, they stripped the lieutenant governor of most of his power because he was a Republican.

It's a shame that this state's leaders -- both Republican and Democrat -- believe they have to resort to such tactics. It shows that neither party believes integrity is very important. And it gives voters little reason to expect better from either party in the future.

Published in Editorials on December 16, 2016 10:19 AM