The word of the day is "Veto":

Gov Cooper announced yesterday he was vetoing the budget, according the #NCGA website, veto hasn't been received yet #NCPOL

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) June 27, 2017

It's called strategy. When you have x number of days to make your decision, and your opponent has y number of days to counter that, and your opponent also has z number of other bills they want to schedule for votes, making their schedule "easier" may not be the wisest choice. And it's definitely not your responsibility.

In the "put your money where your mouth is" category:

For NC, "staying the course" means tax cuts over public investments that promote broadly shared prosperity https://t.co/v8mjs5r7Ky #ncpol

— Budget & Tax Center (@ncbudgetandtax) June 12, 2017

When you try to do something good and some idiot sticks his leg out to trip you:

Getting rid of concealed-carry permits is dangerously stupid:

Guns are deadly weapons. No one who hasn’t been properly screened or trained should be able to pick up a firearm and carry it around North Carolina’s streets and neighborhoods, no questions asked. And anyone wishing to purchase a pistol in our state should first be background checked.

But right now, the gun lobby and its allies in the state legislature are pushing forward a bill (HB 746) that would allow people to carry hidden, loaded handguns with no license, no background check, and no safety training. They are also considering a potential change that would eliminate NC's successful pistol permit process, which provides background checks on guns purchased through unlicensed dealers.

This one needs no editorializing on my part, and it shouldn't even be under consideration by those who claim to serve the public.

And GOP Congressmen should be hearing about this at town halls:

Blue Cross cited several reasons for its request. One is an increase in medical costs, including for doctors fees, hospital services and medicines, which the insurer cites every year it seeks rate increases. The company also blamed the increase on a higher tax on insurers next year.

But the biggest cause is the looming elimination of “cost sharing reductions” in the Republican alternative to the ACA. These reductions offer additional subsidies on deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs to lower-income people whose household incomes are between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

At the core of the Affordable Care Act was a mutual understanding between government and citizens: You pay, we'll pay. While it's far from perfect, that cooperative effort has provided millions of families with the coverage they desperately needed, while greatly reducing the amount of unpaid medical bills. Until now. Republicans claimed they were trying to make health care more affordable to citizens, but that is not even on their radar. What they're really trying to do is get rid of one side of that agreement, the government's half. And they're doing it so they can force even bigger tax cuts for the wealthy. Whether you lose your insurance, or end up paying 3 times as much for lesser coverage, that doesn't really matter to them. YOYO, as my dad used to say. You're on your own.

On everybody's mind:

Assessing the Supreme Court’s #gerrymandering decision | NC Policy Watch https://t.co/s9d2CrZRiJ #ncga #ncpol #nccourts #SCOTUS

— NC Policy Watch (@NCPolicyWatch) May 23, 2017

This answers a few questions from yesterday: