Dalton Would Veto State Budget, McCrory Would Sign It

The News & Observer reports a clear distinction between the two major candidates for governor with regard to the newly passed $20.2 billion state budget. The Democrat would veto it, while the Republican would sign it.

Rasmussen: Most Americans See Government Spending As A Burden On Economy

From Rasmussen Reports comes the clear views of Americans on government spending.

Why you can’t rely only on your morning paper

Most people know by now that relying on their morning left-of-center news rag will leave them three steps behind what’s actually happening. There was a good example in this morning’s News & Observer. Here’s what was in “Under the Dome” on page 3B (can’t link online):

Note the last paragraph, in which the contents of an Obama ad are characterized as centering on Mitt Romney’s taxes and fee hikes as governor, and his outsourcing of jobs when working in the private sector. Note also that the Dome says Obama is “hitting” Romney on these issues, not that he is accusing or alleging him of doing these things. The assumption of the reader, from this wording, naturally would be that the facts in the ad are correct. Big mistake.

Here’s what The Washington Post had to say about that ad in this morning’s edition:

The Obama campaign fails to make its case. On just about every level, this ad is misleading, unfair and untrue, from the use of “corporate raider” to its examples of alleged outsourcing. Simply repeating the same debunked claims won’t make them any more correct.

That’s pretty strong language. It’s especially strong language from a newspaper that has been in Obama’s lap since 2008. The ad is so bad it won four Pinocchios:

The N&O has changed the item online to reflect that The Washington Post “found problems” with the ad. Better late than never, I guess. But if you read only the print version of the N&O, and don’t supplement it with other content easily found on the Internet, you came away from the Dome this morning thinking the ad was the gospel truth.

Raleigh Chamber Head On Wake Schools U-Turn: “will require mandatory assignment to fill schools.”

The News & Observer has posted an email sent to Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce members about the decision by the Democrats who control the Wake County school board to reverse course and return to the old diversity-based school assignment policy. Below is part of what CEO Harvey Schmitt wrote to members. You can read the entire email here.

Prior to the meeting we shared with the Board our concerns about reopening this discussion without giving the current plan an opportunity to be thoroughly evaluated and creating new community uncertainty. Based on our research we believe that an address based approach advocated in the directive will require mandatory assignment to fill schools. As you will recall this was a major sticking point under the old plan as parents were concerned about stability and about arbitrary assignments. With a sizeable majority of parents satisfied with the current choice plan we anticipate a change will create disruption among a new group of stakeholders. The problem remains inadequate school capacity, an issue to be discussed in the months ahead as we look at school construction bond in 2013.

Will the Obamacare Ruling Come Today?

All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court today for the possibility of the ruling on Obamacare. The LA Times gives a good lesson on when and what.

The decisions are printed inside the ornate 1935 Corinthian-style building, and handed out to reporters as the justice who authored the opinion announces the decision from the bench shortly after 10 a.m. By tradition the senior justice goes last, so healthcare is likely to be the last decision announced on the day it comes down.

Only a few times in modern history have the results leaked ahead of time, once reputedly from a comment by a justice to a reporter, another time from a talkative printer.

The court is not meeting Friday, so if the healthcare decision does not come Thursday, the next opportunity would be Monday.