Just Drop the Sword and Take the Win

This morning, North Carolina earned the crown jewel of business rankings for the second consecutive year: “North Carolina tops CNBC’s state business competitiveness rankings for the second year in a row as workers flock to take advantage of a booming economy and the growing operations of companies including Apple within the state,” the outlet reported.

CNBC opened its story with a side-by-side of Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski congratulating the state on its victory.

If only CNBC’s next guest, Gov. Roy Cooper, could’ve taken a similarly congenial approach.

Instead, Cooper spent seven minutes out of his nine-minute interview trashing the legislature over “diversity and inclusion,” gender and sexuality issues, and abortion. He even managed to sneak in a mention of HB2.

Just drop the sword and take the win, Governor.

North Carolina has seen a boom decade under responsible, pragmatic, and restrained fiscal policies. The legislature has managed to dramatically slash personal and business tax rates while steadily increasing education funding. Because of smart policies, we’re attracting families and companies in droves.

While the reform majority deserves a lot of the credit for ushering in these policies, there’s room to praise legislators from both parties. For example, seven Democrats this year crossed the aisle to support the Senate budget, which continues the formula that has created so much success.

In our view, policymakers deserve a well-earned pat on the back this morning.