Bowing to the wishes of monopolistic beer & wine distributors:

the CARE Act, if passed, would erect large hurdles for anyone attempting to challenge a state’s wine-shipping laws through litigation by giving the 21st Amendment, which grants states the right to control alcohol sales, precedence over the Commerce Clause, the section in Article One that prohibits states from discriminating between in- and out-of-state commerce.

Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), who introduced the bill to the floor alongside Delahunt, has accepted $27,500 from the NBWA since 2005. The wholesaler associations invested most enthusiastically in Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)—the NBWA sent him $42,500 in five years, and the WSWA contributed an additional $4,000.

The glaringly obvious conflict of interest finally caught up to her:

Andrew Whalen, executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, issued a statement late Tuesday, saying that party officials raising concerns about Kim Strach's potential conflict in the campaign flight investigation. She should have stepped aside and let someone else handle the probe, Whalen said.

"In our view, Ms. Strach should have recognized her conflict and recused herself, and the inquiry should have been handled by someone who was not compromised by a conflict of interest," he said in the statement. "At minimum, she had an obligation to include our raising of her conflict in the timeline or the report, but she did not."

It wasn't that hard, was it? :)

State Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer has become a proud father.

Thomas Harrison Fetzer III, to be called Harrison, was born July 2. Fetzer reports that his son, who was born in a Wilmington hospital, was 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth.

“He is absolutely delightful,” said Fetzer.

Tell you what, Tom. If you want to prove your manhood, you need to get yer ass up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning and take care of this delightful little person, and let Kate catch up on her rest. I'm not talking for a few days either, pal.

But there's no "might" about the money he owes:

The former Mebane town councilman owes the state of North Carolina $2.2 million in unpaid taxes. He tops a list of tax delinquents who owe the state $841 million - a 67 percent jump from a year ago.

Two weeks after the Observer reported his $2.2 million tax debt in 2009, Hupman resigned from the Mebane town council. Other media followed with reports that he also owed millions to the federal government.

After spending the last two hours trying to nail down his political affiliation, I now proclaim that non-partisan elections are a direct threat to my sanity.