Why does the governing class continue to do this stuff? Pretend that tweaking the assumptions about revenue will somehow avoid having to set actual spending priorities?

For Mecklenburg County the motivation is obvious. For far, far too many non-profits losing county money for the coming year is a death warrant. Good. If they cannot find enough traction in the community to support their efforts apart from raiding taxpayers, how important could they really be?

This goes double for WTVI, screaming like a stuck pig despite obviously being several rungs of priority below, oh, libraries and jails. If County Manager Harry Jones cannot hold the line here….well, we shall see.