1. Talk show host Matt Mittan complained today that half the 1700 positions that might be cut from the state budget, to deal with the impending $3.4 billion deficit, were vacant. (He said the John Locke Foundation’s alternative budget didn’t note the absurdity.)

2. Buncombe County Commissioner Holly Jones recommended that the Pack Square Conservancy lower the burden on fundraisers by eliminating the contingency line item in its budget.

3. The state and county collect taxes to tell the private sector how to spend its money.