The other day Governor Easley boasted North Carolina’s quarter-cent cut in the sales tax meant North Carolinians “will see their hard-earned tax dollars can stretch a bit further.” On Tuesday, he turned into the Grinch who stole Christmas and said going ahead with the rest of the tax cut (another quarter-cent) might be unwise. (If you think quarter-cent doesn’t sound like much consider this: it’s $200 million.)

Governor Easley also acknowledged that when the legislature raised the tax a couple of years ago it made an iron-clad promise to repeal it when the budget crisis passed. But this is politics. So, what’s a promise?

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