howRDUdoin? is a blog about Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

This is how we do, Carolina!

So while everyone has been running around like scared little babies, afraid of the big bad shortfall monster, Mike Easley just pulled aside like every agency in the state and whispered “Cut it by 5%. Don’t tell me how you do it, just get it done, son.” And now, just when everyone thought that all the money would be gone, forever, he can say to Bev Perdue, “Yo, I got you. Here’s a billion dollars walkin’ around money. This is the money Mary didn’t know about when she went to Europe.”

And the best part of all is, no time in the last month was anyone aware of the fact that we were getting 5% less out of our state. Not ’til I just told you anyway. You may remember an extra long line at the DMV or something if you think back.

[N&O: Easley quietly ordered state agencies to cute 5 percent]