North Dakota

The three Republican amigos twisted themselves into pretzels trying to explain why the state Legislature is going into special session next month to address North Dakota's budget shortfall. Specifically, the amigos said, legislators would look at targeted cuts instead of the 4 percent across-the-board slashing Dalrymple instituted earlier this year when the state's once-rosy budget outlook cratered because of drops in agriculture commodity and oil prices.

Remember not so long ago when North Dakota Nice became North Dakota Smug and Republicans were dislocating their shoulders patting themselves on the back for their oil-boom budgets? Yeah, not so much anymore.

Instead, the state's top three Republicans explained that waiting months longer than necessary to call a special session was the prudent thing to do so they could see exactly what they were dealing with, exactly what the Legislature needed to do, after the latest budget numbers came out.