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House Speaker Thom Tillis issued a warning last weekend to his fellow Repubicans about overreaching with their supermajority power.

"I was the GOP minority whip in 2009," he began in a Facebook post. "My job was to get conservative Democrats to help us defeat liberal legislation. The Democratic leaders, heavily influenced by their most liberal members and far-left groups, could not resist the pressure to move too far to fast. They did not compromise and they went too far.

"They got out of step with the citizens of NC and they lost their majority as a result. It was their lack of discipline that laid the groundwork for Republicans to have House/Senate super majorities, a GOP governor, and (lieutenant) governor," he concluded. "Our lack of discipline will lay the groundwork for their ascendency and if they succeed we will only have ourselves to blame."

What generated the post is unclear. A Tillis spokesman declined to elaborate and answer specific questions. "Speaker Tillis was simply recapping what occurred under Democratic leadership before Republicans won a majority in 2010, and pointing out that the Republican majority should learn from the mistakes of Democratic leadership of the past," spokesman Jordan Shaw said Monday.

State Treasurer Janet Cowell is coming under fire from state employees and retirees who are raising questions about the pension fund’s management after it invested in Facebook – which saw its value tank after its stock market debut. Cowell, a Democrat, did not respond to questions about the Facebook deal, but a spokeswoman downplayed the loss and defended the investment firm.

The law firm chosen to represent the state in its lawsuit against Facebook is also generating questions. Bernstein Litowitz Berger and Grossmann gave Cowell’s campaign more than $75,000 since her 2008 election to the post, according to state records. Read more here.

Political headlines:

--Could Tropical Storm Isaac soak the Democratic convention, too?

--American Atheists and Adams Outdoor Advertising are removing two Charlotte billboards slamming Christianity and Mormonism after the national atheists’ group said it received an outpouring of public anger and threats.

--Gary Pearce and Carter Wrenn, well known Tar Heel political strategists, map out the Obama path to victory for NPR.

In construction projects, some workers are treated them like ghosts, paid under the table and never acknowledged. A News & Observer review of state Industrial Commission decisions, in which arbitrators sort through workers’ compensation claims, shows the practice is common and has penetrated other industries.

But as honest businesses have struggled to compete, North Carolina officials have barely paid attention. Read the first installment in the Ghost Workers series, as well as stories about tax dodging companies and hear a worker's story.

Much more politics below:

--In his column, Rob Christensen describes how a local focus group sees the 2012 election: Watching a group of Walmart Moms discuss the presidential election last week, shed some light on why North Carolina is regarded as a toss up state.

--A holy war is engulfing the N.C. statehouse ministry for lawmakers, a $1.1 million operation.

--Even before GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney picked U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, Ayn Rand was enjoying an unusual boom in university classes, particularly in North Carolina, thanks to tens of millions of dollars in grants from a Winston-Salem-based bank.

House Speaker Thom Tillis "resigned" this weekend. Maybe you missed it in the hoopla about the Democratic scramble to replace Gov. Bev Perdue on the 2012 ballot. Or maybe it was a "joke," as his office suggested, to make a point about some biased media sources.

"It's a tongue-in-cheek sarcastic thing," Tillis spokesman Jordan Shaw said Monday. (Such an explanation didn't work well for Perdue -- but her gaffe about suspending elections doesn't match Tillis' "resignation," Shaw says.)

Either way, Tillis' email is an intriguing look at how the state's top Republican's message sometimes strikes a different tone than the official word he distributes from his office.

Take the news that Perdue wouldn't seek re-election. The officials statement from her office thanked her for her service, and despite their differences, expressed hope about working together. But days later on Facebook, Tillis suggested that Perdue's reason for not running again wasn't legit and her decision amounted to surrender.

Here's a fun freebie for football fans worried about the NFL lockout.

Buffalo Wild Wings is offering six free wings if you sign the restaurant's "Save our Season" petition on Facebook and the lockout ends on or before July 20, the first date of training camp.

There are two Buffalo Wild Wings locations in the Triangle: 148 Shenstone Blvd.
in Garner and 6700 Knightdale Blvd. in Knightdale.

Does a free breakfast at Dickey's Barbecue in Raleigh sound good?

Go to Dickey's Facebook page here, click on the coupon link on the left and print out your coupon for a free breakfast taco with spicy sausage, cheese and egg served on a soft-shell taco.

But be quick. The offer is limited to the first 100 folks so these will go fast.

The coupon is good only at Dickey's Raleigh location at 170 E. Davie St. and expires June 17. Breakfast is served 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Former White House press secretary and N.C. State alumnus Robert Gibbs is in talks to join Facebook, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

The social networking site is interested in hiring Gibbs for a senior communications role as it prepares for a possible initial public offering in early 2012, the paper reported. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is often the public face of the company, may be interested in having help communicating his message to the media and investors.

Gibbs, who left the White House in February after two years on the job, had been planning to help establish President Obama’s re-election campaign before taking a private sector job, the Times reported.

The "Fruit from a Fruitloop" Facebook campaign offers people who object to state Rep. Larry Brown's use of disparaging terms for gays a way to make food bank donations and send messages to the Kernersville Republican.

The donations will go to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina.

The Facebook campaign organizers asked donors to write "Fruit from a Fruitloop"  in the subject lines of their e-cards, which will go to Brown's legislative e-mail account.

Last week, Brown sent members of the House Republican caucus an e-mail calling gays "queers" and "fruitloops."

"Our intent it to take something negative and turn it into something positive," said John Paul Womble, one of the organizers.

Womble, who leads the Alliance of AIDS Services - Carolina, said the event has nothing to do with his job. Womble said he helped start the campaign as a community activist who wanted to take a stand against gay people being "mocked and made fun of and bullied."

Womble organized the Facebook campaign with good friend Canaan Huie, who is House Speaker Joe Hackney's tax counsel. Likewise, Huie said the event has nothing to do with his job, and he helped organize it as a private citizen.

Hat Tip: Brooke Cain

The state's Republican legislators lead Democrats in their use of Facebook and Twitter, according to the Raleigh public relations and lobbying firm Capstrat.

In a study of legislators' tweeting and posting habits, Capstrat found Republicans more connected than Democrats, and women more than men.

Sen. Andrew Brock, a Republican from Mocksville, leads his chamber in Facebook friends, and Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger of Eden has the most Twitter followers.

Rep. Rick Glazier, a Fayetteville Democrat, has the most Facebook friends in the House, and Minority Leader Paul "Skip" Stam of Apex has the most Twitter followers.

Dome took its own look at party Twitter habits, and it appears state Republicans have more to tweet about.

The state GOP Twitter page had at more than a half dozen tweets today. State Democrats have not added a new message since August 3.

Sarah Palin has endorsed Republican Renee Ellmers in her challenge to Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge.

Ellmers' campaign staff breathlessly announced Palin's endorsement, which came Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook post.

Having worked in the health care industry all her life, she joined countless other concerned Americans at the town hall meetings last summer to protest the disastrous Obamacare legislation. And she didn’t stop there! Renee decided to join the ranks of patriotic mothers across the country who have the courage to run for office this year and fight to make sure our children have as bright a future as we were given. Renee has an uphill battle against a truly out of touch incumbent who made news not too long ago when he was caught on video assaulting a student who asked him if he supported the Obama agenda.

The value of and reasoning behind a Palin endorsement has been red meat for talking heads. Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, has a huge money advantage, but campaign stops or fundraising events by Palin would be a big boost for Ellmers, a Dunn resident who is on her first run for office.

“Like Governor Palin, I am a mother who is concerned about the direction of our nation," she said in a news release. "We both know that Washington is out of control, and I am running to help set the country on a better path of fiscal responsibility that ensures prosperity for future generations.”

UPDATE: Etheridge's campaign responded.

"Sarah Palin, who ditched her public service job to be a celebrity, is just the latest in a string of far right politicians and groups to endorse Renee Ellmers," Etheridge said in a statement. "It is scary to think that Ellmers is going to take her marching orders about job creation from a person who abandoned the job she was elected to do for the people of Alaska."