HAIL TO THE CUPCAKES: President Barack Obama held a town hall at a Raleigh high school to build support and rally swing votes on health care reform among the state's Congressional delegation. While in Raleigh, the leader of the free world gave a huge plug to a Raleigh cupcake shop and forgot the name of the House speaker.

THE DEAL'S A LOCK: Last week's budget meltdown left House and Senate Democrats bitterly divided. And that's how they stayed until Wednesday when the budget negotiators unveiled a plan that looked remarkably like the one that died the week before. By week's end they had a handshake agreement to raise sales taxes and income taxes on higher wage earners. A handful of Democrats, enough to scuttle the deal, were grumbling about the "sin" taxes and the word was Gov. Beverly Perdue still wasn't thrilled with the tax plan. What could go wrong?

BEAM HIM UP: Rep. Earl Jones, a Democrat from Ceti Alpha 5, er, Greensboro, was in the news this week. First he breathlessly announced in a news conference that his bill to legalize video poker has supporters. Then his bill to create a high-tech center called the "Star Fleet Academy" on N.C. A&T State University's campus was the subject of a parody video that included a picture of Perdue after a Borg assimilation. Jones is running on impulse power and his shields are at 25 percent. Scotty, you've got to give him more power!

IN OTHER NEWS: Former house member Michael Decker got his prison sentence reduced. U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre won't run for Senate. U.S. Sen. Richard Burr won't vote for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.

Consumers who are cooking in instead of dining out, buying generic, nursing the old car along and brewing their own coffee may soon be able to indulge themselves in one area. High-end liquor in North Carolina is about to get cheaper.

Starting Aug. 1, the cost of a half gallon of Grey Goose vodka will drop from $71.95 to $59.95. The cost of a fifth of Absolut vodka will drop from $21.95 to $19.95. And, for those who can afford it, a half gallon of Glenmorangie scotch is slated to sell for $89.95 instead of $99.95.

Why the price break?

Because the high-end booze has been taking a sales hit as consumers have increasingly turned to bargain-priced liquor. Distillers of the good stuff are chopping their prices to hang on to recession-weary customers.

Read the full story.

What does "rush the growler" mean?

After Dome referenced the name used by the N.C. Beer and Wine Wholesalers Asssociation for its annual party, a reader e-mailed to dispute our definition.

In the post, we said the "growler" was a jug or pail used for moonshine which was "rushed" by the crowd when it showed up at a party.

But retired engineer John O'Connor of Raleigh said his wife heard a definition from her parents' friend that dated back to the early 1900s in Boston.

That definition, also given by this linguistics Web site, holds that the "growler" was a pitcher that was taken to a local tavern to buy beer, often by children.

"Rushing the growler," then, was to tell the child to hurry to the bar and back and may have denoted that the rusher, as it were, was an alcoholic.

No one agrees on where the term "growler" comes from, however. 

The House passed a bill to allow habitual drunk drivers to get their licenses restored if they had a clean record after 10 years.

State Rep. Ronnie Sutton, a Robeson County Democrat, said he filed House Bill 1185 to help people who "screwed up their life early" if they can show they have reformed.

Currently, North Carolinians convicted of being habitual drunk drivers have their licenses revoked for life.

The bill would allow people to petition to get their licenses restored after a decade if they had not had a drinking- or driving-related offenses since. It would allow the state Division of Motor Vehicles to put conditions on their license.

"This is something to allow a person who has had a real problem to straighten their lives out and hopefully find themselves on the straight and narrow," he said.

Rep. Edgar Starnes, a Caldwell County Republican, said the bill sends the "wrong message."

"Drunk driving is still a serious problem," he said. "This statute was enacted beccause we have to recognize that there are some people in this state who have no business with a license. A driving license is a privilege."

More after the jump.

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Liquor does not have many advocates in North Carolina.

Lobbyist Theresa Kostrzewa represents the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., which is backing a bill that would allow state ABC stores to sell liquor on Sundays.

On issues affecting beer and wine sales, Kostrzewa says she could turn to distributors or retailers to drum up grassroots support. But liquor is sold in stores run by state workers who can't take sides.

So she turned to Facebook. In March, she had an employee, Zach Pritchett, create Support Sunday ABC Sales in NC! on the social networking site. 

He invited a few friends, as did Kostrzewa. With no other publicity, the group grew to 493 members, including state Rep. Nick Mackey, a Charlotte Democrat.

Kostrzewa, who joined Facebook last year to play Scrabble online, says she's impressed with the site's networking potential.

"It's a ready-made grassroots network that you didn't know you had," she said.

Do you want to "friend" a bill in the General Assembly?

You can't exactly do that, but you can join a group for or against a piece of state legislation, another step in the evolution of online politics.

Here's a running list of Facebook groups on state bills:

* Support NC House bill 223, ditch the graduation project: Supports this bill to end the high school graduation project. 8,257 members.

* I Oppose NC Senate Bill 272: Opposes this bill for a referendum to ban gay marriage in the state constitution. 6,635 members.

* North Carolina State Sovereignty Movement: Supports this resolution to declare North Carolina a sovereign state under the 10th Amendment. 849 members. 

* Ban Smoking in N.C.'s Public Places: 717 members. I'M FOR A SMOKE-FREE NORTH CAROLINA: 107 members. NC FOR Smoking Ban in Resturants (sic) and Bars: 92 members. All support this smoking ban bill.

* I support NC Senate Bill 272: 703 members. I support NC Senate Bill 272 - Defense of Marriage: 64 members. Say yes to NC Senate Bill 272: Defense of Marriage: 5 members. All support gay marriage ban referendum.

* Davie's Law / Humane Euthanasia in NC Shelters: Supports this bill to end gas chambers at state animal shelters. 577 members.

* Support Sunday ABC Sales in NC! Supports this bill to end prohibition on Sunday sales of liquor. 491 members.

* Prevent School Violence North Carolina: Supports this bill to reduce bullying in school. 461 members.

* Oppose the NC Smoking Ban: Opposes the smoking ban. 121 members.

* Pass the NC Racial Justice Act: Supports this bill to allow courts to review death sentences for racial bias. 100 members.

* NC Citizens Against Anti-Competition Bills HB1252 and S1004: Opposes bills that would prevent municipal Internet providers. 49 members.

* I oppose NC Senate Bill 138 (Salvia Ban): Opposes this bill to make a hallucinogenic mint a Schedule I drug. 49 members.

Are we missing one? E-mail dome@newsobserver.com.

Senate Democrats have their tax plan ready.

According to a document received by the Associated Press, the Senate Finance Committee will consider a proposal today that would reduce the sales tax rate but expand the services it covers, repeal the food tax and raise sin taxes.

The plan would raise $600 million a year, more than the $500 million in revenue missing from the Senate budget passed earlier this month.

Under the plan:

* The sales tax rate in most counties would drop from 6.75 percent to 6 percent.

* The sales tax would be expanded to cover moving services, building repairs and downloaded music.

* Corporate and individual income tax rates would go down.

* The 2 percent tax on food at grocery stores and other retailers would be repealed.

* The cigarette tax would be increased 15 cents per pack.

* The alcohol excise tax would be increased.

The House is also expected to put together its own proposals for modernizing the tax code.

* U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan signs on as cosponsor of Virginia Sen. Jim Webb's big prison-reform study commission bill.

* Red Oak is asking the legislature to raise the number of barrels a brewery can distribute on its own without a distributor.

* Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton announces creation of the Small Business Assistance Fund to give low-interest loans to small companies.

* A state bill to regulate child beauty pageants gets some love from Jezebel, a nationally known feminist blog.

A poll shows support for increases in the alcohol and tobacco taxes.

The survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows 60 percent support for a five percent tax on alcohol, compared to 35 percent opposition. Five percent were unsure.

It also found 53 percent supported a dollar-a-pack increase on cigarettes, compared to 41 percent opposition. Seven percent were unsure.

President Dean Debnam attributed support to perception that the taxes are voluntary.

"It's up to folks whether they smoke and drink or not, and citizens seem to be more accepting of these sorts of opt in taxes than they would be about increases that hit everyone like income taxes," he said in a statement.

Gov. Beverly Perdue proposed raising the two taxes, but the increases did not make it into the Senate budget that passed last week. 

The automated survey of 979 North Carolina voters was taken from April 8-11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

FLYING THE COOP? Attorney General Roy Cooper was suddenly ubiquitous this week: Announcing the number of domestic violence homicides, speaking at an event for his father's new memoir, filing a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Voting Rights Act. Now that U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler is out of the race, is it his moment to announce a run for U.S. Senate in 2010 against Sen. Richard Burr?

UNDER PRESSURE: Moderate and conservative Democrats in North Carolina might be forgiven for thinking it's campaign season again. TV ads targeted Sen. Kay Hagan and Rep. Bob Etheridge and a radio ad singled out Rep. Mike McIntyre. Their aim? Persuade the lawmakers to support President Obama's proposed budget. So far, no state Republicans have faced similar ad campaigns.

IN OTHER NEWS: The race for head of the N.C. GOP narrowed a little as David Robinson of Raleigh dropped out. ... After an earlier bill got held up over a pronoun problem, Sen. Richard Stevens filed a bill calling for gender-neutral language in state laws. ... Carolina would get a little less blue under two bills that would allow liquor tastings and let ABC stores open on Sundays. ... Speaking of alcohol, an "M. Easley" whose address was the governor's mansion turned up on a list of people who never got their shipment from Carolina Wine Co. before it went bankrupt.