TOP RATING FROM CNBC DIVIDES COOPER, BERGER.

There's been no shortage of crowing among North Carolina's political class about CNB C naming North Carolina as America's Top State for Business for the second year in a row.

The announcement brought Gov. Cooper some national TV time, which he used to argue that it's "important for us to invest in the education and well being of our people to continue our amazing success."

Senate President Pro Tern Phil Berger credited the "vision and plan" Republicans had "when we won control of the General Assembly back in 2010." He also said Cooper's "obstructionism and vetoes of business-friendly legislation" have "done nothing to slow our momentum."

The mutual departure from the bipartisanship that normally accompanies economic development success was noteworthy because CNBC warned "that the political detente that has helped the state achieve its business success may have come to an end."

The four most powerful state economies in the U.S. are those of the four largest...