Cross-posted from the Brock Log.

North Carolina's Junior Senator, Richard Burr (R) lost his bid for the Republican Senate Conference Chairmanship to Senator Lamar Alexander from Tennessee.

The move marks a decidedly moderate shift in Republican Senatorial politics, as Alexander has pledged to make Senate Republicans more attractive to independent and unaffiliated voters (most of whom are more moderate than either Democrats or Republicans).

It's also a continuing trend of North Carolinian Republicans losing authority within the Republican Party. Earlier this year Senator Elizabeth Dole was fired from the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee after failing to maintain a majority of Republicans in the Senate as well as leading the Campaign Committee deep into debt. Our Congressman, Walter B. Jones, Jr. has lost authority because of his stance against the occupation of Iraq, other Republican representatives have lost authority because the Republicans are in the Minority (and there's no end in sight to their position).

It's time to elect Democrats from North Carolina.

Lisa Zagaroli, McClatchy Newspapers

When U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina assumed the GOP leadership position on the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs last week, he came to it with a bit of a gap -- he had attended fewer than half its hearings in recent years.

Others on the panel have worse attendance records. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the military himself, only showed up three times at veterans committee hearings between the start of 2005 and May 16, 2007, according to a Charlotte Observer review of the published proceedings from 44 meetings.

Burr's attendance -- he has gone to 20 meetings -- is about the middle of the pack. A few senators attended most of the meetings, led by former Chairman Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who attended 43 of the 44 hearings, and some senators attended only a few, such as Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who attended two.

North Carolina’s Democratic Congressional Delegation fulfilled their promise to lower college costs by sending President Bush the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.

This legislation will bring real help to North Carolina students by providing an additional $500 in need-based grant aid next year, and an additional $5,400 over the next five years. [Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, September, 2007]

But Republicans Richard Burr in the Senate, and Patrick McHenry, Virginia Foxx, and Sue Myrick in the House voted against the bill.

These Republicans voted “no” to cap federal student loan payments at 15 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income.

Republican obstructionists also voted “no” to forgive the debt of borrowers of North Carolina’s nurses, teachers, and law enforcement officers who serve in their profession for 10 years.

Bradley Hardy, NC Federation of College Democrats

A group of UNC-Asheville students challenged on Wednesday Republican Sen. Richard Burr’s hypocrisy while he was on their campus to promote faith-based initiatives and advise local churches on how to receive money from the federal government.

The students took their tuition bills and textbook receipts to Burr to remind him of the financial burden that college students face and ask why he didn’t believe they deserved some relief.

The protest was organized through Facebook, an Internet social networking group, and covered by the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Earlier this year, Burr had an opportunity to help make education more affordable for millions of college students by voting for Senate Bill 1762, “The Higher Education Access Act”.

But once again, Burr chose special interests over the needs of his own constituents.

NCDP Chair Jerry Meek today applauded North Carolina’s Democratic Congressional Delegation for keeping their promise to make our communities safer and more secure. This week, Congressional Democrats voted to implement the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations-- something Republicans like Richard Burr, Howard Coble, Virginia Foxx, Sue Myrick and Patrick McHenry, who voted against the bill, refused to do for the last three years.

In July 2004, the 9/11 Commission announced its recommendations for how to avoid a future terrorist attack in the United States. For three years, Republicans put their partisan loyalty ahead of our nation’s security, first by resisting Democratic efforts to appoint the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission in the first place, then by joining President Bush in ignoring the Commission’s recommendations.

But this week, Democrats in Congress voted to send a long-overdue bill that finally implements the 9/11 Commission recommendations to the President’s desk. The bill would tighten screening of air and sea cargo, strengthen transit security, improve oversight of our intelligence and homeland security systems, and allocate $3.3 billion to help communities improve communications among first responders—a major problem during both the September 11 attacks and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Republicans have fought us every step of the way,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek. “But Democrats scored a victory for the American people today by sending the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to the President’s desk. The time has come for Republicans to stop standing with the President and start standing up for the people of North Carolina.”

Republican Senator Richard Burr would rather sell out low income students than say no to his special interest friends in Washington.

Burr is a primary sponsor of a measure that reduces by several billion dollars the money that low-income students receive in federal Pell grants. The neediest of students would lose about an average of $300 in increased scholarship aid under Burr’s proposal.

That’s remarkable considering that 147,095 North Carolina students received Pell Grants totaling more than $365.8 million during the 2005-2006 school year. (US Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/data/pell-2005-06/table-22-2005-06.xls)

What would make Burr sell out his own constituents?

Local members of MoveOn held a rally today to counter the proposed Republican filibuster blocking a vote to withdraw U.S. combat forces out of Iraq by next spring.

The “counter filibuster” rally took place today at the corner of Otis Street and Patton Avenue in front of the Federal Building, where Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has an office.

At issue is a piece of proposed legislation that would require President Bush to begin bringing the troops home within the next 120 days and complete the task by April 2008.

According to a news release from MoveOn, members will read letters from Iraq war veterans and their families that call on Congress to bring the troops home soon.

Last night, Senate Republicans blocked an up-or-down vote on a resolution condemning the President's escalation of the War in Iraq and his refusal to offer a new direction that the American people demanded in November. While 70 percent of Americans disapprove of President Bush's misguided strategy in Iraq, both Democrats and Republicans have voiced opposition to the escalation. Yet, Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr are still clinging to the same "stay the course" strategy that continues to be advocated by President Bush.

Republican Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr voted last night to block the Democratic plan to increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. As part of its first 100 hours agenda, House Democrats voted to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in more than nine years - the longest period in the history of the law. During that time, Members of Congress have received a $31,600 pay raise, while the real value of the minimum wage has plummeted to its lowest level in 51 years. [Economic Policy Institute, 6/06]

Republicans love to talk about taxes. Republicans love to talk about tax breaks for the few, while voting against tax breaks for hard-working people.

Some wealthy Republicans just evade paying them and hope they don't get caught.

Republican Congressional candidate Dan Mansell from Selma thinks he doesn't have to pay his taxes.

"Congressional candidate Danny E. Mansell owes the federal government more than $220,000 in unpaid taxes, according to tax liens filed at the Johnston County Clerk of Court office." [Fayetteville Observer, 10/17/2006]

But Dan Mansell isn't just being greedy or acting illegally, he's hurting his employees:

"The records say that most of Mansell's federal tax liens - just under $220,000 in principal - are for quarterly payments from his employees' payroll taxes and accrued from June 1997 to June 2001. These can be income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes or any combination of them, according to an IRS description."