In North Carolina, leaders have made many attempts at wholesale cuts in the name of efficiency. Regardless of which party was trying to trim, those attempts either failed or had debatable success, according to Ran Coble, executive director of the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, a nonpartisan think tank.

"Overall, efficiency commissions have been failures in North Carolina," Coble said.

Republicans have had a historical claim to the issue. But this week, it was the Democrats who were racing to take the lead on making government more efficient.

On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue proposed creating a commission that would recommend cuts to state government spending. The General Assembly would be prohibited from tampering with the commission's recommendations and would be required to vote them up or down. Perdue's plan calls for as much as $250 million in savings every legislative session.

The other major candidates attacked Perdue's plan Thursday as an abdication of the governor's responsibility to propose an efficient spending plan that eliminates duplication and waste.

"This approach throws out what I think is smoke and mirrors on top of smoke and mirrors," said State Treasurer Richard Moore, who is contesting Perdue for the Democratic nomination for governor.

"This is simply adding yet another useless bureaucratic cog in a wobbly and broken wheel of state government," said Bill Graham, one of three Republicans running for governor.

At least four times in the past 30 years, state leaders have pushed major initiatives to create efficiency commissions or study wasteful spending. Those efforts have met political resistance or faded away.

State Sen. Robert Pittenger, a Charlotte Republican and member of the appropriations committee, said he has been pushing for a leaner state government for years. Pittenger figures that $1 billion or more is wasted every year because of duplication and unjustified expenses.

Pittenger said serious attempts to make the state's government more efficient usually fizzle out because those in power don't have the will to make tough choices. He has been appointed to serve on a joint committee to look at budget efficiency issues.

"I'm glad to see the Democrats are fighting over who's going to take charge of it," Pittenger said. "They should have been doing it a long time ago."

Pittenger said success would require some independent auditor or agency that was above politics.

"It's easy for us to allow a buddy to go along, instead of holding them accountable," he said.

Perdue's proposal would require state lawmakers to agree to create a new agency and give up their ability to tinker with its recommendations, Coble said. And her goal for savings, $250 million, is less than 2 percent of the state's total budget.

"I think it's good politics for both the primary and the fall," Coble said. "It can be good politics and unproductive policy."