Internet ad ties Burr vote to campaign donor

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, is the target of a new Internet ad campaign seeking to tie his political contributions from the defense industry and the Chamber of Commerce to his vote on a bill involving how overseas American contractors handle allegations of rape.

"Did Sen. Burr Put Campaign Cash Above Victims of Gang Rape?" says the online ad that is scheduled to begin running this week by Change Congress, a Washington-based group that pushes campaign finance reform.

The group is running ads on other issues targeting Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, all Democrats.

"We've had a series of campaigns that have tried to point out cases where members have voted consistent with contributors but inconsistent with their constituents," Larry Sessig, the co-founder of Change Congress told Dome.

The ad grew out of an allegation of a 2005 gang rape of a Houston woman who was working in Iraq as a firefighter for Halliburton/KBR. The woman was forced to take her case before an arbitration panel rather than a judge and jury because of an agreement that was part of a contract she signed before going to Iraq.

Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, offered an amendment to ban federal funds from going to companies that require arbitration in the case of sexual assault. Burr was one of 30 Republican senators who voted against the amendment.

Change Congress hired a polling firm to conduct a poll of 600 likely North Carolina voters, which concluded that Burr's vote was unpopular. The group also said Burr had received more than $700,000 in campaign contributions from the defense industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, groups that opposed the Franken amendment.

Burr noted that one of the two co-founders of the group, Joe Trippi, is working for Kenneth Lewis, a Durham lawyer who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Burr next year.

"Why The News & Observer is reporting on an ad paid for by a group with such an obvious agenda is beyond me," Burr said in a statement. "...this is nothing more than a campaign stunt."

Marisa McNee, a spokeswoman for Change Congress, said Trippi had no involvement in the ad or in targeting Burr.

Court sides with Moore

In a split decision issued Tuesday, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court acted appropriately in dismissing a lawsuit filed against former State Treasurer Richard Moore.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina sued in 2008 over a dispute about whether Moore's office had provided public records requested by the group regarding the handling of the state retirement system.

Moore's lawyer argued in Wake Superior Court in June 2008 that the association could not point to a specific public record that had been withheld, and Judge James E. Hardin dismissed the suit.

Appeals court judges Cheri Beasley and Wanda G. Bryant ruled that Hardin was right to dismiss the case, saying Moore had fulfilled his obligation under the state's public records law.

Appeals Court Judge Rick Elmore dissented, writing that the employees group had shown that Moore had likely withheld records he was legally obligated to provide.

Thomas A. Harris, the chief of staff and general counsel for SEANC, said he will recommend to the group's board that they appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court.

Moore said Tuesday: "This news, combined with the other recent news that North Carolina's pension fund was the best performing in the country for this past fiscal year, are nice exclamation points to the end of my eight-year-tenure."

Good news, bad news

Gov. Bev Perdue surely was looking forward to her announcement Tuesday morning that North Carolina has been named the state with the "top business climate" for the fifth year in a row by SiteSelection magazine.

"We are all mighty proud given the circumstances we were dealt in January," Perdue said in making the announcement at the Council of State meeting.

But Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry, a Republican, poured cold water on the announcement. She noted that a half million citizens were about to lose their unemployment benefits and that the state's employment levels had declined to 1999 levels.

Since this time last year, Berry noted, the state had lost more than 200,000 jobs.

Perdue, a Democrat, replied that North Carolina was part of "a global recession."

By staff writers RobChristensen and Michael Biesecker.

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