Etheridge gains power, will push for schools

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge has been appointed to a powerful House committee.

The Lillington Democrat was named late Wednesday night to the Committee on Ways and Means, which plays a key role in federal legislation on taxes and health care.

He will be the first North Carolinian to serve on the committee since 1984, and the first North Carolina Democrat since Rep. Robert Doughton's stint ended in 1953.

The Ways and Means committee oversees issues as diverse as Social Security, unemployment benefits and Medicare, and it has sole jurisdiction over tariffs and other methods of raising revenue. It played a key role in the 2008 Farm Bill.

The committee post will give Etheridge a key position to influence new infrastructure spending in Congress.

A former state schools superintendent, Etheridge argued that the federal government should spend more building schools, a task typically left to state and local governments.

"I think you will see that as part of a broader package hopefully we will bring out early next year," he told Dome. "No. 1, to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure from schools to roads to bridges to highways to water and sewer, but more importantly to put people back to work."

Etheridge also said he would push to extend fiber-optic cable in rural America to boost Internet access.

"That really is the highway of the 21st century," he said. "Unless you have access to that highway in rural America, you really aren't able to get on the Interstate. It is critical that we (expand fiber optic cable) all across America. We did it in the '20s and '30s for telephones and rural electrification."

No 8th term for McCrory

Pat McCrory will not run for an eighth term as mayor of Charlotte.

At a news conference Thursday, the city's longtime mayor and recent unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate said he made the decision in January.

McCrory said he is proud of the work he's done as mayor -- creating a new transit system and fighting property tax increases. His final term will end in December 2009.

McCrory said he will consider running for other elected office.

Rand's world is brighter

Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand said Thursday that his cataract surgery went well.

"It looks like it will be great," Rand told Dome shortly after the procedure. Rand added that his pupil was too dilated to know what his vision will be today.

"The colors are brighter," he said. "I'm very pleased."

Dome was unable to cover the procedure, in which a doctor was replacing Rand's right lens with a new lens that promised relief from cloudy vision as well as improved overall vision.

Rand, 69, said he expects to be able to return to work today. The Fayetteville Democrat said the procedure lasted 15 to 20 minutes, although he wasn't quite sure because of the medication he was given.

"You're kinda goofy," Rand said.

Cooper leads Burr in poll

The first poll of the 2010 Senate race came out this week.

With the dust barely settled on the last race, Democratic firm Public Policy Polling released numbers comparing U.S. Sen. Richard Burr with Attorney General Roy Cooper, a possible Democratic opponent.

The poll shows a competitive race, with Cooper leading Burr by five percentage points, 39 percent to 34 percent. It also shows Burr with a 32 percent approval rating, compared to Cooper's 44 percent approval rating.

The poll of 630 North Carolina voters was taken Monday and Tuesday. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Cobb steps down, not out

Britt Cobb will step down at the end of his term.

The secretary of the N.C. Department of Administration told Dome he has not sought to continue in that position after Gov. Mike Easley's term.

"I've had my paperwork in for a long time," he said.

A longtime employee of the N.C. Department of Agriculture, Cobb was appointed commissioner of that department by Easley after former head Meg Scott Phipps left office in the wake of a scandal.

Cobb unsuccessfully ran for agriculture commissioner in 2004 and was then appointed secretary of administration by Easley in 2006. Having retired from politics once already, he said he'll "never say never" to coming back.

"It's kind of like Sen. Rand said one time: 'Once it's in your blood, the only thing that will get it out is embalming fluid,' " he said.