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GOP Pat McCrory placed part of the blame on Moral Monday on outside groups when he spoke to the Republican convention in Charlotte over the weekend.

“Outsiders are coming in and they're going to try to do to us what they did to Scott Walker in Wisconsin,” McCrory said according to AP.

There were mass protests in Madison, when Walker, the GOP governor, moved to strip state workers of their right to collective bargaining. North Carolina state workers have no collective bargaining rights.

“They are going to come in try to change the subject,” McCrory said. “And I'm not going to let them. I'm going to concentrate on the economy, education and government efficiency.''

The governor's comments were muted compared to Sen. Thom Goolsby, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a recently published column he called the event “Moron Monday.

Welcome to another Manic Monday and Dome Morning Memo. It's going to be busy on Jones Street today. Both chambers convene at 7 p.m. with full calendars. Wake County residents will be keeping an eye on the House where lawmakers will be voting on Wake County's school board districts. And look for a final vote on the House tax bill. Full story.

"Attorney General Roy Cooper’s recent dog and pony show was an embarrassment to his office," writes GOP Sen. Thom Goolsby in his blog, Carolina Columns.

"Cooper had gotten wind that Senate budget writers were planning to transfer the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) from Cooper’s control to the Department of Public Safety (DPS). The long-serving Democrat Attorney General wants to keep the SBI. The best excuse he could make was that he needs the agents to fight public corruption.

"Can anyone remember any heavy lifting by Cooper during the investigation of former Governor Mike Easley? What about the investigations of Perdue’s henchmen who recently entered criminal pleas? Cooper, not known as a litigator, needs to come up with a better argument for his case."

Senators Thom Goolsby of New Hanover and E.S. “Buck” Newton of Wilson have been named chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday.

They replace Sen. Peter Brunstetter, who chaired the committee during the past session.

Senate leader Phil Phil Berger also re-appointed Senators Austin Allran of Catawba and Warren Daniel of the Senate Judiciary II Committee.

He also plans to appoint Senators Goolsby, Newton and Stan Bingham to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Justice and Public Safety.

Berger also announced that he was reappointing Senators Jerry Tillman of Randolph and Dan Soucek of Watauga as co-chairmen of the Senate Committee on Education/ Higher Education. They will also serve with Sen. Tom Apodaca as co-chairs of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education/Higher Education.

The transvaginal wand is making another appearance in a new Deb Butler's state Senate TV ad.

The new 30-second commercial shows the medical device during a clip from her previous ad as an OB/GYN lectures Republican rival Thom Goolsby. "Senator, I've been a doctor for 40 years. Women know what they are doing," Dr. Takey Crist says, pointing his finger at the camera.

State Sen. Thom Goolsby, a Wilmington Republican and lawyer, said Wednesday his support for two state troopers accused of misconduct is not shaken by the release of text messages showing the law officers profanely expressed ridicule and contempt for a woman wrongfully arrested for drunken driving.

Over the weekend, Goolsby issued a statement giving his unequivocal support to Senior Trooper Edward S. Wyrick and Trooper Andrew M. Smith.

"As an attorney who practices in our local courts, I have known these troopers for the entire time they have enforced the law in southeastern North Carolina," Goolsby wrote in an e-mail to The N&O. "I have never received any complaints about them. My personal experience was that they were professional, honest and forthright. ... It is time that someone spoke up and defended our troopers. I am doing so now."

On Tuesday the patrol released text messages showing that the two troopers exchanged messages shortly after Gina Tessener twice blew a 0.00 on an an alcohol breath test, prompting a comment from her lawyer husband that Wyrick should be ashamed of himself.

"Hahahaha f--- her and f--- him," Smith texted to Wyrick after learning of the exchange.

Moments later, Smith would pull Tessener's husband as he followed Wyrick and his wife to the county jail. The newly released texts may contradict Wyrick's written report of Gina Tessener's arrest, in which he wrote: "I never made contact with Trp. Smith while enroute to the jail until after I verified he stopped her husband."

Goolsby said Wednesday he didn't see anything in the messages that would lead him to change his earlier statement.

"The texts confirm the consistent story given in the report provided by the trooper," Goolsby wrote in an e-mail. "I have seen no evidence that the husband was set up in any way. These troopers are professional and respected in our area. No allegations have ever been made that any foul language was spoken to the driver or her husband. The inconsistent statements have all come from the husband of the driver. Until and unless I see something to the contrary, I continue to stand behind our troopers."

Sen. Thom Goolsby, a Republican from Wilmington, has issued a statement in support of two state troopers accused of falsely arresting a Raleigh mother for drunken driving and then orchestrating an unjustified traffic stop of her husband.

The N.C. Highway Patrol is conducting an internal affairs investigation, but Goolsby, a lawyer, said he has already seen enough to make up his mind that the troopers are innocent of the allegations against them.

Like most of the public, I was shocked at the allegations recently made against two local N.C. State Troopers regarding the DWI arrest of Gina Tessener. I was sent a copy of the letter to the Governor written by Tessener's lawyer-husband. In the letter, the husband made numerous allegations of abuse and illegal conduct against our troopers.

I read the letter with interest and concern. As an attorney who practices in our local courts, I have known these troopers for the entire time they have enforced the law in southeastern North Carolina. I have never received any complaints about them. My personal experience was that they were professional, honest and forthright.

When I learned that there was a video tape from the detention center, I watched it with interest. I was shocked and angered when it was apparent that the video did not represent several of the allegations made in the letter.

I have personally spoken with the Governor, Secretary of Crime Control and Public Safety and the Commander of the Highway Patrol expressing my frustration over what I perceive to be false allegations. Further, because both of these troopers were immediately placed on administrative leave, our county will be short of law enforcement officers to protect the public from drunk drivers during 4th of July weekend.

It is time that someone spoke up and defended our troopers. I am doing so now.

A conservative group with strong North Carolina ties plans to press the 2012 presidential candidates to commit to budget-slashing policies when they campaign in the early primary states.

Americans for a Balanced Budget, a grass-roots conservative group, plans to pressure the White House hopefuls to back positions that will lead to a balanced budget.

“The most important issue facing the United States is dealing with our crippling federal deficit and massive national debt,” said Dee Stewart, a Raleigh political consultant, who is the group's president.

The group claims 5,000 members since it was organized in 2009. Stewart announced an national advisory board that includes several Tar Heels including state Sen. Thom Goolsby of Wilmington; Salisbury attorney Bill Graham, a former gubernatorial candidate; and state Rep. David Lewis of Dunn, a member of the Republican National Committee.

Other national committee members include Sara Taylor Fagen, former White House political director for President George W. Bush, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, Jayne Millerick, former GOP Chairman in New Hampshire; Leon Mosley, former co-chairman of the Iowa Republican Party and other.

The Democrats are going after GOP freshmen Senators Thom Goolsby of Wilmington and Buck Newton of Wilson for co-sponsoring bills to repeal the plastic bag ban along the North Carolina coast.

The Democrats have produced a video featuring talking turtles with human bodies complaining about plastic bags showing up in their food. The turtles blame Goolsby and Newton, and ask why they aren't focusing on creating jobs.

The YouTube video has received more than 4,000 hits since it went up over the weekend.

The 2009 plastic bag ban effects Dare, Currituck and Hyde Counties.

According to the Democratic Party, the American Chemistry Council,  the plastics lobby, launched a plastics bag defense campaign last week.

Goolsby told a Wilmington TV station that “it's time we opened that discussion” on whether the disposal shopping bags should be banned. He noted that he was a surfer.

State Democratic Chairman David Parker said Goolsby wasn't seeking a discussion but repeal.

“It's what I believe surfers like the senator call a wipe-out,” Parker said. “For a freshman senator from a coastal county to attempt to repeal popular coastal environmental legislation is a major early mistake – and hopefully a lesson for him.”

A former Wilmington City Council member will oppose Rep. Thomas Wright.

Sandra Spaulding Hughes, a retired home economics teacher, said in a press release that she will file for the Democratic nomination in District 18 this week.

Hughes served on the city council from 1999 through 2003. She currently works in community affairs and serves as an educational and parent empowerment consultant.

According to the Wilmington Star-News, Republican attorney Thom Goolsby, Democratic chef Hollis Briggs and Wright's former Republican opponent (now a Democrat) Frankie Roberts have also said they are interested in the race.

The state House is considering expelling Wright for eight charges of misconduct. An attorney for Wright has said that he does not plan to resign and will file for re-election.