U.S. Rep. Howard Coble is among the top recipients of campaign money this year from the National Football League, according to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks spending in Washington.

Coble, a Greensboro Republican, was one of seven House members to receive $5,000 this year from the organization's PAC, reports Barb Barrett.

That amount eclipses even U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat who used to play quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Shuler received $1,000 this year, according to the study.

Coble spokesman Ed McDonald said the NFL held a breakfast for Coble early this year.

McDonald said it makes sense the NFL would support Coble. He is the top Republican on the Judiciary subcommittee that handles matters of antitrust.

McDonald added that Coble also received $5,000 from Major League Baseball.

The hospital system welcoming Republican heavyweight Sens. John McCain and Mitch McConnell on Tuesday has spent $1.2 million in the past 18 months lobbying Congress, reports Barb Barrett.

Carolinas HealthCare Systems, which runs 25 hospitals in Charlotte and South Carolina, will host a health-care event Tuesday for Sen. Richard Burr. Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, is running for re-election in 2010.

McCain, the GOP presidential candidate last year, and McConnell, the Senate majority leader, will speak at the event.

Carolinas Healthcare Systems was one of North Carolina’s biggest lobbying spenders on health care issues in the past two years, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group in Washington that tracks spending in politics. The hospital’s lobbying documents show that it is interested in health reform, pharmacy legislation and issues related to Medicare and Medicaid.

Spokesman Kevin McCarthy said earlier this summer that in the context of the current health reform debate, the hospital system wants to increase Medicare reimbursements to doctors and help uninsured and underinsured patients find a medical home.

Former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole may want to rethink her new diet.

At a lecture in Kansas Sunday, the former North Carolina senator said that she and her husband Bob would be starting the NutriSystem diet.

Until recently, at least, the diet planners have leaned Democratic, according to a search of data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The company's top officers have donated $10,650 to Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry as well as Pennsylvania Congressmen Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy.

Between 2006 and 2008, former chief executive officer Mike Hagan, former vice president Bryan Janeczko and former chief financial officer James Brown gave between $250 and $2,300. Hagan also donated $1,000 to the International Franchise Association, an industry group.

Current CFO David Clark, meantime, gave $500 to the Republican National Committee.

No donations could be found for the other current executives.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's leadership PAC gave $308,500 to federal candidates last year.

The Next Century Fund, a political action committee affiliated with the Winston-Salem Republican, contributed $212,500 to 25 Senate candidates and $96,000 to 39 House candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. All were Republican.

Several were from North Carolina. Burr gave $5,000 apiece to former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, former Rep. Robin Hayes, Rep. Patrick McHenry and Rep. Sue Myrick.

He also gave $1,000 to Augustus Cho, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination to face Democratic Rep. David Price.

Nationally, Burr's PAC lent a hand to GOP candidates in competitive races, including Sens. John McCain, Norm Coleman and Ted Stevens.

In all, the PAC spent $627,704, including donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the N.C. Republican Party, fundraising and travel expenses and rent.

It ended the year with $126,202 in cash on hand.

Garrett Perdue is not registered as a federal lobbyist.

But lobbying law experts say he doesn't have to — until he has a client.

Under federal law, people who lobby Congress must register with the House Office of the Clerk and the Senate Office of Public Records within 45 days of starting work on behalf of a client.

Neither has a record of Garrett Perdue, son of Gov. Beverly Perdue and a lobbyist with the white-shoe law firm Womble Carlyle.

But Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, said that could mean Perdue does not have any federal clients.

"Unless you have someone you're representing, there's no obligation to register as a lobbyist," he said.

Perdue, who was hired on Feb. 16, will have worked for Womble Carlyle for 45 days tomorrow.

Seven of the state's eight Democratic Congressmen say they have not heard from Perdue. 

Sen. Kay Hagan and Rep. Larry Kissell have more than a few things in common — they're both Democrats, both from North Carolina, both freshmen in Congress.

But they're tilting the opposite scales when it comes to personal financial wealth, Lisa Zagaroli reports.

A new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that Hagan is the seventh-richest freshman in Congress. Kissell is dead last, or 53rd, among the congressional newcomers.

Hagan's net worth is between $4.3 million and $38 million, which puts her average net worth as 33rd among all members of Congress. A former banker, Hagan earned $20,000 in 2007 as a member of the state Senate.

Kissell's combined personal finances fall somewhere between $20,000 and debt of $284,000, according to the reports lawmakers have to fill out which require assets and debts to be reported in wide ranges instead of specific amounts. The former Montgomery County schoolteacher earned $49,000 in 2007.

The richest freshman was Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who built his fortune (between $61 million and $451 million) in the telecommunications business.

Sen. Kay Hagan and Gov. Beverly Perdue will join Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and a handful of other high-powered women at a Democratic pro-choice luncheon Sunday in Washington.

The EMILY's List luncheon is among dozens of events going on this holiday weekend to honor the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and a slate of women who favor abortion rights. Tickets for the luncheon, at the Hilton Washington, sold at a range of $150 to $5,000.

The luncheon also features Obama Cabinet nominees Janet Napolitano and Hilda Solis; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was just elected in New Hampshire.

The political organization works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.

EMILY's List was Hagan's No. 2 contributor in her recent campaign, donating nearly $270,000 to her effort to defeat former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The group also supported Perdue, running an ad in last May’s primary campaign touting her record on child predators.

Lots can be learned from the Center for Responsive Politics' new report on Congress' newest members.

The Washington-based non-profit website offers online campaign databases about every member of Congress, breaking down donations and expenditures and ferreting out details about industry and lobbyist support, Barb Barrett reports.

The group released data today on North Carolina's newest senator, Kay Hagan, who was sworn in Tuesday.

Among the tidbits:

* The website ActBlue was Hagan's top donor. Donations linked to the Democratic website amounted to $1.2 million among Hagan's itemized donations.

* Nearly 40 percent of Hagan's financial support came from out of state. Two states rang up more than $500,000 for her: North Carolina and California. Within North Carolina, her top geographical support came from the Triad — not surprising since Hagan is from Greensboro.

* Hagan received $10,000 each from political action committees representing such groups as steelworkers, airline pilots, teachers, firefighters and Democratic Sens. Mary Landrieu, Tom Carper, Patrick Leahy and Richard Durbin.

Details on Hagan (and all the other new House and Senate members) are available here.

One of North Carolina's most influential lobbying groups gave $23,250 to Sen. Kay Hagan's election campaign, according to new data out from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, a law firm based in Winston-Salem, was the No. 4 donor to her campaign, behind the ideological organizations of Act Blue, EMILY's List and MoveOn.org, Barb Barrett reports.

Womble Carlyle has been slowly building its Washington presence in the past few years and has snagged lobbyists from the likes of Jesse Helms' and Brad Miller's offices. Last year, the law firm began representing Blackwater, the private security contractor based in Moyock.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Womble Carlyle's political action committee donated $1,000 to Hagan's campaign. Individuals affiliated with the law firm gave the rest.

Among Womble Carlyle's other clients are the Iredell Memorial Hospital, Friends of the North Carolina Museum, the N.C. Military Foundation, SAS Institute, the Specialty Tobacco Council and Wake and Mecklenburg counties.

GlaxoSmithKline will no longer give directly to politicians.

The drugmaker announced Monday that it will stop making direct political contributions in about 20 states where they are currently legal. Such giving is illegal in North Carolina and under federal law governing Congressional candidates.

The company gave $585,425 to candidates this year. 

"If this is the company's way of saying they're not interested in getting special access and trying to influence (lawmakers') thinking through money, that's worth applauding," said Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington. "But on a practical basis, this won't make a lot of difference."

The company will continue its lobbying efforts, which it spent $8.2 million on last year, and support a political action committee run by its U.S. workers that gave more than $1.5 million. (N&O)