Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger fires off the traditional Republican criticisms of the Democrats running the state as taxing too much, spending too much and holding office too long.

But he adds to that: messing up too much. Berger, who sat down with N&O editors Tuesday, rolled out his list of Democratic bumbling, such as a string of state officials, including a speaker of the House, sent to prison for corruption.

He highlights the state health plan's financial crisis that required a bailout, deaths and neglect in the mental health system, a probation system that lost track of parolees who went on to kill and what he sees as a history of budget mismanagement that has contributed to the state's current debacle.

"The Democrats have been given a pass on competence," Berger said. "They've not done a very good job over the past 10 or 12 years."

Berger acknowledged that, given that backdrop, Republicans fail to capitalize on those failings and win elections. He attributes that to a fundraising disparity, Democrats nominating solid candidates and national momentum behind Democrats in recent elections.

* An anti-torture coalition is seeking to disbar Davidson College graduate William J. Haynes II, among others, for Bush-administration memos.

* The anonymous backer of a "Draft Coop" blog tries to determine who he should support now that Attorney General Roy Cooper is out of the Senate race.

* Between opening day and the crossover deadline, 303 Senate bills and 424 House bills passed, including substanial numbers during crossover week itself.

* It will be tricky for Democrats to replace U.S. Attorney George Holding in the middle of an investigation into former Gov. Mike Easley. 

The N.C. Assocation of Educators hired a former aide to Gov. Mike Easley as its executive director.

Scott Anderson, who went to work for the National Education Association after he left Easley's office, was caught up in the lottery scandal and former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings 2006 fraud trial, Lynn Bonner reports.

Sheri Strickland, NCAE president, said she thoroughly checked into Anderson's involvement with Geddings and the lottery and shared everything she found with the NCAE search committee.

"The legal and ethical implications were vetted through NEA at the time," Strickland said, and she found nothing about Anderson's involvement that would disqualify him from holding the NCAE job.

NCAE had 166 applications for the job, Strickland said, and Anderson stood out for his knowledge of the state and his work for Easley.  NCAE signed Anderson to a two-year contract. He started work March 1.

More after the jump.

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Dan Gearino thinks a USA Today ranking misses North Carolina's corruption.

The conservative blogger notes the newspaper's recent attempt to rank state corruption by comparing population with the number of corruption convictions won by federal prosecutors from 1998 to 2007.

With 179 convictions and a population of nine million, North Carolina came out in the bottom third.

North Carolina had 2 convictions per 100,000 people, a lower ratio than all but 16 other states. My problem is that we don't get credit for the quality of our political crooks. North Carolina's corruption is top-shelf stuff, and we’re not getting recognized for it.

He notes, for example, that disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black went to prison for accepting bribes in public bathrooms.

"By my reckoning, one House speaker selling out the integrity of the state in toilet stalls is worth ten small-town councilmen who get caught fixing traffic tickets or trading votes on zoning matters in return for Caribbean vacations," he writes.

Sen.-elect Kay Hagan is on the hunt for a U.S. attorney.

The Greensboro Democrat will have an unofficial but influential role in picking the three federal prosecutors for North Carolina sometime next year.

The prosecutors have played a key role in bringing down a state agriculture commissioner, the speaker of the state House, a congressman and a lottery commissioner, all Democrats.

Some Republicans fear the new U.S. attorneys won't focus as much on corruption.

In a recent interview, Hagan said she had received a number of calls, recommendations and resumes but not made any decisions about the appointment.

Corruption cases are only a fraction of the workload, but the office has special powers, including larger budgets and more powerful grand juries, that allow it to tackle them more effectively. (N&O) 

If the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District were a hunter, he'd have some nice trophies.

Over the past eight years, federal prosecutors based in Raleigh have taken down some big Democratic game as part of their anti-corruption efforts.

A short list:

Meg Scott Phipps. The former Agriculture commissioner spent three years in prison for fraud and extortion over inappropriate use of campaign funds.

Jim Black. The former longtime speaker of the N.C. House is serving time for taking $29,000 in bribes from chiropractors who wanted him to push legislation.

Michael Decker. The former state representative is serving time for taking more than $63,000 in cash and campaign checks from Black to switch parties.

Frank Ballance. The former Congressman is serving time for diverting $100,000 in public money he helped direct to a nonprofit to his law firm, church and family.

Garey Ballance. The son of Rep. Ballance, a Democratic district court judge, served time for failing to report money he received from his father to buy a Lincoln Navigator.

Kevin Geddings. The former state lottery commissioner is serving time for failing to disclose that he worked for a lottery vendor when he took his seat.

The U.S. attorney's office may have also helped investigate former Rep. Thomas Wright, who was found guilty in state courts of improperly spending campaign donations, though it has never confirmed or denied the assistance.

Not all of their targets were Democrats, either. Federal prosecutors also put former state GOP chairman and former U.S. attorney Sam Currin in prison for laundering money for a client.

Public corruption cases got the headlines, but they were a small percentage of the work.

A year-end review of casework at the Eastern District U.S. attorney's office based in Raleigh shows that white-collar crime and drugs were the biggest focuses.

Here's a breakdown:

20 percent: White-collar crime such as bank, securities and stock fraud

19 percent: Organized drug crimes

11 percent: Project Safe Neighborhoods, which focuses on felons possessing firearms

3 percent: Project Safe Childhood, which focuses on child exploitation

3 percent: Public corruption

U.S. Attorney George Holding told Dome that the bulk of the corruption work last year was spent on cases involving the sheriffs of Brunswick and Robeson counties.

Pat McCrory wants investigative grand juries to investigate political corruption.

The Charlotte mayor and Republican nominee for governor released a slate of proposals designed to curb corruption. McCrory's announcement sought to tie recent scandals that have involved prominent Democrats to Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor.

McCrory said in the news release that federal prosecutors have had more success in bringing corruption charges because they can force witnesses to testify to grand juries.

"We must clean up our own state government and not continue to depend on federal courts to do our work," McCrory said in a news release.

In state courts, grand juries typically hear evidence presented by law enforcement officials and decide whether to a case should proceed. McCrory's proposal would give state and Wake County prosecutors the ability to call grand juries that could investigate allegations of corruption.

Attorney General Roy Cooper has supported allowing investigative grand juries and proposals to allow them have died in the legislature.

More proposals after the jump.

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Two men have been charged in a bribery scheme involving an ethanol business and an official in the state's environmental regulatory agency.

Federal indictments against David Lee Brady, 75, of Raleigh and James Albert Perry Jr., 62, of Wake Forest were unsealed Tuesday. The men were among a group who formed a company called Agri-Ethanol Products of Raleigh. The company planned to build a $220 million ethanol plant in Eastern North Carolina. That plant was never built.

A former state offficial, Boyce Allen Hudson, has already pleaded guilty in the case. Hudson, a former official with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, admitted that he agreed to try to ensure smooth environmental permitting for the company in exchange for a $196,000 consulting contract.

Brady and Perry appeared in federal court in handcuffs for an arraignment before U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle. Brady's bail was set at $50,000 and Perry's was set at $25,000. The men will not be held in jail while they await resolution of the cases.

The men are each charged with extortion, conspiracy and bribery. Brady also faces three counts of perjury and one count of making a false statement to federal agents. Perry is charged with two counts of perjury.

State officials dispute that Hudson had any direct influence over the permitting process.

Boyce Allen Hudson, who worked for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, pleaded guilty to the charges in May and agreed to aid an ongoing federal investigation.

In addition to his prison and probation, Hudson was ordered by U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle to pay $35,000 in fines and $15,000 in restitution to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Hudson, 67, admitted that in 2004 he offered to guarantee a permit for Agri-Ethanol Products of Raleigh in exchange for $100,000 in cash and a consulting contract worth as much as another $108,000.

State officials have disputed the level of influence Hudson would have had over permitting.