THE ANTI-CZAR CZAR: Rep. Patrick McHenry helped Republicans rail against President Barack Obama's "czars," which he says are making huge decisions and should be confirmed by the Senate. Democrats were quick to mention that a few years ago, McHenry met with President George W. Bush's drug czar. It may be time to appoint a special czar to sort out this czar mess.

CHEF U: The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law has sued the state over its support for Johnson & Wales University, a private culinary and hospitality school in Charlotte. The center says the $10 million promised by then-House Speaker Jim Black amounted to little more than a patronage gift from Black, who went onto to federal prison fame. The school will argue that educating students is a public purpose. Dome expects testimony to focus on proper hollandaise preparation techniques. The case is a real potboiler.

BREAKER, BREAKER: A last-minute letter from Gov. Beverly Perdue sure got the attention of the N.C. Building Code Council, which voted to keep a special circuit breaker in the building codes.

IN OTHER NEWS: The real "Norma Rae" has died. Former Treasurer Richard Moore has taken a gig at a San Diego investment firm. An appeals court ruled that former Gov. Mike Easley was wrong to borrow highway money to shore up the state's finances.

The Democratic Party is blasting U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry's war against czars.

"McHenry's hypocrisy is astounding," said Joanne Peters, a regional press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. "Most telling of the credibility of these attacks is that they come from the same Republican party that didn't utter a peep about the 47 documented czars in the Bush administration."

In 2006, McHenry met with President George W. Bush's drug czar, the DNC notes. Bush's czars included a Katrina czar and a food safety czar.

Counting official "czars" is an inexact science because "czar" is not always part of the job formal job title. Some who have been called "czar" are subject to Senate confirmation, which is what McHenry said he is seeking for President Barack Obama's czars. A Washington Post story said that presidents as far back as Calvin Coolidge gave special powers to officials to handle disasters.

Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed a host of special advisers to coordinate policy to combat the Great Depression. Richard M. Nixon named a drug czar and an energy czar, and George W. Bush named czars to coordinate policy efforts on a range of issues. By one count, Bush had 36 czar positions filled by 46 people during his eight years as president.

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry says President Barack Obama's "czars" should have to testify before Congress.

It's one of the hot issues of the moment among conservatives — that Obama has appointed dozens of special advisors, known as czars in Obama's and previous administrations.

The complaint is that Congress has no confirmation authority as it does with cabinet members. Other presidents have appointed czars, but Obama's trouble McHenry, a Cherryville Republican.

"It's apparent they seem to be making some big decisions," McHenry said last week on Fox News. "The Obama administration has done what previous administrations have done, but they've done it in a much wider way."

Obama's "green jobs" czar, Van Jones, resigned over the Labor Day weekend after reports linked him to efforts several years ago suggesting a U.S. government role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, says Jones highlights the need to reign in the czars.

"As the recent dust-up over President Obama’s green jobs czar shows, transparency and accountability matter," Foxx said in a statement. "I believe that every President should be advised by the best and brightest our country has to offer. But I am concerned that the proliferation of unaccountable czars threatens to undermine our system of checks and balances."