National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brian Walsh said the organization will not say who attended Monday night’s health care roundtable and dinner at Washington, D.C., steakhouse, where U.S. Sen. Richard Burr was a featured speaker.

"We don’t release names of those who attend private events," Walsh said, adding that the NRSC will disclose its contributors as required under federal campaign law.

"This policy is no different than countless fund-raisers by President Obama," Walsh said.

Burr, who sits on the Senate health committee, was one of three GOP senators who spoke on behalf of the NRSC fund-raiser Monday night, Barb Barrett reports.

For checks of $2,000 per political action committee, up to 35 attendees were offered seats at a "Roundtable on Healthcare Issues" at Charlie Palmer’s steakhouse. A more exclusive group of 20 could stay for dinner at a cost of $5,000, according to the invitation posted by the Sunlight Foundation.

Also speaking were Republican U.S. Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, and Mike Enzi of Wyoming, who sits on both committees.

Burr’s campaign consultant earlier said the Burr campaign had no details about who attended the NRSC event.

A blogger at Huffington Post tried to crash the event but was prevented access. He did, however, chat with a representative of the American Staffing Association and a hospital CEO from Texas. 

Mike Easley's plugging early college on the Huffington Post.

In a column in the liberal Web site today, the former governor cites his Learn and Earn programs as models for the rest of the country.

Early college high schools in North Carolina and across the country show us that challenge — not remediation — is an approach to education that works. The opportunity to earn free college credit is a powerful invitation for every student and parent, especially during these hard economic times.

We can't afford to see college as an option or a luxury for some; it has to be our goal for all. Early college represents the kind of innovation that other states and the Federal government should look to as we work to improve dramatically the preparation of young people for the demands of skilled careers in today's economy.

Previously: Easley to promote early college for Gates Foundation.

BURR BURNED: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr doesn't have a Democratic opponent yet — unless you count left-leaning commentators. After the Winston-Salem Republican said he told his wife to take money out of the ATM during last fall's banking crisis, he was criticized by liberal talk show hosts Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann and took heat from the Huffington Post.

BUDGET SIMMERS: The U.S. Senate was once described as the saucer used to cool hot bills from the House. It's apparently the other way in the state legislature, where chief budget writer Rep. Mickey Michaux said he'll take his time going over the budget bill rushed over from the Senate last week. Check back next week.

TAX DAY: Thousands of protesters gathered across North Carolina on Wednesday to protest the bank bailouts and the size of the federal budget. The so-called Tea Party protests were tied to the date federal income taxes are due. Meantime, the state Department of Revenue said it was running a few weeks behind in sending out tax refunds.

IN OTHER NEWS: A group of Republicans started Carolina Strategy Group to poll voters on state issues and work with business clients. ... Former Congressman and illegal immigration opponent Tom Tancredo was driven out of UNC-Chapel Hill by angry protesters. ... The state House narrowly approved a bill adding a comprehensive sex education option to public schools and passed a major fix to the State Health Plan that will reduce benefits for state workers.

The 2010 Senate race is heating up.

Drawing on recent remarks made by Sen. Richard Burr, the left-leaning Web site Huffington Post has posted a banner headline on its home page: "The senator who wants a run on banks."

It also features a less-than-complimentary photo of Burr, though it does not mention his name, party affiliation or state.

Update: N.C. Democratic Party chairman David Young will appear on "The Rachel Maddow Show," a liberal talk show on MSNBC, to talk about the flap.

Producers had also tried to book former Gov. Mike Easley.

On this much everyone agrees: U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is a rock star.

Former secretary of labor and transportation. Former head of the American Red Cross. Wife of former presidential candidate. First female senator in North Carolina. Household name.

But as "Behind the Music" showed, sometimes being a rock star is not a good thing.

Consider the furor that erupted across the Internet yesterday when Dole attempted to rename an AIDS bill after Sen. Jesse Helms, starting with the Huffington Post and making its way across countless liberal blogs to MSNBC's Keith Olbermann.

Some of that is lingering liberal anger over Helms. (Dome still gets a handful of e-mails a day from supporters of that guy who resigned over lowering the flag.) But the story also made the rounds because it was linked to Dole, another familiar name.

It's not easy to get the rank-and-file invested in a Senate race in a far-off state, but it happens. Consider the 2006 elections, when Virginia Sen. George Allen, something of a frontrunner-in-waiting for the Republican presidential nomination, became Target No. 1.

Now look at the other incumbent Republicans up for re-election this year: Sens. Pat Roberts, Roger Wicker, Gordon Smith, Ted Stevens, Susan Collins, John Cornyn and Jim Inhofe. None are as well-known as Dole.

With the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sending a $6 million signal that it considers North Carolina in play, a lot of Democrats in New York and California are going to start daydreaming about taking down another rock star. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole tried to name an AIDS bill after former Sen. Jesse Helms.

The Salisbury Republican introduced an amendment to add Helms' name to the title of a $50 billion bill to combat AIDS as well as malaria and tuberculosis in Africa. The amendment never came up for a vote.

Helms went through a personal evolution on AIDS policy.

As a deeply conservative senator, he often drew the ire of gay activists for opposing needle exchanges and saying that all AIDS cases could be traced to sodomy. Late in his Senate career, he changed his view on foreign relief programs and teamed with Irirsh rock star Bonot to work on AIDS relief.

After the Huffington Post reported on the amendment attempt, word spread through the blogosphere, with many citing Helms' quotes and record on AIDS policy.

A Dole spokesman said the amendment wasn't considered because it was introduced too late. (N&O)