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.

Some staff changes were announced this week.

Colleen Flanagan, press secretary for U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, will leave to serve as communications director for the Democratic Party in her home state of Connecticut.

Meantime, Rep. Bob Etheridge has hired a new press secretary, Don Owens.

Owens previously worked as a legislative assistant for Rep. David Price and as director of public affairs for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

A North Carolina native, he formerly lived in Raleigh and is a graduate of Elon University.

He replaces Joanne Peters, who now works for the Democratic National Committee.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge's spokeswoman is leaving.

Tomorrow is the last day for Joanne Peters, who has served as press secretary for the Lillington Democrat for the past four years.

She will start work on Wednesday as the regional press secretary for the South for the Democratic National Committee.

Etheridge has not named a replacement yet. 

How much has Garrett Perdue lobbied Congress?

Although his job description mentions Congressional lobbying, the son of Gov. Beverly Perdue is not registered as a federal lobbyist for any clients.

In addition, all eight Democratic members of the state's delegation say they have not heard from him yet:

Rep. David Price: "The office does not have a record of a meeting with Garrett Perdue," said spokesman Phil Feagan.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield: "As far as we can tell, Garrett Perdue has not lobbied Butterfield's office," said spokesman Ken Willis.

Rep. Larry Kissell: "Garrett Perdue has not called or contacted any of our people," said spokeswoman Brianna Atkins.

Rep. Mike McIntyre: "No contact from Garrett Perdue has been made to our office that I'm aware of," said spokesman Dean Mitchell.

Rep. Bob Etheridge: "Rep. Etheridge's office does not have a record of Garrett Perdue contacting the office for a meeting," said spokeswoman Joanne Peters.

Rep. Heath Shuler: "As far as everyone in my office knows, we have not had any contact with Garrett Perdue. I actually had to tell a few people who he was," said spokesman Andrew Whalen.

Update: Rep. Mel Watt: "To our knowledge, (Watt's) never spoken with the guy," said spokesman Corey Little.

Second Update: Rep. Brad Miller: "He hasn't come by the Congressman's office yet, but the Congressmanhas known him for some time and would welcome him," said spokeswoman LuAnn Canipe. 

So what is Congressman Etheridge's first name?

Dome and the rest of the capital press corps typically refer to the Lillington Democrat as "U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge."

But the Washington Post repeatedly refers to him as "Bobby Etheridge."

Given the Post's reputation for accuracy, we naturally became concerned and went to the source — or close to it.

Spokeswoman Joanne Peters said Etheridge's first name is actually "Bobby," and he went by it when he was younger. Though he now goes by "Bob," he doesn't mind if people use the more casual form.

Nexis seems to prefer Bob. Only 351 references to "Bobby Etheridge" could be found in the archives of state newspapers, while 2,619 came back with "Bob Etheridge." 

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge's school construction proposal has been restored to the stimulus package.

The original House bill included the Lillington Democrat's long-standing proposal to give tax credits that would allow local schools to get zero-interest bonds for construction and renovation projects.

The amount of bonds that would be provided by the credits was cut in the Senate version from $25 billion to $13 billion. But it has been restored to the full amount, said Etheridge spokeswoman Joanne Peters.

The final version of the bill still has to be approved, but Peters said Etheridge was feeling confident the credits will be included.

"He's very optimistic that the bill will be passed by both chambers and signed by President Obama," she said. 

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge still hasn't decided.

Spokeswoman Joanne Peters said the Lillington Democrat isn't sure how to distribute his tickes to Barack Obama's inauguration in January.

"Due to the overwhelming demand, Rep. Etheridge has not yet decided how to distribute tickets to the Inauguration," she wrote in an e-mail to Dome.

She added that people can come to Washington anyway.

"A ticket is not required to view the ceremony from the National Mall or to watch the parade, and Rep. Etheridge strongly encourages anyone unable to receive a ticket to consider these options," she wrote.

Drought relief is heading toward North Carolina.

Language in the $500 billion spending bill passed by Congress this week guarantees that farmers hit by the Southeast drought will receive disaster funding. The language, pushed hard by U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, extends the disaster deadline up to Dec. 31 of this year, Barb Barrett reports.

There is no specific funding in the bill, but the congressional budget office pegged the disaster relief at about $600 million, said Etheridge’s spokeswoman, Joanne Peters.

Etheridge tried in September to get President Bush to ask for drought funding in the president’s emegency spending request, but the money wasn’t included. Etheridge then organized a Capitol Hill hearing on the drought, bringing up Gov. Mike Easley to testify.

Wednesday night, Etheridge spoke on the House floor about the drought, urging colleagues to support the spending bill so farmers can get relief.

Bush is expected to sign the bill.