Treasurer Janet Cowell will not give bonuses this year.

Last year, the legislature gave the state treasurer the authority to give performance-based pay bonuses to the chief investment officer and four directors of the state pension plan.

But a sagging economy and sensitivity to other state workers led Cowell to put the program on hold this year, said spokeswoman Kerra Bolton.

The decision follows a similar move last week by the N.C. Banking Commission, which held $200,000 in performance bonuses it had budgeted.

Bolton said that the bonus program helps the state compete with private sector firms for people to make investments., noting that 11 of the 13 largest public pension plans have similar programs.

"This is important because high-performing investment professionals increase the chances for above benchmark performance, save systems substantial sums in external management fees, and help to insure the prudent investment and oversight of  public plan assets," she said in an e-mail to Dome.

Janet Cowell has named her senior staff.

The new state treasurer announced her top aides, including some faces familiar from the campaign trail and state politics.

* Special Assistant: Nick Byrne, deputy finance director for Cowell's campaign and former aide to state Sen. David Hoyle.

* Spokeswoman/Policy Advisor: Kerra Bolton, former newspaper reporter and spokeswoman for the N.C. Democratic Party.

* Chief of Staff: Ron Ottavio, retired Washovia employee and former acting president of the N.C. Free Enterprise Foundation.

* Legislative Liaison: Anthony Solari, former policy analyst for the state's Smart Start program.

* General Counsel/Senior Policy Advisor: Jay Chaudhuri, former special counsel to Attorney General Roy Cooper. 

Tar Heel Democrats are eager to get to Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration and all the parties that will go with it.

But officials with the state Democratic Party say they will have to cool those tar heels for a bit.

Kerra Bolton, a spokeswoman for the state party, says they have received "a ton" of phone calls and e-mails from people seeking information about Obama's inauguration.

But she says none of the details have been worked out for that or for Beverly Perdue's inauguration for governor.

She says folks should check the party's Web site for details, but asked for some understanding about the time it may take.

After all, she pointed out, it's been awhile since a Democratic president had his initial inauguration.

"The last time was 16 years ago," she said.

Update: Bolton warns Democrats against online ticket scams. She urged people to be patient and work through the Obama campaign or the state party to get their tickets.

Another update: Bolton just passed along some additional information that she received this afternoon. Of note:

- The N.C. Democratic Party will not receive an allotment of hotel rooms or tickets. Tickets to the ceremony itself will be primarily distributed by members of Congress and the Obama campaign.

- Receiving an invitation is not the same as receiving a ticket. Just  because you receive an invitation to come to Washington does not mean you have a ticket to get in to some of the events.

- The state party is trying to line up a block of hotel rooms for its folks, but is advising people to seek a room on their own. And they say to be prepared for sticker shock - most hotels are requiring a four-night minimum with rates ranging from $400-700 a night.

N.C. Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Cary Republican, is being hit with a mailer paid for by the N.C. Democratic Party that claims he's no friend to military veterans.

The mailer shows a man with a prosthetic arm — its pincers clasping a small U.S. flag. "He Served With Honor," the ad says. "But Nelson Dollar Cut His Benefits," Dan Kane reports.

Dollar said today that the claim is "patently false."

"The Democrats have used images of our veterans and men and women in uniform in a way that is disrespectful of their service to our nation," Dollar said in a news release. "These mailers fail to cite any bills or votes to back up their claims and I can assure you in my four years in the House no bill has reached the Floor which would 'slash any veteran's benefits.'"

He cited several bills that he supported that helped veterans and the military, including a property tax break for disabled veterans that was included in this year's state budget.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton said the party stands by the mailer.

She cited his vote against the previous year's budget, which included money for programs and services that benefit military families and help foster economic development in military communities, but she did not mention anything that amounted to a cut in veterans' benefits.

More after the jump.

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The N.C. Democratic Party will hold its annual Vance-Aycock Dinner on Oct. 4.

The annual dinner, held in Asheville, is one of two major fundraisers held each year and often draws major national politicians and consultants to North Carolina. Past speakers have included current vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.

It drew some controversy last year as well when a Republican group threatened to protest over its naming for former governors Zebulon Vance and Charles Brantley Aycock. Then Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Moore also said the name should be changed.

In response, Democratic Party chairman Jerry Meek appointed a special task force earlier this year to look into alternative names for the dinner.

"The task force met in June and was unable to come to a consensus on what the new name should be," wrote party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton in an e-mail to Dome.

She said the task force will continue its work and make a report next February. 

The N.C. Democratic Party has canceled a proposed presidential debate.

The party had scheduled a debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on Sunday, April 27, with CBS News anchor Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer to moderate and N.C. State University to cosponsor.

Clinton agreed, but Obama did not commit to the debate. Several top state Democrats pressured Obama to accept the debate and 10,000 people signed up for tickets at the party's Web site.

In a press release, party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton said that "time constraints and logistical issues" were partly to blame and alluded to a much-criticized debate in Pennsylvania last week.

"While there was great interest in the debate, there were also growing concerns about what another debate would do to party unity," she said in a statement.

She said both candidates have committed to attending the party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Raleigh on Friday, May 2.

Mike Gravel gets to have his cake and eat it too in North Carolina.

The former senator will come to Hickory this weekend to attend the N.C. Libertarian Party's convention. He is currently running for the party's nomination for president.

On May 6, he'll also be on the ballot — as a candidate for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic Party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton said there's nothing the party can do about the double-booking.

"We have consulted with the State Board of Elections and it is our understanding that current state law does not give the State Board flexibility to remove Mike Gravel from the ballot at this time," she wrote in an e-mail to Dome.

Debates don't work as a solo act.

That's why reports this week of a N.C. Democratic presidential debate quickly fell flat when it became clear that Sen. Hillary Clinton had not signed on.

On top of those mixed signals, N.C. First Lady Mary Easley is trying to get a piece of the debate action for her employer, according to campaign officials. She is involved in an effort to get the debate held at N.C. State University, where she teaches law-related courses, Mark Johnson reports.

A Raleigh TV station's Web site reported the debate as a done deal Thursday evening with details, such as the date (April 19), the host (CBS) and moderators (CBS' Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer.)

The story noted, though, that while Obama's team had agreed, Clinton's had not.

"The date presented a logistical problem because it was right before the Pennsylvania primary (on April 22)," sad Kerra Bolton, spokeswoman for the N.C. Democratic Party. "You often have (a situation) where one candidate agrees to one debate and another candidate agrees to another debate and they have to work out the details. That's what you see here."

The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner could be a big hit this year.

The N.C. Democratic Party's annual fundraiser in Raleigh usually features a national political figure to draw party activists from across the state.

Last year, it was Rahm Emanuel. This year?

Let's put it this way: The dinner will be held at the Raleigh Sheraton on April 26. The state primary will be on May 6. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton say they will be campaigning heavily here.

And in other states, Jefferson-Jackson dinners have been huge magnets for the Democratic presidential candidates to court primary voters.

Party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton confirmed that both campaigns have been asked, but neither has confirmed yet.

Someone in the state auditor's office has been reading the Democratic Party Web site.

According to server logs released by the state party today, a computer in the state auditor's department has been used to check the Web site 217 times in the past six months, making him one of the top 40 visitors in that time period.

"The state auditor's office should not use state resources for political purposes," said Democratic Party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton.

Auditor Les Merritt, a Republican in his first term, is running for re-election. One of his former employees, Beth Wood, is running for the Democratic nomination for auditor. 

Bolton said that one of the auditor's computers was used to look at sections of the Web site dedicated to Wood, her fundraising efforts and the Democratic Women of North Carolina. 

In response, Merritt said he reminds his staff routinely not to use state resources for political activity. He also questioned the timing of the release, noting that his office is investigating Democratic gubernatorial candidates Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue for using state resources on political activity.

"It is possible that the Democratic Party's press release is an attempt to blunt findings that might be part of a subsequent report," he said in a statement. 

The statement was the first confirmation that Merritt's office is investigating Perdue and Moore. The two candidates requested investigations of each other's offices in September.