Rep. Pricey Harrison has asked for an investigation into Blue Cross and Blue Shield's campaign against the public option health care proposal.

Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, has asked the Attorney General and N.C. Department of Insurance to look into whether the insurer violated the state's do-not-call registry with a robocall and whether it is proper for the insurer to use premiums to pay for mailers, reports Mark Binker of the Greensboro News & Record.

"We are a fully taxed medical services and hospital corporation," Borman said, adding that the company paid $162 million in federal, state and local taxes last year.

However, the fact the company paid taxes does not make it a for-profit company, said Adam Searing, a health policy expert with liberal-leaning advocacy group The North Carolina Justice Center.

"They are a nonprofit organization," Searing said. "They are organized under a special part of the nonprofit corporation law in North Carolina. They have a nonprofit board."

The robocalls are coming fast and furious now.

After the jump, a list of recent automated phone calls to North Carolinians based on reader submissions.

As always, send your reports of robocalls to dome@newsobserver.com

   Comments (13)

A Raleigh man says he got a robocall purporting to be from Hillary Clinton.

Van Webb, a Republican who works in the insurance business, says he received an automated call around 8 p.m. with a woman's voice that he took to be Clinton's saying she was endorsing John McCain because of his experience.

Clinton has heartily endorsed Democrat Barack Obama.

Webb said he did not pay much attention to it.

"It was going to sway me one way or the other," he said.

Update: The call uses audio of Clinton from the Democratic primary.

"In the White House there is no time for speeches and on-the-job training. Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign and Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference," she says in the audio.

It was sponsored by the Republican National Committee.

Who will win North Carolina?

As we've said before, anyone who says they know is lying because there are just too many variables at play in the presidential race here.

Below, Dome looks at the arguments for Republican John McCain taking the state on Nov. 4. To see our arguments for Democrat Barack Obama, see this earlier post.

HISTORY: This is a Red State. North Carolina has not gone for a Democrat since 1976. Jimmy Carter was a Southern governor boosted by post-Watergate anger. Bill Clinton's efforts in 1992 were for naught. Neither did well in their second try.

DEMOGRAPHICS: North Carolina is changing, but it's not changed yet. Sure, a lot of Northeasterners have moved here in recent years, but a significant portion of the state's voters are still native conservatives. Maybe in 2012 or 2016, but not now.

RACE: Obama's boost from higher black turnout will be more than offset by the reluctance of a percentage of white voters. Harvey Gantt lost Senate races twice and the most recent black statewide elected official was Ralph Campbell, who lost in 2004.

SUB-ROSA CAMPAIGN: McCain may not have spent as much on TV and radio ads, but his campaign and the Republican National Committee have flooded the state with negative robocalls and mailers. They're not getting the same publicity, but they could work.

PALIN: McCain may not be beloved by socially conservative Democrats, but his running mate is. Sarah Palin's rallies have drawn huge and enthusiastic crowds, and she may bring many of those same folks back to the polling places on Election Day as well.

MILITARY: McCain is a former prisoner of war with a lot of expertise in foreign policy. He's tailor-made for the state's veterans and active-duty service members at Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, not to mention members of the National Guard.

PUNDITS: Democratic political consultant Gary Pearce, Republican consultant Carter Wrenn, and Washington Post analyst Chris Cillizza all say that Obama won't win North Carolina. Most others will only say Obama could win here.

Andy Griffith has also recorded a robocall for Beverly Perdue.

The legendary TV actor has already done two television ads for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in the primary and general elections.

He's also recorded a radio ad endorsing state Senate candidate Kay Carroll.  

Barack Obama is criticizing John McCain's tactics in a new robocall.

In an automated call to North Carolina voters, a supporter of the Democratic presidential candidate accuses McCain of running a "dishonorable campaign."

The call, recorded by WUNC reporter Laura Leslie, features Lenny Julius, an Emerald Isle man who met with Obama backstage before his speech at the Democratic national convention in Denver.

"I used to support John McCain. In fact, I served with him in the Navy," he says. "But this year, he's running a dishonorable campaign. This election should be about policies and ideas, not about vicious personal attacks."

After the jump, the script.

   Comments (0)

A pro-life women's group is making another call for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

The Susan B. Anthony List, a Washington-based advocacy group, asks voters to call Dole to tell her that they appreciate her pro-life record.

"As the only pro-life woman in the entire U.S. Senate, she has been a strong voice for the unborn and has voted against partial-birth abortion and forcing you to pay for abortions with your hard-earned tax dollars," says president Marjorie Dannenfelser in the recording.

The Susan B. Anthony List considers only a dozen female members of Congress to be pro-life, although the National Right to Life Committee and other groups has a broader list.

The group made a previous robocall and sent a mailer on Dole's behalf in early October.

After the jump, the script.

   Comments (0)

A nonprofit group that launched an illegal robocall just before this year's primary election will have to pay $100,000 in penalties, Attorney General Roy Cooper announced Tuesday.

The group, Women's Voices Women Vote, launched the call which told voters they would soon receive voter registration forms in the mail, according to a news release. But the deadline to register for the primary had passed. The call didn't include information about who made the call, so confused voters couldn't get clarification.

Cooper's announcement seemed aimed at those launching their own robocalls now.

"My office takes quick action against robocalls that don't strictly follow the law," Cooper said, adding that he believes robocallers should honor the Do Not Call Registry, which stops telemarkers, but not campaigns from calling. "If you get illegal telemarketing calls, let my office know about it."

Women's Voices Women Vote will pay $100,000 in civil penalties. The money will go to North Carolina schools. The group has agreed to stay out of the election in North Carolina. Before it can resume political activity, it must give Cooper's office a written description of how it would comply with state law.

Cooper said anyone receiving an illegal robocall or telemarketing pitch can call 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.

Update: In a news release, Women's Voices Women Vote said that the group acknoledges it violated the law, but that the calls were meant to encourage participation and that the group's name was mistakenly left off the robocalls.

"It was not our intention that the robocalls or our mailings cause any comfusion as to whether any individual was already registered to vote," Page Gardner, president of the grop said in a news release. "Our effort was squarely aimed at encouraging registration of underrepresented voters in North Carolina for the upcoming general election."

The state GOP defended a mailer that ties Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama with former 1960s radical William Ayers.

"Every word on that mailer is true," said Brent Woodcox, the state GOP spokesman. "William Ayers is a former domestic terrorist who has not shown regret over his crimes. Fact. Mr. Ayers did host a campaign launch event for Senator Obama in Chicago. Fact. Senator Obama and Mr. Ayers know each other and have worked together in the past. Fact. Senator Obama has previously referred to him as a friend."

The Republican flyer was sharply criticized by state Democratic chairman Jerry Meek earlier in the day, saying the ads saying it was "a smear campaign," Rob Christensen reports.

Woodcox said Obama's judgement on the matter is a legitimate issue.

And he denied Meek’s assertion that the flyer tried to mislead by making readers think that comments made about bombing was made by Obama, not Ayers.

"No one would seriously believe that the Democrat candidate for President was involved in the setting of bombs," Woodcox said. "It is delusional paranoia for Chairman Meek to suggest an intent to deceive."

A robocall is praising Barack Obama for his middle-class tax cut.

Paid for by the N.C. Democratic Party and authorized by the Obama campaign, the minute-long automated call features an Eden textile worker named Louis Dishman.

"During this week's debate, Barack Obama talked about cutting taxes for middle-class families like mine, lowering health care costs and bringing the change we need to Washington," he says.

"John McCain ignored the issues and used the debate to launch false attacks against Barack Obama."

He adds that McCain did not say the words "middle class" in any of the three debates.

After the jump, the script.

   Comments (2)