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Sen. Richard Burr has been called out by liberal bloggers as one of the senators who might be holding up confirmation of Rep. Hilda Solis as President Barack Obama's labor secretary.

Solis, a California Democrat, is not a favorite of GOP senators, according to the bloggers' theory, because she favors two union-friendly provisions. One, for example, would switch union organizing elections from secret ballot to a card-check system that is conducted in the open.

The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, has alleged that a Republican senator is threatening to use a parliamentary hold on the nomination, effectively blockingthe Senate's confirmation effort.

McCaskill didn't name who that Republican might be, so some liberal bloggers have been trying to figure out who might have been wielding the candlestick in the library. Some have merely put Burr on a list of suspects, while others make the case for Burr as a figure standing in the way.

Someone "with a distinctly Oklahoma drawl has leaked it that the evildoer this time is North Carolina corporate shill Richard Burr," writes a blogger at Down with Tyranny.

Burr's office says the senator isn't doing anything to hold up the nomination, which can't technically be "held" yet since it hasn't cleared committee.

"Sen. Burr is not one to hold up these nominations," said his spokesman Chris Walker. "It's nothing that's being held up from us."

Walker said it is his understanding that the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee is waiting for written material from Solis.

N.C. groups lobby in D.C.

Having a meeting with your friendly local congressman is not the only way to push your agenda on Capitol Hill. Plenty of North Carolina governments and companies have hired lobbyists to help bring home federal tax dollars and negotiate regulatory changes.

According to The Center for Responsible Politics, a nonprofit group that tracks the influence of Money in Washington, the following are among the Tar Heel groups that spent money to make money in 2008:

• City of High Point, $120,000 to the Fergusson Group.
• The UNC system, $450,000 to four lobbying firms.
• RF Micro Devices, $160,000 to Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
• Electricities, $80,000 to Robert Talley.

It's worth noting that that kind of spending doesn't rank high in the world of Washington lobbying. Big spenders include groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which put $461.5 million into federal lobbying efforts, and insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield, which paid out $111.2 million in lobbying fees, according to the center.

"It's virtually impossible for a city to sit out in one of the states and have any effective voice without someone representing us," said High Point City Manager Strib Boynton.

The money paid out to the Fergusson Group since 2004 has come back to the city many times over - to the tune of $25 million in appropriations - Boynton said. That doesn't count the help High Point gets negotiating with federal regulators.

UNC system spokeswoman Joni Worthington said, "About 80 percent of our expense is related to personnel, including two full-time employees who deal with nothing but federal relations."

The $450,000 includes work done on behalf of all the campuses, including UNCG and A&T. When asked what the objectives of UNC's lobbying effort might be, Worthington ticked off a list:

"Making sure North Carolina students get as much federal financial aid as possible, working to attract grants and research dollars ... there are various types of economic development-type projects that involve multiple campuses."

Burr targeted by ads

Liberal groups will target 13 Republican senators, including Burr, with radio and television ads calling on them to support Obama's economic stimulus package. Among the groups bankrolling the ads are MoveOn.org and Americans United for Change.

In Burr's case, a radio ad scheduled to air on WSJS in Winston-Salem notes that all House Republicans voted against the plan and suggests that GOP representatives were following the orders of conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh.

"Will our senator, Richard Burr, side with Rush Limbaugh, too?" intones a narrators with a clip of Limbaugh declaring, "I hope he fails!"

The narrator picks up again, "Or will he reject the partisanship and failed economic policies of the past and stand up for the people of North Carolina?"

For the record, Senate Republicans are seeking changes to the stimulus bill, looking to take out things they say won't stimulate the economy or represent permanent increases in spending.

Burr shipped to Gitmo

One more item on Burr: He was one of four Republican Senators to take a day trip down to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. They looked at conditions there as the Obama administration prepares to shutter the controversial prison.

"From my visit today, it appears to me that everything from the design of the facilities to the detailed operating procedures of the guard force ... is well thought out and in keeping with our Nation's highest ideals," Burr wrote on his official Web site after the trip.

Votes

Among the votes that local congressional delegation members took during the past week:

lThe Senate confirmed the appointment of Eric Holder to be attorney general Monday night on a 75-21 vote. His nomination was held up because Republicans questioned his roles in pardons issued at the end for President Bill Clinton's administration. Burr voted no; Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, voted yes.

lThe Senate voted 66-32-1 to pass SCHIP, the health insurance program funded in part by the federal government but run by the states.

Hagan voted for the bill despite having misgivings about how it is funded: It relies on a tobacco tax increase from 39 cents to $1 per pack of cigarettes.

Burr voted against the bill. It has passed the House and is backed by Obama.

lThe House voted 250-177-6 in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill designed to overturn a recent Supreme Court decision and give workers more time to sue in pay discrimination cases.

Reps. Howard Coble and Virginia Foxx, both Republicans, voted against the bill. Reps. Brad Miller and Mel Watt, both Democrats, voted in favor.

lThe House backed Obama's economic stimulus plan on a 244-188-1 vote, with all Republicans - including Coble and Foxx - siding against the bill. Reps. Miller and Watt voted in favor but their Democratic colleague, Rep. Heath Shuler from western North Carolina, voted against.

lThe House rejected an effort to delay the transition date to digital television. Those who receive television signals through the air will need a converter box to continue watching television after Feb. 17.

A two-thirds vote of the House was needed to postpone the date during a vote last week. Therefore, the measure failed despite members supporting it on a vote of 257-168-6. Coble and Foxx voted against; Miller and Watt voted for it.

The bill is due to get a second look this week and possibly another House vote Wednesday.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com