Senator Richard Burr

He might not be running for election this cycle, but Richard Burr is already getting a look at the work he has ahead of him for his 2010 re-election bid. A recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling showed that Burr is not only enjoying devastatingly low approval ratings (27%), most voters(46%) don't really know how they feel about him.

Wow. He's been in office four years and he hasn't made enough of an impact on the voters in North Carolina for them to know how they feel about him. Ouch.

Republican Senator Richard Burr would rather sell out low income students than say no to his special interest friends in Washington.

Burr is a primary sponsor of a measure that reduces by several billion dollars the money that low-income students receive in federal Pell grants. The neediest of students would lose about an average of $300 in increased scholarship aid under Burr’s proposal.

That’s remarkable considering that 147,095 North Carolina students received Pell Grants totaling more than $365.8 million during the 2005-2006 school year. (US Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/finaid/prof/resources/data/pell-2005-06/table-22-2005-06.xls)

What would make Burr sell out his own constituents?

Local members of MoveOn held a rally today to counter the proposed Republican filibuster blocking a vote to withdraw U.S. combat forces out of Iraq by next spring.

The “counter filibuster” rally took place today at the corner of Otis Street and Patton Avenue in front of the Federal Building, where Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has an office.

At issue is a piece of proposed legislation that would require President Bush to begin bringing the troops home within the next 120 days and complete the task by April 2008.

According to a news release from MoveOn, members will read letters from Iraq war veterans and their families that call on Congress to bring the troops home soon.

The US Senate this week passed legislation to allow for the importation of prescription drugs. The vote was 63 to 28. Senator Richard Burr voted against it.