Democratic State Representative Linda Coleman has sponsored legislation to take control of the State Pension Fund away from Treasurer Richard Moore and give it to a fourteen member Board of Trustees. Democratic Representative Bill Faison of Hillsborough and two Republicans – including Rep. Nelson Dollar of Cary – have joined Coleman has co-sponsors of the bill.

For his part Moore – after shaking down the Wall Street money managers he hires to run the pension fund for $736,000 in campaign contributions – isn’t giving up without a fight. He says he doesn’t see any conflict of interest at all between his hiring someone to manage state pension funds one day, then turning around and asking them to contribute to his campaign the next.

When it comes to Moore the Republicans in the State Legislature should take a lesson from the Democrats in Congress. They should scrutinize Moore with the same intensity Democrats have scrutinized Attorney General Gonzales. If they do they may put an end to Richard Moore’s version of pay-to-play.

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