Carolina Politics Online

Citizens Against Government Waste has for years tracked the spending of our government and combed through every dollar spent to report back to the public the yearly waste that occurs with our tax dollars.  We are now almost half way through 2009 (how time does fly) and they have already compiled a sizable list of wasteful pork spending by the Federal government and our representatives in North and South Carolina haven’t been thrifty to say the least.

Here is summary of CAGW’s report.

The fiscal year 2009 appropriations process was unique as three of the appropriations bills (Defense, Homeland Security and Military Construction) were passed and signed on September 30, 2008 under a different Congress and President.  But the change in control in the White House did not change the culture of corruption that surrounds pork-barrel spending.

In fiscal year 2009, Congress stuffed 10,160 projects into the 12 appropriations bills worth $19.6 billion.  The projects represent a  12.5 percent decrease from the 11,610 projects in fiscal year 2008.  The $19.6 billion is a 14 percent increase over the fiscal year 2008 total of $17.2 billion, belying claims of reduced spending.  Total pork identified by CAGW since 1991 adds up to $290 billion.

The 341 projects, totaling $4.2 billion, in this year’s Congressional Pig Book Summary symbolize the most egregious and blatant examples of pork.  As in previous years, all of the items in the Congressional Pig Book Summary meet at least one of CAGW’s seven criteria, but most satisfy at least two:

• Requested by only one chamber of Congress;
• Not specifically authorized;
• Not competitively awarded;
• Not requested by the President;
• Greatly exceeds the President’s budget request or the previous year’s funding;
• Not the subject of congressional hearings; or
• Serves only a local or special interest.

And here is the specific waste requested by some of our North Carolina and South Carolina representatives:

From Congressman David Price (D-NC-04)

$2,000,000 for textile research by House appropriator David Price (D-N.C.):  $1,000,000 for the Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation in Cary and $1,000,000 for North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

and

$167,000 by House appropriator David Price (D-N.C.) for the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill for a digitization project.  The Center is currently planning a renovation and expansion so, on March 3, the planetarium’s Director of External Relations Jeff Hill tried to argue for funding for the project, saying it could create jobs.  Hill wrote, “This project could result in jobs today as well as support science education across the state that could result in jobs tomorrow. … We’re sensitive to the economic situation, appreciative of the support that we receive from all quarters and ready to put people to work if and when this capital project receives funding.”  While there is much skepticism that the expansion will create many jobs, a digitization project will be temporary and create fewer jobs.

From former Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)

$475,750 by then-Senator Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) for the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR).  According to NCCAR’s website, “NCCAR is uniquely positioned to meet the demanding research and testing challenges of the automotive industry.”  A March 11, 2009 Charlotte Observer article noted that Concord, N.C.-based Speedway Motorsports, which owns seven major tracks, “reported a 2008 profit of about $80 million, more than double its 2007 profit of $38.4 million.  Its fourth-quarter loss was about $4.9 million, compared with a $20.2 million loss a year earlier.”

From Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)

$11,600,000 by Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.) for a chapel at Fort Bragg

From Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

$2,135,000 for six projects for trade centers funded through the SBA by Senate Financial Services Appropriations Subcommittee member Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Senate appropriator Robert Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)

and

$27,820,000 for three projects funding fitness centers:  $11,580,000 by Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) for a fitness center at Naval Air Station Kingsville; $9,900,000 by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) for a physical fitness center at Shaw Air Force Base

From Congressman John Spratt (D-SC-05)

$175,000 by Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) under the Save America’s Treasures program for the Winnsboro Historic Clock Building.  On March 5, 2008, Rep. Spratt led his fellow House Budget Committee Democrats in voting unanimously to defeat a Republican amendment to place a moratorium on earmarks for the 110 Congress.

and

$27,820,000 for three projects funding fitness centers:  $11,580,000 by Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) for a fitness center at Naval Air Station Kingsville; $9,900,000 by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) for a physical fitness center at Shaw Air Force Base

Bear in mind that these are only the most egregious.  As the year goes on they will most certainly be adding to the list.

It was the most memorable ad of North Carolina’s 2008 U.S. Senate race, and one of the most notorious of any year.

The “godless” ad that Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole ran in the final week of the campaign is “near the top of the list” of the year’s most outrageous ads, says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.

Now Dole’s campaign manager concedes the ad was a desperation move by a campaign that knew it was losing. Marty Ryall’s new cover story in Politics magazine is headlined: “Our Hail Mary Pass: Why we ran the Godless ad and what I’d do differently.”

The Charlotte Observer

I read the Politics Magazine piece. Ryall puts a lot of blame on Obama’s decision to focus on N.C., which is a legitimate point. He also notes, somewhat in passing, that Dole never really connected with the state during her 6 years as Senator. That, I think, is the biggest reason she lost. Here’s a link to it. It’s an interesting read into what goes on behind-the-scenes in a political campaign.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has been getting some blowback from criticizing the use of $650,000 in Federal tax dollars to pay for beaver management in Mississippi and North Carolina and it has beaver seekers in an uproar, including Congressman David Price (D-NC-4).

State and federal wildlife officials claim to have saved nearly $5 million last year in potential flood damage to farms, timber lands, roadways and other infrastructure through its Beaver Management Assistance Program — the same

“Maybe you should ask him how much he knows about this and why he picked it out for ridicule,” said U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat. “We know why he chose this — because it sounds funny.”

The News & Observer

I imagine it’s been some time since Price trapped his own beaver, so his frustration is understandable.

I am no wildlife expert so I am not going to attempt to downplay their claim.  It may very well be accurate, but the question I raise is why isn’t North Carolina paying for this themselves?  Bringing home the pork obviously didn’t help former Senator Dole, now did it.

Chris Cillizza who writes The Fix, a blog owned by the Washington Post, has declared Senator-Elect Kay Hagan’s Senate campaign as the best Senate campaign of 2008.

H/T to Under the Dome

And the best Senate campaign of 2008 is:

Kay Hagan of North Carolina — Hagan, a state senator, got into the race against Sen. Elizabeth Dole after a number of better known candidates including Gov. Mike Easley and Rep. Brad Miller took a pass on the contest.

Hagan got into the race as a virtually unknown candidate both in North Carolina and nationally, but quickly showed a capacity to raise money that opened the eyes of many people in Washington. On her first trips to the nation’s capital, she wowed even the most cynical of party operatives with a charisma about campaigning and a no-nonsense approach to what needed to be done to beat Dole.

Hagan got a major boost in her efforts by a significant amount of spending by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm — including an ad featuring two men on rocking chairs debating Dole’s effectiveness and closeness to President George W. Bush.

But, she proved a strong — and on-message — candidate in her own right. When Dole went after Hagan in an ad for attending a fundraiser with the Godless Americans political action committee, Hagan was quick to respond with an effective (and cutting) response.

In the end, the race wasn’t close. Hagan beat the seemingly unbeatable Dole 53 percent to 44 percent.

When you think about it, Hagan’s race is similar to a “Cinderella story.”  She basically rose out of obscurity to beat a very well known incumbent by a sizable margin.  Sure, she was a state senator, but she had little name recognition outside of Greensboro where she represented.  She wasn’t expected to mount a credible challenge to Dole, but several things turned in her favor.

One, she was able to run a highly successful fund raising operation and as mentioned above she received lots of outside help from 527 groups that relentlessly hammered Dole almost daily.  She also benefited from the Obama momentum that streamed across the state and the turning economy for which the public held the Republicans responsible.  Lastly, Dole screwed up with her “Godless” ad against Hagan.  That was the gift that kept on giving right up until Election Day.

We await to see what kind of Senator Kay Hagan will be, but I predict she’ll be viewed as an effective legislator by the voters of North Carolina.  Mind you, that doesn’t mean she’ll be a good one, but I’m not inferring she’ll be had either, just effective.  We’ll see in just a few weeks how she handles the tough issues facing the nation right now.

So Election 2008 is now over and your friendly admin of CPO can slack off for a little while now.  We saw some big changes last night around the country and also right here in the Carolinas.

North Carolina has turned blue.  By a fraction of a hair it went to Obama last night.  He earned it.  His campaign had the ground game to make it happen.

Kay Hagan predictably ousted Elizabeth Dole by a handy margin.  Dole got slaughtered with outside 527 ads and I think the “Godless” ad she ran against Hagan sealed her fate.

One Congressional seat changed hands and that was the 8th Congressional District held by Republican Robin Hayes.  This was expected to happen, but I was hoping Hayes would pull it out only because I think Larry Kissell is the wrong man for that seat.  His energy policies are an infantile fantasy that will hurt his constituents which are mostly low income.  Virginia Foxx, Heath Shuler, and Patrick McHenry easily won reelection.

In statewide races, Bev Perdue (D) narrowly defeated Pat McCrory (R) for the gubernatorial race.  This made me very angry.  It could not have been more obvious who the candidate of change was in this race.  Bev Perdue will continue the same status quo culture of corruption that has plagued Raleigh for years.  I think straight party voting caused this victory.  Likewise, State Senator Walter Dalton (D) defeated State Senator Robert Pittenger (R) in the Lieutenant Governor’s race by a slightly larger margin.

Democrat Beth Wood defeated Republican incumbent Les Merritt in the Auditor’s race which is another blow to the state.  Merritt was the only firewall defending the people from the corruption in the state legislature and now that is gone.  Roy Cooper (D), Steve Troxler (R), Cherie Berry (R), Elaine Marshall (D), and June Atkinson (D) all got reelected to their posts.  State Senator Janet Cowell (D) is now the new State Treasurer and Democrat Wayne Goodwin won the Insurance Commissioner’s race.

The Republican Party in North Carolina is extremely incompetent.

In the State Legislature Debbie Ann Clary won the race in Senate District 46 flipping that from Democrat to Republican.  In State House District 86 Republican Hugh Blackwell defeated Democratic incumbent Walter Church and in State House District 90 Republican Sarah Stevens ousted incumbent Democrat Jim Harrell.

South Carolina gave our electoral votes to John McCain last night and we were the only Atlantic coast state to do so.  Lindsey Graham easily won reelection to the U.S. Senate.  All six Congressmen won reelections to their seats as well.

In the state legislature there weren’t many changes.  Republican Kris Crawford did win reelection in House District 63.  I said last night that he lost.  Anton Gunn picked up House District 79 for the Democrats.  The District 115 race between Republican incumbent Wallace Scarborough and Democrat Anne Peterson Hutto is too close to call at this time, althought Scarborough has claimed victory.

The ballot amendment to change the Constitution to allow the state legislature to set the age of consent passed.

It’s not just the next President we’re electing on Tuesday; we’ve got all kinds of races going on in both states from the U.S. Senate down to your local school board.  I have put together a list of state and Federal races that should be carefully followed Tuesday night as I imagine they will be close.

• President – Obviously everyone knows we’ll be choosing our next President.  I think John McCain is going to carry both North and South Carolina, North by a hair and South easily, however I think Barack Obama will end up becoming the next President.
• NC US Senate Race – This has been a brutal race between Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan.  I think Hagan is going to emerge the victor in this in no small part by the Dole campaign’s “Godless” ad.  I think that hurt Dole more than Hagan.
• NC Gubernatorial Race – Another nail biter, but I think and pray that Pat McCrory ends up the next governor and I am going to make a very bold prediction here.  I think his Lt Governor will end up being Democrat Walter Dalton, not Pittenger.  McCrory has been leading by three or four points in the last few polls that have come out.  If people really are change oriented as they claim then McCrory should prevail.  He is the candidate of sorely needed change in Raleigh.
• NC 5th Congressional District – Virginia Foxx has received a tougher than anticipated challenge from Roy Carter, but I think Foxx will be reelected.
• NC 8th Congressional District – If Robin Hayes pulls out a reelection victory Tuesday night I will be stunned.  I just don’t see it and I think that Larry Kissell will be the 8th District’s new Congressman.  I think this will be the only Congressional District to flip in both states.
• NC Auditor General – I think Les Merritt will be okay, but it will be a close victory.  As I have stated in recent days, voters would be doing a disservice to themselves by replacing him.  He is the only watchdog the people have had against the majority party in Raleigh.
• NC Labor Commissioner – I think Cherie Berry is going to lose.  I think people will make a mental connection between Labor Commissioner and a soured economy.  They have absolutely nothing to do with each other, but when you think of a bad economy you think of job losses, hence labor, and people tend to relate to Democrats better than Republicans on labor issues.
• NC Senate District 9 – I think Julia Boseman will come out on top in this one, but I still expect a close race considering the money that has been spent on it on both sides.
• NC Senate District 25 – Tony Foriest just won this seat in 2006 and faces a challenge from Rick Gunn to take the seat back for the GOP.  I think Foriest will get reelected.
• NC Senate DIstrict 46 – This is Walter Dalton’s Senate seat that he is vacating to run for Lieutenant Governor.  This should be a Republican pickup.  It’s fairly conservative and has leaned Republican for some time now, but Dalton has hung on due to incumbency and having a more conservative voting record.
• SC Senate District 10 – This is John Drummond’s seat and he decided to retire after many years in public service.  The seat is being strongly contested on both sides with Dee Compton as the Republican candidate and Greenwood Mayor Floyd Nicholson on the Democratic ticket.  This has the potential to go either way, but I think the Democrats will hold this seat.
• SC Senate District 25 – I think this will be the closest race of all of them.  Republican Shane Massey won this seat last year in a special election after the former Democratic Senator Tommy Moore resigned from the Senate for a more lucrative career opportunity.  This seat actually leans slightly Democratic, but Massey has never really stopped campaigning since he won it.  He faces Democrat Greg Anderson.  This is too close for me to make a call on how this will turn out.
• SC House District 115 – Wallace Scarborough almost lost his seat in 2006 when his challenger came within a little over 300 votes of him.  He faces another strong challenge this year from Anne Peterson Hutto, but I think Scarborough is going to hang on by a larger margin than ‘06.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan filed a lawsuit Thursday against rival Elizabeth Dole, accusing the Republican incumbent of defamation and libel for running a television ad that questions Hagan’s ties to an atheist political group.

Hagan filed a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court after Dole declined to remove the ad from the air by a noon deadline.

“Each airing of the advertisement further injures (Hagan’s) good name and reputation in the community,” Hagan’s attorneys wrote in the complaint.

Dole campaign spokesman Dan McLagan dismissed the lawsuit as a “silly political gimmick.”

Dole’s campaign had called Hagan’s earlier warning of a lawsuit an empty threat, and her attorneys said in a letter the ad simply states facts.

“Your client may not like that the ad publicly disseminates information she would prefer to keep quiet in these days before the elections, but the ad is 100% factually accurate and truthful,” the attorneys wrote.

CBS News

And that’s the bottom line.  It is truthful.  As I said yesterday, the ad is somewhat misleading, because Hagan is not an atheist and I think it infers that, but it doesn’t lie about the fund raiser she attended.  She was there and it was hosted by a former board member of “Godless Americans PAC” and she did accept a couple of thousand dollars from that host.  Hagan doesn’t have a leg to stand on with this lawsuit.  She shouldn’t have gone to the event.  It was a stupid decision on her part and the Dole camp is taking advantage of it.

Hagan has made a counter ad:

The above campaign ad has got Kay Hagan in a huge uproar and I can’t really blame her. It’s a sleazy ad and misleading, but yes, Hagan did attend the event. Basically this whole campaign between Hagan and Dole has been very crass on both sides. Hagan can’t really say much and that’s the Dole campaign’s defense. Be careful what you bring to the table.

According to a poll released by the Civitas Institute Pat McCrory is leading Bev Perdue by three points statewide. Hagan leads Dole by three as well.

In the 8th Senate District Julia Boseman (D) is leading her challenger Michael Lee (R) 49% to 37%.  In the 9th Senate District R.C. Soles (D) leads challenger Bettie Fennel (R) 42% to 33%.

Congressman Mike McIntyre (D) is handily leading Republican challenger Will Breazeale 64% to 22%.

Facing a tough re-election fight, North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole gave her campaign $3 million during the first week of October.

Dole reached into her purse at a time when she is locked in a competitive race with Democrat Kay Hagan.

“Our fundraising has been outstanding but, with outside liberal groups spending roughly $15 million in attack ads, Senator Dole believed she needed to put some skin in the game personally,” said Dan McLagan, a Dole spokesman. “This guarantees that we will be able to get our message out in the face of all that Washington and New York money being spent for Kay Hagan.”

Dole has reported raising $13.8 million, while Hagan has raised $5.3 million. But that does not include the money raised and spent by outside groups.

The N&O

The Hagan campaign alone hasn’t hurt Dole. It was the relentless negative attacks from 527 groups that drove Dole’s numbers down.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole said today she would support the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, as long as it was based on ground conditions and had the support of the military.

Dole, a long-time supporter of the war, said it was “reasonable” to have a phased withdrawal starting next year.

She said she liked the idea of “bringing troops out of the cities by 2009 and out of the country completely by 2011.”

But Dole said any withdrawal would have to be “condition-based” because “you have to have faith on the generals on the ground.”

“The concern has been if you rip them out precipitously, then you end up back in there again and that is the last thing we want,” Dole said in a meeting with The News and Observer’s editorial board.

The News & Observer

I agree, but then we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place, not that it matters now at this point.  Personally, I think we could be in the middle of a withdrawal right now if the government put more pressure on the Iraqi government to start paying their own bills with their $71 billion oil surplus as well as defending their own cities with their military that we have been training for the last five years.  Kick them out of the nest already and let’s be on our way.

Hagan could not be reached for comment.

But Colleen Flanagan, Hagan’s spokeswoman, said Dole’s skepticism about Iraq was being voiced rather late.

“Senator Dole’s six-year record in Washington stands in stark contrast to Kay’s stated goals of increased accountability for the money we spend in Iraq, forcing the Iraqis stand up for themselves and take control of their government, and responsibly bringing our troops home,” Flanagan said. “She can say what she wants three weeks before an election, but North Carolinians know the truth about her record of support for George Bush and this war.”

I don’t really like this Flanagan bimbo, but I can’t argue with that.

CONCORD – Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole says she is spending some of her own money on her first re-election bid.

Dole declined to say how much she has contributed to the effort. But Dole has been trying to offset the millions in spending on negative television ads that Democrats have used to make the race one of the closest in the country.

The Independent Tribune

Elizabeth Dole is in a lot of trouble right now.  This race between her and Hagan was close before the economic meltdown.  Now with the market tanking further just about every day and people collapsing after receiving their quarterly 401k statements, the electorate is being pushed towards the Democrats, whether rigthly or wrongly.  I would surmise that right now Dole has about a 50/50 chance of being reelected and that’s not a comfortable position for an incumbent to be in.

Who sucks worse than the other?  You decide.

With North Carolina’s top races tightening, Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue have become gun shy about televised debates in their respective contests.

The lack of face-to-face debates is particularly noticeable in the Senate race, where Dole has declined to commit to five televised debates. In the governor’s race, Perdue has declined to participate in two statewide televised debates hosted by UNC-TV, including one tonight that will have Republican Pat McCrory debating Libertarian candidate Mike Munger.

The N&O

I have a long-standing policy of refusing to vote for any candidate who won’t debate. Running for office should be treated like a job interview, and voters are the boss. If you refuse to debate, you show contempt, derision, and scorn for the very people you’re working for. Would you keep an employee who did that? Would you hire someone who, when invited to a job interview, said “screw you”?

Dan McLagan, a spokesman for Dole, denied that the campaign has been dodging debates.

“It’s not so,” McLagan said. “We have been debating. We are open to further debates. No one has gotten back to us that Hagan has agreed to a specific debate.”

But debate organizers say the Dole campaign has quashed debates at every turn:

* Hagan agreed to a debate on WRAL on Oct. 14, but Dole would not commit, according to a WRAL spokeswoman.

* Hagan agreed to an Oct. 1 debate on UNC-TV, but Dole would not commit, according to UNC-TV. Hagan agreed to a League of Women Voters debate on either Sept. 18 or Sept. 28, but Dole did not agree, according to the league.

* Hagan agreed to a debate sponsored by the N.C. Association of Broadcasters in July, but Dole did not agree, according to the group.

* Hagan agreed to a debate on NBC-17 in Raleigh during the first week of October, but Dole did not agree, according to the station.

* Dole agreed to a televised debate in Wilmington on Oct. 24 that is being organized by Curtis Wright, a conservative talk show host. Hagan declined that debate, saying it was only to be televised in the Wilmington area.

But Perdue has declined to participate in two debates proposed by UNC-TV. Perdue also declined debates sponsored by the N.C. Association of Broadcasters and a television station in Raleigh.

“She turned down the two hallmark debates,” said Amy Auth, McCrory’s spokeswoman.

Too often, when one candidate refuses to show up at a debate, the organizers just cancel the whole thing. Do you know what the organizers of these debates should have done? Tell the balking candidate that the debate is going on with or without them, and of they don’t show up, they’ll put a big empty chair on the stage with the candidate’s name on it.

We live in an era when the only thing someone has to do to win an election is raise enough money to put enough lying TV ads on the air. Debates, though not perfect, bring the candidates to the people and makes them answer questions that need answering. They are job interviews in the purest sense, and they are needed.

The Senate as you are well aware by now passed a sweetened version of the bailout Tuesday evening.  The House voted again today and complied, as I suspected they would.  So the dirty deed is now done.  Bear in mind that this bill was rife with waist added by the Senate on Tuesday night that had nothing to do with the economical turmoil.

• $2 million tax benefit for makers of wooden arrows for children
• $100 million tax break to benefit auto racetrack owners
• $192 million in rebates on excise taxes for the Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum industry
• $148 million in tax relief for U.S. wool fabric producers
• $49 million tax benefit for fishermen and other plaintiffs who sued over the 1989 tanker Exxon Valdez spill.

People, are you not outraged?  If so, ask yourself why you might be going to the voting booth in November to return the same people to office who just voted for one of the largest Federal power grabs in American history and threw almost a trillion dollars of money we don’t have down the toilet.  Are those of you in South Carolina prepared to give Lindsey Graham another six years?  Think twice.  He’s one of the culprits.  Richard Burr also voted for it on behalf of North Carolina.  Senators Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) opposed the measure.  Additionally, both Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama voted for the bailout as did VP candidate Joe Biden.

I can’t get the vote information from the House yet.  The Web site must be getting swamped with traffic because it’s timing out on me, but I’ll post it as soon as I have it available.

Update: I now have the House roll. Sue Myrick and Gresham Barrett flipped on this, voting for the bailout today, whereas they voted against it before.

Voting for the bill:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Voting against the bill:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)

The U.S. Senate today overwhelmingly sent President Bush a spending bill of $634 billion to keep the government “operating beyond the current budget year.”  If only that were the case.  This budget passage, as every other, consisted of a hogfest of a Congressional pen of pigs in starched white shirts feeding from the trough that you and I provided.  This thing is stuffed with thousands of earmarks in addition to $25 billion of taxpayer funded loans to help bailout the automakers.  The bill was presented in its final form from the House to the Senate as H.R. 2638, Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2008, sponsored by none other than our very own Representative David Price (D-NC-04).

How did our representatives vote?  As usual, in the Senate Jim DeMint stood up and vocally opposed the legislation.  Lindsey Graham joined him in voting against it.  Richard Burr made a rare and unusual move, voting Present, Giving Live Pair.  What this means is that somebody else who not present at the vote and knew they wouldn’t be who planned on voting the opposite way Burr was made a deal with him to vote present so that the outcome wouldn’t be altered by their absence.  In other words, for the sake of argument, let’s say Burr was hypothetically going to vote No, but John McCain was absent and was planning to vote Yes which would cancel out Burr’s vote anyway.  McCain would ask Burr to vote Present then so that the same result is produced.  As I said, this is just a hypothetical.  Burr may have intended to vote Yes and made a deal with an absent Senator who wanted to vote against it.  And we can’t forget Liddy Dole who as usual voted for her pork.

In the House we had the following voting for the waste:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-01)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Voting against the waste were:

• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

Heath Shuler did not vote.

Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a plan by Democrats to pump $56 billion in government spending into the economy through public works projects, help for the jobless and money for states struggling with their Medicaid bills.

The bills follow a bipartisan plan enacted this winter that shipped $600-$1,200 tax rebate checks to most individuals and couples and awarded tax breaks to businesses investing in new plants and equipment.

With the economy still sagging, Democrats have long pressed for a follow-up plan that focused on more spending to extend unemployment benefits, boost food stamp payments and build infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, water and sewer projects and school repairs.

Breitbart

While the Congress is ready to debt spend another $700 billion on a Wall Street bailout for the wealthy elite and spend another $630 billion on the military industrial complex over the weekend, Liddy Dole was ready to blow another $56 billion of our money on welfare entitlements.  Gee, is someone pandering for votes?  Sure looks like it.  And what on earth made her think that supporting this wealth redistributionist handout would curry her any more favor with its intended socialist beneficiaries?  Real leadership means standing up for what is right and opposing what is fundamentally wrong.

Dole’s opponent, Democrat Kay Hagan, calls it “outrageous” that the government has found itself in the position of bailing out Wall Street. She accuses Dole of doing little to help avert the crisis as a member of the banking committee.

Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said Dole’s “desire to examine the causes, implications of turmoil now is the very definition of a day later, dollar short.”

Dole calls Hagan “dead wrong.” She pointed to her sponsorship of bills last year – as well as in 2003 and 2005, when Republicans controlled Congress – that would have created an oversight agency for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now under federal conservatorship.

“We submitted legislation and stuck our necks out trying to rein in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Dole said. None of the bills ever passed.

Charlotte Observer

Hagan is wrong to try and pin this on Elizabeth Dole.  Dole is correct in pointing out the two attempted bills to put some restraints on the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  What stopped these reforms from happening were deafening objections mainly by two Democrats:  Congressman Barney Frank of Boston and Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut.  That’s not to say that Republicans don’t share in the blame.  After all, there was a Republican majority in Congress both times so there were members of the GOP that also stood against the reforms, but Dole was not one of them.