Carolina Politics Online

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is a taxpayer watchdog group that for years has been tracking and monitoring the wasteful spending being undertaken by our members of Congress. When I say waste I mean real waste, things that most all of us regardless of political ideology and views could likely agree on. Wasted spending like $1,454,000 for mosquito trapping research or $2,573,000 for potato research. Better yet, right here in our own backyard, UNC Charlotte received $762,000 for interactive dance software.

CAGW has a searchable database containing the 9,129 pork-barrel projects in the 2010 Congressional Pig Book. They also do a ranking of every member of Congress with a score of 100 indicating a taxpayer superhero and a score of 0 being a wasteful taxpayer abuser. Unfortunately, here in the Carolinas we have several big fat zeros. That list is below:

Gee, nobody saw this coming.

The plans, being tested in places like San Diego, New York and Chicago, are likely to appeal especially to small businesses that already provide insurance to their employees, but are concerned about the ever-spiraling cost of coverage.

But large employers, as well, are starting to show some interest, and insurers and consultants expect that, over time, businesses of all sizes will gravitate toward these plans in an effort to cut costs.

The tradeoff, they say, is that more Americans will be asked to pay higher prices for the privilege of choosing or keeping their own doctors if they are outside the new networks. That could come as a surprise to many who remember the repeated assurances from President Obama and other officials that consumers would retain a variety of health-care choices.

The New York Times

Shocking, eh?  No, not that this is happening.  It’s shocking that there were people in this country stupid enough to actually believe the President’s lies about being able to keep their current health coverage and doctor.  As ObamaCare slowly unfolds more people are figuring out just how badly we got bent over by our “representatives” in D.C.  Oh, and let us not forget who it was that brought this on us by voting in favor of ObamaCare.

• G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (NC-02)
• David Price (NC-04)
• Mel Watt (NC-12)
• Brad Miller (NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (SC-06)
• Senator Kay Hagan (NC)

Do you remember a month ago when I warned you about a piece of legislation called the Disclose Act?  Well, it passed the U.S.  House about an hour and a half ago.  Just to recap the dangers this bill presents:

The point of the legislation would be to force corporations sponsoring a political ad to disclose their identity, even to the extreme of the CEO having to appear at the end of the ad in a disclaimer.  However, it’s the more ominous language in the bill that has raised the eyebrows of those in the blogosphere and questioning if this legislation could unconstitutionally impact us as well.  The issue is with the language.

Under the bill, the F.E.C. would have the authority to require disclosures regarding the funding of “coordinated communications,” defined in the bill as “a publicly distributed or disseminated communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for Federal office” and is publicly distributed or disseminated within four months prior to an election. In other words, political ads. And this bill would specifically target those paid for by someone or some entity other than the candidates.

The bill specifically exempts certain forms of media from being considered “coordinated communications” and regulated by it, but blogs aren’t specifically listed.

OpenCongress

And that is what is sounding the alarm.  Here is the language of the bill stating who exceptions apply to.

‘(4) EXCEPTION- The term ‘covered communication’ does not include—

‘(A) a communication appearing in a news story, commentary, or editorial distributed through the facilities of any broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, or other periodical publication, unless such facilities are owned or controlled by any political party, political committee, or candidate;

There is no mention of blogs in the list of communication and there is no language specifically exempting the communication of a private individual like myself and others who write Web sites like this.

It’s uncertain if this bill will make it through the Senate. After all, as the saying goes the Senate is the place where legislation goes to die. If they do pass it then we have an open door to Stalinism right here in the United States.  Think it’s out of the question that the Federal government couldn’t abuse this law to shut down Web sites like this one and others that they feel are a threat to their power just like they do in countries like Iran, China, and Singapore?  Think again.

The following Congressmen from North and South Carolina voted for this bill today:

• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

The following members voted against the act to preserve freedom of speech:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

HR 3962, the infamous Pelosi health care bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night by a mere five votes.  This doesn’t mean that we’re doomed.  The U.S. Senate still has their own version to pass and then it has to be reconciled with the House bill and both chambers have to vote on the final combo bill.  It is unlikely this will all happen before the end of the year, so there is time for the American people to stop this.

I want you to understand what this bill does.  It is going to cost in excess of $1.2 trillion over the next ten years.  This is all new spending on top of what our government spends today.  Bear in mind, we have a $1.7 trillion budget deficit this year alone an $11 trillion debt.  It’s actually even worse than that, though.  The $1.2 trillion figure is what the House reps are saying.  The CBO has a much, much larger price tag.

Senator Gregg: Updated CBO Estimate of House Bill Pulls Back the Curtain on Majority’s Intent to Grow Government by $3 Trillion

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee today commented on the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) more detailed cost estimate of the manager’s amendment to the House health reform bill.

Senator Gregg stated, “The CBO estimate released last night finally sheds light on the smoke and mirrors game the majority has been playing with the cost of their health care reform proposal. Over the first 10 years, this legislation builds in gross new spending of $1.7 trillion – and most of the new spending doesn’t even start until 2014. Once that spending is fully phased in, the House Democratic bill rings up at more than $3 trillion over ten years.

“Additionally, this bill cuts critical Medicare and Medicaid funding by $628 billion, accounts for nearly $1.2 trillion in tax and fee increases and will explode the scope of government by putting the nation’s health care system in the hands of Washington bureaucrats. The $3 trillion price tag defies common sense – we simply cannot add all this new spending to the government rolls and claim to control the deficit.

“If we continue to pile more and more debt on the next generation, they will never be able to get out from under it. The health care system needs reform, but this massive expansion of government, financed by our children and grandchildren, is the wrong way to proceed.”

This bill will fine employers who do not provide health insurance to their employees.  This is a double edged sword.  Many small business, for one, don’t provide it because they can’t.  Of those companies that do, the fine that would be implemented by the Federal government will actually cost less than providing the benefits.  The obvious result is that many companies out there will simply drop employee health benefits and force them onto the public “option.”  Personally, I think this is by design because the Democrats have been very open about wanting a single payer government run health care system and that is exactly the path we will go down.

This bill will make your current insurance policy even more expensive.  Remember how the whole point of health care “reform” was to lower the cost.  Yeah, that’s out the door.  Taxes on medical devices and supplies as well as on insurance companies and mandates requiring them to cover anyone who walks through the door regardless of age or preexisting conditions will raise the price of your insurance.  This will put many more Americans on the public “option” because they won’t be able to afford the premium increase or their company will stop offering the benefits and just pay the fine.  We are headed towards a two-tiered health care system.  High quality health care for the elite rich of our nation who can afford to pay outside the public “option” and a watered down rationed system for the rest of us.

This bill was 1,990 pages long.  Everyone that voted for this bill doesn’t have the slightest clue what is in it.  They haven’t had it long enough to know and many of them have already admitted that they don’t read the bills anyway.

Probably the most destructive part of this bill is the individual mandate.  Never in the history of our nation, one that prides itself of personal freedom and liberty, has our government passed a law forcing the American people to  buy a product.  This is blatantly unconstitutional and I imagine that if the Senate companion bill passes with the same mandate, which it does possess, and this is signed into law there will be Constitutional challenges to this piece.   I want you to understand the ramifications if such a mandate is held up by the Supreme Court.  Going forward our government will have no limitation of powers.  Once they are told by the highest court in the land that they are allowed to tell us what to buy based upon the court’s interpretation of the Commerce Clause or providing the general welfare, they will have complete control over the American people.  Our nation as we know it today will be a thing of the past.  We are heading into a Soviet style government.  Make no mistake about it.

All Republicans in North and South Carolina voted against this bill.  Democrat Congressmen Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, and Heath Shuler also voted against the bill.

The following Democrats voted to throw you in the gulag if you don’t buy health insurance.

• G. K. Butterfield (NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (NC-02)
• David Price (NC-04)
• Mel Watt (NC-12)
• Brad Miller (NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (SC-06)

The Club for Growth has released their annual RePORK card that gauges how responsible our Congressional representatives have been with our tax dollars.  The result is usually pretty atrocious and this year is no different, but we do have a few responsible representatives in our states’ delegations.  The ratings are based on 68 amendments introduced in the House that would have stripped wasteful earmarks out of 12 annual spending bills.  Representatives who voted for all of the amendments received a score of 100%.  Those that voted for none received a zero.  So how did our guys and girls stack up?

Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05) was the only member to receive a perfect score of 100%.  However, there were a few others who weren’t far behind her.  Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) received a 99%, voting against only one of the amendments.  Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03) and Sue Myrick (R-NC-09) both received a 97%.  Bob Inglis (R-SC-04) a 96%.  All others were below 90% which means the rest have some work to do, some a little and some are completely worthless.

Two more Congressmen that stood out to me were our two Blue Dog Democrats in North Carolina:  Heath Shuler (NC-11) and Mike McIntyre (NC-07).  Bear in mind that the Blue Dogs are supposed to be fiscal conservatives.  Apparently, these two didn’t get the memo.  Shuler supported only one amendment out of the 68 and McIntyre found the only way to top his poor showing by voting for none of them.

Also on the wall of shame for frivolously throwing your tax dollars away are the following pigs who received a zero score:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-11)

It’s interesting to note that all the high scoring members of Congress are Republicans and all the ones with the shitty scores are Democrats.  That really illustrates the differing views the two parties have on the role of the Federal Government.

Either Butterfield hasn’t read the bill or he is blatantly lying to you.

For Release: Immediate

Date: August 7, 2009

Contact: Ken Willis
Phone: (202) 225-3101

Butterfield to Host Health Care Reform Town Hall

Rocky Mount, N.C. – Congressman G. K. Butterfield will host a two-hour public town hall meeting on health care reform on Tuesday, August 11 at J. W. Parker Middle School.

“It is clear that people want their opinions heard,” Butterfield said. “I want to help people to understand why these changes are needed and exactly how they would benefit.”

The health care reform-focused town hall meeting will be held at J. W. Parker Middle School, 1500 E. Virginia Street, Rocky Mount, N.C. from 6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend the meeting.

Over the past week, Butterfield said he has met with constituents, small business owners and health care professionals to discuss health care reform. He said he has visited four community health centers, two dialysis centers, one hospital and met with two groups of small business owners.

Butterfield said that people seem to have a great number of questions about the reform, and he wanted an opportunity to counter the misinformation circulating about the legislation.

Among the most common false attacks Butterfield listed “big government spending,” “health care rationing” for the elderly and a “government takeover” of healthcare. He countered that the reforms would not add to national debt, that seniors’ coverage would be strengthened and improved, and that President Obama and Congressional leaders have rejected the idea of a system that resembles Canadian-style socialized health care.

“Health care reform is built around the central idea that we must stabilize costs for the middle class without sacrificing quality or choices,” Butterfield said. “The health care industry must be held accountable for delivering better value.”

Butterfield said as America looks ahead, the current health care system is too expensive and leaves too much uncertainty. Without reform, he said, the cost of health care for the average family of four is projected to rise an average of $1,800 annually for years to come. And, he said, insurance companies will continue to increasingly control health care decisions.

“Health care will cost the typical household roughly $15,000 this year,” Butterfield said. “With the status quo people should expect their costs to double over the next 10 years. Working families in eastern North Carolina simply cannot afford those kinds of cost increases.”

Butterfield said that under the reforms, families with health insurance would see lower costs. He also said rate increases for pre-existing conditions, gender, or occupation would be eliminated and that annual out-of-pocket expenses would be capped. Coverage denials for pre-existing conditions and insurance companies’ lifetime payment limits would also be eliminated, Butterfield said.

He also explained that children would be guaranteed affordable oral, hearing and vision care.

Butterfield said that families and individuals could simply choose to keep their doctor, and current plan, if they like them.

In order to fully pay for the needed health care system improvements without adding to the national debt, Butterfield said there would be a small surcharge for households earning more than $350,000 a year. Less than 1 percent – 0.7% – of the wage earners in North Carolina’s First Congressional District earn more than $200,000.

Additionally, the surcharge could be eliminated after 2012 for families earning between $350,000 and $1 million, Butterfield explained. The bill includes a trigger that would eliminate the surcharge for these families if the reforms generate greater cost savings than the Congressional Budget Office currently projects.

By a vote of 219 to 212, the House narrowly passed the Cap and Trade bill that will cost us millions of jobs and devastate the American economy even more as it starts going into affect. Just ask Spain how well it went for them?

This still has to pass the U.S. Senate of course and that is nowhere near certain. They need 60 ayes just to be able to vote for it and I imagine there will be Democrat defectors there just as there were in the House.

Those who voted to raise your energy bills by about $1500 a year to “save the planet” are as follows:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Jack Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Those who voted to protect your liberty, labor, and livelihood were:

• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• Howard Coble (R-NC-06)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Larry Kissell (D-NC-08)
• Sue Myrick (R-NC-09)
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)
• Henry Brown (R-SC-01)
• Joe Wilson (R-SC-02)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)

North Carolina’s congressional delegation served up $228 million in pork barrel spending for fiscal 2009, a 5 percent jump from the previous year, according to the latest report from the government watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste.

CAGW’s 2009 “Congressional Pig Book,” released one day before hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the streets to protest wasteful government spending in a series of “tea parties,” catalogued 10,160 total pork projects, also called earmarks, amounting to $19.6 billion. Although the number of earmarks was down this year, the amount spent on those projects rose by 14 percent compared to fiscal 2008.

The Carolina Journal

I guess while the rest of us cut back, Congress felt the need to make up for it by spending more. But hey, what’s another $19.6 billion compared to the trillions we’re tossing around?

Despite a pledge to reform the earmark system, President Obama last month signed a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill laced with pork barrel spending. “I am signing an imperfect omnibus bill because it’s necessary for the ongoing functions of government, and we have a lot more work to do,” Obama said.

Hope and change. Change and hope. Just click your ruby slippers together and maybe it’ll come true.

U.S. Rep. David Price, D-4th, helped score the most earmarks among North Carolina representatives, followed by former Rep. Robin Hayes, R-8th. Price and Hayes secured a combined 34 earmarks totaling over $11 million in the omnibus spending bill alone, according to a report by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Reps. Virginia Foxx, R-5th, and Patrick McHenry, R-10th, were the only Tar Heel lawmakers to pass on the pork. Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd, was responsible for only one earmark: $2.4 million for a U.S. Navy cancer vaccine program in California.

Foxx, Jones, and McHenry have promised to abstain from earmarks. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., made the same pledge, but the CAGW report shows that Burr played a role in securing 52 earmarks in appropriations bills this fiscal year.

I’m interested to know what Burr’s earmarks were, and what excuse he had. Last week Bane took some S.C. lawmakers to task for breaking their no-tax pledge. Well, I’m not to pleased to see my U.S. Senator break a no-earmarks pledge. That and his support for Bush’s bailout plan last year are causing me to sour on this guy real quick.

UPDATE: Butterfield tries to explain himself -kinda- in the N&O:

As it turns out, U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield doesn’t like to call them earmarks either.

The Wilson Democrat was the only member of the North Carolina delegation to actually label his requests for special appropriations in the federal budget “earmarks.”

But he told Dome he doesn’t like the term.

“I don’t like to call them earmarks because they have such a bad reputation around the country,” he said. “I call them Congressionally-directed funds.” 

Oh, well as long as we have some sort of innocuous pseudo-Orwellian term for these money-wasting travesties, I guess that makes it OK.

Jeeez, do we ever need a revolution.

Here’s the list:

Rep. G.K. Butterfield: 98, $7.3 billion

Rep. Larry Kissell: 103, $530.1 million

Rep. Bob Etheridge: 59, $312.2 million

Rep. Mike McIntyre: 67, $302 million

Rep. David Price: 89, $264.6 million

Rep. Brad Miller: 59, $185.5 million

Rep. Mel Watt: 66, $179.7 million

Rep. Howard Coble: 29, $90.3 million

Rep. Heath Shuler: 79, $81.5 million

Rep. Walter Jones: 11, $43.8 million

Rep. Sue Myrick: No earmark requests

Rep. Virginia Foxx: No earmark requests

Rep. Patrick McHenry: No earmark requests

The N&O

At least three of our congresscritters are trying to be responsible with our tax dollars. I won’t say that I expect better from Coble and Jones, because I don’t. We do deserve better though.

But let’s take a look at the top of that list, shall we?  G.K. Butterfield got $7.3 billion. BILLION! A “B” and 9 zeros! Now, I understand that G.K. represents the cradle of Eastern N.C. BBQ, but this goes a little too far.

So what did ol’ G.K. get with other peoples’ tax money?

The Wilson Democrat released his list of 98 requested appropriations for the federal budget on his Web site.

The largest request is $2 billion for Virginia-class submarines from the Northrop Grumman Corp. The smallest is $150,000 to upgrade lecture halls at Halifax Community College.

Other notable earmarks:

* Refueling overhauls for Navy aircraft carriers, $1.6 billion.

* Construction of new aircraft carriers, $807 million.

* Funding a National Textile Center at N.C. State University, $16.5 million. 

* Starting a rural business incubator in Scotland Neck, $10 million. 

The N&O

Hey, G.K., you know we’re in a recession, right?

U.S. House- N.C. Delegation

2009 BUDGET, CONGRESSIONAL PAY: Voting 245 for and 178 against, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a $410 billion appropriations bill (HR 1105) to fund agencies now on stopgap budgets. The bill denies a congressional pay raise in 2009.
Voting yes: G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Larry Kissell, D-8; Heath Shuler, D-11; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13
Voting no: Walter Jones, R-3; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10

EARMARKS, ETHICS PROBE: Voting 226 for and 182 against, the House on Wednesday killed a motion (H Res 189) to open an Ethics Committee probe of suspected links between House members’ receipt of campaign contributions and their sponsorship of earmarks that benefit the contributor. A yes vote was to kill the motion.
Voting yes: Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Shuler, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Kissell, Myrick, McHenry
Not voting: Butterfield
Hope and change… hope and change. And something about the most ethical Congress in history. Yeah, anyone else remember any of that? Didn’t think so.

BANKRUPTCY, MORTGAGES: Voting 224 for and 198 against, the House on Thursday set debate rules for a bill (HR 1106) that gives bankruptcy courts authority to ease the terms of mortgages on principal residences in Chapter 13 proceedings. Final action on this part of President Obama’s anti-foreclosure plan was then delayed for several days. A yes vote was to advance the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Jones, Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler
Because it’s so obviously the government’s job to step in and protect people who bought property they can’t afford from all those big bad banks. Whatever happened to contracts being, I don’t know… binding? Or the government staying out private business?

PRIMATES AS PETS: Voting 323 for and 95 against, the House on Tuesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 80) to ban interstate commerce in nonhuman primates such as chimpanzees. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller.
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
And now the government does what it does best- react to problems in all due haste… after the ape sh-t’s already hit the fan. I don’t think I have a problem with this, and I’d go further. As Libertarian as I am, there are too many irresponsible pet owners out there who are hurting other people by having these crazy animals. I think states should start licensing these things, charge a big fee, and make sure only a responsible person is allowed to own a chimp, or a 25-foot Burmese Python.

U.S. Senate

SECRETARY OF LABOR SOLIS: Voting 80 for and 17 against, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Hilda L. Solis, 51, a member of Congress from California, as the 25th U.S. secretary of labor. A yes vote was to confirm Solis.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D
Voting no: Richard Burr, R

D.C. CONGRESSIONAL SEAT: The Senate on Thursday passed, 61 for and 37 against, a bill (S 160) expanding the House of Representatives from 435 to 437 seats by establishing the District of Columbia as a congressional district and awarding Utah a fourth congressional district. D.C. presumably would elect a Democratic representative and Utah a Republican. The new members would take office in 2011. The bill is now before the House. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Hagan
Voting no: Burr
How telling is it that the U.S. Senate can do something blatantly unconstitutional, and no one bats an eye? The Constitution clearly says that only states get representatives. D.C. is NOT a state. Hopefully this will be overturned. Kay Hagan and her 60 comrades should be ashamed of themselves for violating their oath to uphold the Constitution.

RETROCESSION TO MARYLAND: Voting 30 for and 67 against, the Senate on Thursday rejected a plan to give the District of Columbia full representation in Congress by ceding nearly all of its 69 square miles back to Maryland, from which it was created in 1790. The amendment was offered to S 160 (above). A yes vote backed retrocession.
Voting yes: Burr
Voting no: Hagan
What the hell does Richard Burr have against Maryland?

D.C. GUN LAWS: Voting 62 for and 36 against, the Senate on Thursday amended S 160 (above) to deny the District of Columbia government authority to enact laws restricting private ownership or use of firearms. In part, the amendment would negate laws such as D.C.’s prohibition on gun ownership by persons voluntarily committed to mental institutions and its bans on armor-piercing sniper rifles and military-style semiautomatic weapons. A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Hagan, Burr

FAIRNESS DOCTRINE: Voting 87 for and 11 against, the Senate on Thursday amended S 160 (above) to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating its Fairness Doctrine, which required broadcasters to air competing viewpoints on hotly contested issues. The doctrine’s repeal in 1987 cleared the way for the rise of talk radio. A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Hagan, Burr
It’s official- Kay Hagan has finally done something I agree with. Good job Kay!

U.S. House- N.C. Delegation

$787 BILLION STIMULUS: Voting 286 for and 183 against, the House on Friday approved the conference report on a $787 billion economic stimulus bill (HR 1). A yes vote was to approve the conference report.
Voting yes: G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Larry Kissell, D-8; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13
Voting no: Walter Jones, R-3; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10
When your grandchildren ask you why their taxes are so high, and why government is so big, and what economic freedom was like, I hope you’re able to tell them.

REP. CHARLES RANGEL: Voting 242 for and 157 against, the House on Tuesday tabled a Republican bid to remove Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee because of conduct now being investigated. Rangel is under scrutiny for dealings concerning rent-controlled apartment units in his district, his admitted failure to pay taxes on rental income on resort property, and his use of his committee post to help the City College of New York raise funds for an academic facility in his name. A yes vote opposed the motion to strip Rangel of his committee post.
Voting yes: Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
Not voting: Butterfield
Well, that’s it. I’m not paying my taxes anymore. If don’t get appointed to a cabinet post, at the very least I can enjoy a comfy job as a House committee chairman. The Ways and Means Committee, by the way, is the committee in charge of tax policy. That means the Ways and Means Chair and the Treasury Secretary are both tax cheats. Hope and change… hope and change…

ABUSE OF THE ELDERLY: Voting 397 for and 25 against, the House on Wednesday sent the Senate a bill (HR 448) authorizing $9 million over three years for state programs to prevent abuse of the elderly and provide emergency services to abuse victims. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, Coble, McIntyre, Kissell, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Foxx
So what could possibly be wrong with this? Nothing, if it was done at the state and local level. Apparently Congresswoman Foxx is the only person on this list who understands the concept of Federalism.

U.S. Senate

$838 BILLION STIMULUS: Voting 61 for and 37 against, the Senate on Tuesday passed an $838 billion economic stimulus bill (HR 1) and sent it to a House-Senate conference committee.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D
Voting no: Richard Burr, R

WILLIAM LYNN CONFIRMATION: Voting 93 for and 4 against, the Senate on Wednesday confirmed William J. Lynn III as deputy defense secretary, the Pentagon’s second-ranking civilian post. Lynn worked most recently as a lobbyist for the defense contractor Raytheon. A yes vote was to confirm Lynn.
Voting yes: Hagan, Burr
I don’t know… he’s probably qualified. But does anyone else seem to remember a certain presidential candidate saying something about “no lobbyists in his administration”? Anyone know who that was? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

U.S. House- N.C. Delegation

CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE: Voting 290 for and 135 against, the House on Wednesday sent President Obama a bill (HR 2) expanding State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coverage from 6.6 million children to about 11 million children.
FOR- G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Heath Shuler, D-11; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13
Against- Walter Jones, R-3; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10
Not voting- Larry Kissell, D-8
The seven Democrats who voted for this think it’s your job to pay for other people’s children, and that your money is best used to reward parents who can’t take care of their own families. The idea of helping poor children sounds wonderful; the reality is more socialism and wealth redistribution that helps no one.

DIGITAL TV DELAY: Voting 264 for and 158 against, the House on Wednesday sent President Obama a bill (S 352) that would delay from Feb. 17 to June 12 the deadline for converting over-the-air U.S. television signals from analog to digital.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler
Not voting: Kissell
I ask the same question I asked last week: Why the hell is this the government’s job?

U.S. Senate

ATTY. GEN. ERIC HOLDER: Voting 75 for and 21 against, senators on Monday confirmed Eric H. Holder Jr. as the 82nd U.S. attorney general.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D
Voting no: Richard Burr, R
Eric Holder thought that world-class crook Marc Rich deserved to be pardoned in 2000. Then again, Rich did donate a bunch of money to the Clinton Library, so he can’t be all bad. But the biggest concern about Holder is that he will not take seriously the War on Terror, does not realize that the bad guys don’t play by our rules (or any rules), and doesn’t seem to care that coercive interrogation techniques have actually saved American lives. Looks like Kay Hagan doesn’t care much about that either.

‘BUY AMERICAN’: Voting 31 for and 65 against, the Senate on Wednesday refused to strip a $900 billion-plus economic stimulus measure (HR 1) of a “Buy American” requirement for public works projects funded by the bill. But the Senate stipulated the requirement can be waived if it violates U.S. trade treaties or pushes the cost of a given project too high. A yes vote opposed the “Buy American” provision.
Voting yes: None
Voting no: Hagan, Burr

REPUBLICAN TAX CUTS: Voting 40 for and 57 against, the Senate on Thursday defeated the main Republican alternative to the Democrats’ stimulus bill. The GOP measure was projected to cost $420 billion, including $275 billion in tax cuts.  A yes vote backed the GOP alternative.
Voting yes: Burr
Voting no: Hagan
Kay Hagan thinks you don’t pay enough taxes, or that the amount of taxes you pay is juuuuust right. Not that is really matters anyways; you won’t be paying off this Porkulus boondoggle- your grandkids will. Tax their sorry asses instead.

EARMARKS RULE: Voting 32 for and 65 against, the Senate on Thursday refused to establish a new Senate rule that 60 votes are needed to include unauthorized earmarks in appropriations bills. A yes vote backed the amendment.
Voting yes: Burr
Voting no: Hagan
Will Kay give me some BBQ to go along with all the pork my tax dollars are paying for?

U.S. House of Representatives- N.C. Delegation

$816 BILLION STIMULUS: 244 for and 188 against.
For- G.K. Butterfield, D-1; Bob Etheridge, D-2; David Price, D-4; Mike McIntyre, D-7; Larry Kissell, D-8; Melvin Watt, D-12; Brad Miller, D-13
Against- Walter Jones, R-3; Virginia Foxx, R-5; Howard Coble, R-6; Sue Myrick, R-9; Patrick McHenry, R-10; Heath Shuler, D-11

Those who voted in favor of this monstrosity just condemned your grandkids to a lifetime of government servitude to pay it off.

CANCELING AMTRAK FUNDING: 116 for and 320 against
For- Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
Against- Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller

Everytime I have taken AMTRAK (or estimated the cost of doing so), I discovered that it is cheaper and quicker to freakin’ drive. Just sell this damn thing and stop wasting our tax dollars on it.

LILLY LEDBETTER ACT: 250 for and 177 against. The bill would permit claims to be filed within 180 days of the latest incident of pay discrimination. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
Voting yes: Butterfield, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Jones, Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry
Not voting: Etheridge

Behind the pleasant sounding bill is a boom for trial lawyers.

DIGITAL TV DELAY: 258 for and 168 against (failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed). Would delay from Feb. 17 to June 12 the deadline for converting over-the-air U.S. television signals from analog to digital. A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Butterfield, Etheridge, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Watt, Miller
Voting no: Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler

Why is this the government’s job?

U.S. SENATE- N.C. Delegation

SECRETARY OF TREASURY: Voting 60 for and 34 against, the Senate on Monday confirmed Timothy F. Geithner as U.S treasury secretary.
Voting yes: Kay Hagan, D
Voting no: Richard Burr, R

Kay Hagan voted to confirm a tax cheat as head of the IRS. Hope and change… hope and change…

CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE: Voting 66 for and 32 against, the Senate on Thursday sent to conference with the House a bill expanding State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) coverage from 6.6 million children to about 11 million children. The bill would renew SCHIP for five years at a cost of $60 billion, up nearly $35 billion from current levels, and raise federal tobacco taxes from 39 cents per pack to $1 per pack to pay the added costs.
Voting yes: Hagan
Voting no: Burr

“We need socialism… it’s for the children“.

The N&O

It should come to no surprise that the House of Representatives have furthered the nationalization of American industry by wasting another $15 billion of tax money that doesn’t exist to bailout the gross mismanagement of the Big Three automakers and their blood sucking unions. Here is a list of how our Carolina representatives voted:

In Favor of Socialism:

• Bob Etheridge – D-NC-02
• David Price – D-NC-04
• Mel Watt – D-NC-12
• Brad Miller – D-NC-13
• Jack Spratt – D-SC-05
• Jim Clyburn – D-SC-06

Against Socialism:

• G.K. Butterfield – D-NC-01
• Walter Jones – R-NC-03
• Virginia Foxx – R-NC-05
• 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
• Heath Shuler – D-NC-11
• Henry Brown – R-SC-01
• Joe Wilson – R-SC-02
• Gresham Barrett – R-SC-03
• Bob Inglis – R-SC-04

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)

As I’m sure you have heard by now, the $700 billion bailout failed to pass the House of Representatives today by a mere 13 votes.  I was opposed to this bailout, so I am rather pleased, for now.  They’ll try something again.  I just have a huge issue with this theory that corporations can privatize all of their gains but socialize their losses.  That just doesn’t seem quite right to me.

This video pretty much sums up my thoughts.

So how did your representative vote?  Did they vote to use your tax dollars to bail out Wall Street fat cats or did they vote to save your tax dollars?

Voting for the bailout were:

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

Voting against the heinous bailout were:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• Virginia Foxx (R-NC-05)
• 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)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Gresham Barrett (R-SC-03)

Boy, the South Carolina delegation sure sucks a nut. David Price is no surprise.  He loves using your money to give special favors to all of his corporate friends.  Same with Henry Brown.  I expected Watt to be on the yea list as well because he is a Socialist.  Overall it looks to be just about split down the middle.  Now you know who is on your side and who is pining for the Rockefellers.

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.

Rush Limbaugh in the Wall Street Journal.

Mr. Obama’s campaign is now trafficking in prejudice of its own making. And in doing so, it is playing with political dynamite. What kind of potential president would let his campaign knowingly extract two incomplete, out-of-context lines from two radio parodies and build a framework of hate around them in order to exploit racial tensions? The segregationists of the 1950s and 1960s were famous for such vile fear-mongering.

People were outraged and the local media in some cases did not air the NCGOP ad that tied Moore and Perdue to Obama and called them too extreme for North Carolina. Yet the ad that is being broadcast in Spanish to communities in four states is being allowed to be aired unimpeded. Barack Obama and his surrogates are constantly playing the race card, and in this case using bigoted and racists attacks and tactics.

Every candidate that has ties or has openly endorsed the Obama campaign bears responsibility in this. Perdue, Hagan, Blue, and Butterfield are four that I can name off of the top of my head.

There is no place for this in modern campaigns and Barack Obama should withdraw the ads and apologize to the American people. 

The House passed H.R. 6899 last night, otherwise known as the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act.  As I touched on yesterday, this is the House version of Lindsey Graham’s “Gang of 10″ bill that will do absolutely nothing to open up oil reserves off of our shores and lower gas prices.  This bill is nothing more than political cover so that politicians can go into the November election lying to their constituents that they voted for offshore drilling, when they didn’t.  Most of the coastal oil reserves will remain untapped under this bill and will have no effect.  Furthermore, the states will get no royalties from the drilling, so which state is going to okay this and take the slight risk of an oil spill without any revenue from it?  None of them will and Nancy Pelosi knows that.  Let’s not forget the tax increase the oil companies will receive as well which will get passed on to you and me when we’re buying our gas.

So who in the Carolinas voted for this hoax?  Who will lie to you between now and Election Day and claim they voted to lower your prices at the pump?  A lot of them.

Voting aye were:

• G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-01)
• Bob Etheridge (D-NC-02)
• Walter Jones (R-NC-03)
• David Price (D-NC-04)
• Mike McIntyre (D-NC-07)
• Robin Hayes (R-NC-08)
• Heath Shuler (D-NC-11)
• Mel Watt (D-NC-12)
• Brad Miller (D-NC-13)
• Bob Inglis (R-SC-04)
• John Spratt (D-SC-05)
• Jim Clyburn (D-SC-06)

Democracy Corps is James Carville’s organization. This poll was taken from August 20th through August 26th.

Now you should bear in mind that the samples were very small, less than 100 people in each Congressional district, so there is going to be a larger margin of error than in most polls. However, most of these percentages seem fairly accurate to me. The only two I question is NC-05 and NC-08. I don’t think that Virginia Foxx is in a statistical tie with Roy Carter, though I don’t doubt he isn’t close to her. I also think the gap between Robin Hayes and Larry Kissell is smaller than the eight point spread shown in this poll. Shuler is crushing Mumpower which I have been saying since the birth of this blog would be the case no matter which Republican Heath runs against. Plus, the fact that Mumpower’s race has been akin to a Barnum & Bailey juggling act only makes it more so. I don’t know why NC-12 and NC-13 were not included on this poll, but I think the conventional wisdom is that neither Mel Watt nor Brad Miller have much to worry about this year.

All and all, I don’t see any of the Congressional districts in North Carolina switching parties this year. I think all of the incumbents are going to be retained. If Kissell loses, I’m afraid my friends at BlueNC will become suicidal.

Update: I mistakenly had the Fifth District Democratic candidate listed as Roy Cooper instead of Roy Carter. That has been corrected.