Oct 23 2008
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%.
Oct 03 2008
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.
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:
Voting against the bill:
Sep 29 2008
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:
Voting against the heinous bailout were:
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.
Sep 27 2008
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:
Voting against the waste were:
Heath Shuler did not vote.
Sep 22 2008
I don’t really think that this is that big of a deal. When McIntyre first ran for office in 1996 he pledged to serve only six terms in the House. It was a popular idea at the time spilling over from the 1994 elections when Republicans sweeped both the House and Senate. Many of them ran on a three term, term limit pledge. Some of them honored it, others didn’t.
In reality, we do have term limits in Congress. That’s you and me and every other voter who goes to the polls every two years in Federal elections. If we decide to keep reelecting the same representative election after election that is our decision whether wise or stupid. If an actual Constitutional amendment were proposed, however, to implement legal term limits I would support that, but don’t hold your breath.
Sep 17 2008
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:
Sep 06 2008
Democracy Corps is James Carville’s organization. This poll was taken from August 20th through August 26th.
| NC-01 | Party | % of Vote |
| G.K. Butterfield | D | 76% |
| Dean Stephens | R | 18% |
| NC-02 | Party | % of Vote |
| Bob Etheridge | D | 55% |
| Dan Mansell | R | 38% |
| NC-03 | Party | % of Vote |
| Walter Jones | R | 67% |
| Craig Weber | D | 21% |
| NC-04 | Party | % of Vote |
| David Price | D | 70% |
| BJ Lawson | R | 25% |
| NC-05 | Party | % of Vote |
| Virginia Foxx | R | 48% |
| Roy Carter | D | 46% |
| NC-06 | Party | % of Vote |
| Howard Coble | R | 71% |
| Teresa Sue Bratton | D | 23% |
| NC-07 | Party | % of Vote |
| Mike McIntyre | D | 56% |
| Will Breazeale | R | 35% |
| NC-08 | Party | % of Vote |
| Robin Hayes | R | 50% |
| Larry Kissell | D | 42% |
| NC-09 | Party | % of Vote |
| Sue Myrick | R | 58% |
| Harry Taylor | D | 31% |
| NC-10 | Party | % of Vote |
| Patrick McHenry | R | 54% |
| Daniel Johnson | D | 39% |
| NC-11 | Party | % of Vote |
| Heath Shuler | D | 66% |
| Carl Mumpower | R | 27% |
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.
Jul 15 2008
The State is reporting today that both Senators Graham (R) and DeMint (R) have changed their opposition to offshore drilling as has Congressman Joe Wilson (R) of the Second Congressional District. They are three more of a growing list of politicians now supporting our nation’s ability to drill offshore in the wake of out of control gasoline prices. I just posted the other that North Carolina Senators Elizabeth Dole (R) and Richard Burr (R) and Congressman Mike McIntyre (D) have also moved in the direction of offshore drilling.
Jul 14 2008
Already in North Carolina, Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Reps. Mike McIntyre and Walter Jones, both of whom represent coastal counties, have switched their positions.
All now support offshore drilling with the state’s approval. Dole and Jones are Republicans. McIntyre is a Democrat.
President Bush lifted the executive order today, ironically put in place by his father, that banned drilling off the coast of much of the U.S. While this does not clear the final path for coastal drilling, it eliminates one of the final hurdles. The Congress still has to repeal their ban and while that has been an uphill battle for years, many representatives are changing their tune.
The quick pace of rising gas costs have made this a top issue for voters across the country. With the exception of a few in heavily leftist areas, representatives in Congress are going to face strong resistance from their constituents if they continue to oppose efforts to open up our coastal waters. We will undoubtedly see more members of Congress coming over to our side of the aisle on this.
Jun 27 2008
Dole said in an interview Thursday that when she first supported the moratorium on drilling in 2002 that gas was $1.40 per gallon, and now it’s more than $4.
“People’s opinions have evolved based on their circumstances,†she said. “Folks are really hurting, there’s no question about it.â€
The campaign of Dole’s election challenger, state Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford, labeled Dole as a flip-flopper.
Yes, Dole has changed her position on this, though I don’t know that this really qualifies as a true “flip-flop.” I think the current circumstances of energy prices allow members of Congress to modify their position on this issue without being accused of pandering or flip-flopping. Undoubtedly, many Americans who may have opposed this at one point are changing their tune.
“The plan to drill off North Carolina’s coast is just another in a long line of bright ideas concocted and supported by the Bush-Dole team to pad the profits and the pockets of their oil-producing friends,†said Hagan’s spokeswoman, Colleen Flanagan.
I think this is a very foolish statement by Flanagan. People aren’t happy about paying $4.00 a gallon per gas. It may very well be $5 by November. They are going to want Congress to act and resisting the push to drill offshore is going to cost Hagan votes, not win her any.
Others are also reconsidering. Last week, Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat from Lumberton who represents the southern end of the N.C. coast, said skyrocketing gas prices are driving folks like him to take a second look at oil exploration if there can be enough assurances that it won’t harm the environment.
Will Hagan now accuse McIntyre of flip-flopping? I wouldn’t bet on it.
Jun 19 2008
The Republican challenging U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre this fall owes his ex-wife thousands of dollars in child support, court records show.
According to documents filed in Bladen County Superior Court, Will Breazeale is in arrears by more than $37,000 — a figure that he disputes. He also says that the legal action taken against him is politically motivated.
I’m not exactly certain how Breazeale can explain away $37 grand in back payments. That’s a staggering amount and it doesn’t happen by accident. You’d think he would have thought over this a little more closely before entering this race. This only helps his opponent more.
Breazeale, who is representing himself in court, said he and his ex-wife divorced in 1994 in Georgia. They share custody of their daughter, and they live about a mile apart, he said.
He said his deployments to Iraq and his job as an airline pilot boosted his income, which affected his child support obligations. He returned from Iraq in April 2007, he said.
“I’ve been back for a year, and we have been in negotiation the whole the time,†he said.
Court records say he is supposed to pay $600 a month in child support while he is deployed. When not deployed, he is supposed to pay 20 percent of his gross monthly income.
I do want to add, however, that the amount he has to pay his ex-wife is ridiculous. 20% of his gross monthly income when they share custody and she lives a mile away? I could maybe see if she had the kid the whole time, but I would still think that is excessive. Child support is supposed to be exactly that. It’s not supposed to prop up the lifestyle of the other parent, which is what this amount sounds like to me.
Breazeale said Womble has trumped up the issue and overstated the back child support for political reasons.
Womble, a Democrat, called the charge absurd.
“I know Mike McIntyre, but my representation of (Trivette) has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the political process.â€
According to Federal Election Commission records, Womble gave McIntyre’s campaign $1,000 on Oct. 2.
Womble’s relationship to McIntyre is certainly suspect, but Breazeale is also engaging in a campaign tactic by blaming Womble for this negative news rather than himself. If Breazeale had paid this money on time then there would be no case for Womble to bring.
Breazeale is already facing an uphill battle in taking on McIntyre. He hasn’t done himself any favors here. How much impact this has on the race will be determined by how much of a deal the McIntyre Campaign, the Democratic Party, and the media make of this. McIntyre says he won’t make this race about personal issues. He really doesn’t have to. I don’t think he is worried about losing his seat.
Nov 26 2007
When U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre came to visit a group of students at Harrells Christian Academy, he came prepared to talk to them about what he considers to be the three R’s of citizenship: rights, responsibility and respect.
“What good are your rights if you do not exercise them,†questioned McIntyre during his speech, using voting as an example.
He explained that people ranging in ages 18-25 are the group that are the least likely to vote. “The youngest (voters) are voting the least,†admitted McIntyre.
He explained that when citizens choose not to vote they are saying indirectly, “Here, come take my money.â€
He added, “You need to participate.â€
Oct 17 2007
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre now says he will vote to override President Bush’s veto of legislation expanding children’s health-insurance coverage later this week, deciding that help for children outweighs an increase in the federal cigarette tax.
McIntyre, who represents North Carolina’s 7th District, voted against the bill twice this year because it was financed by a 61-cent a pack increase in the cigarette tax, raising it to $1 a pack. The congressional district he represents includes some of the most productive tobacco-growing regions in the United States.
I suppose we’ll see how strong the tobacco lobby is in the 7th District come next November.
Jul 28 2007
A key U.S. House committee voted early yesterday to raise the cigarette tax by 45 cents a pack to help pay for a $50 billion increase in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP.
Rep. Mike McIntyre, a Democrat who represents North Carolina’s 7th District, said that when the bill comes up for a full vote in the House, he won’t vote for it.
“It’s a no-go with me,†McIntyre said. “We have to represent the concerns of our district and our state and we have been put in a box.… Tobacco has long been a whipping boy up here.â€
There is absolutely no reason for this tax increase and the southern Democrats certainly shouldn’t be voting for it. The SCHIP program is nothing more than another government entitlement that takes peoples’ liberty away from them by making them dependent on government for their livelihood instead of themselves. If the southern Dems truly represent their constituencies, they will vote against this.
Jul 26 2007
U.S. Representative Mike McIntyre announced today that Wilmington International Airport has received $1.7 million in federal funds for improvements to the facility.
Congressman McIntyre stated, “This is a big day for the Wilmington International Airport. These federal funds will help in a myriad of ways with security and infrastructure improvements. Congratulations to Director Jon Rosborough and all the fine folks at the airport for their work in securing these funds!â€
