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:

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)

The polls have now been closed for a few hours and enough of the precincts have reported to project fairly accurate results at this point.  So what happened?

Probably the best ass beating that took place tonight was that of the corrupt and sleazy Nick Mackey.  Mackey failed miserably to secure the nomination of his party.  His opponent Rodney Moore received 62% of the vote leaving Mackey with a paltry 38%.  Like they say, crime never pays.

In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham appear to be headed to a runoff election.  With 89 counties fully reported Marshall had 36% of the vote and Cunningham had 27%.

In the U.S. House Republican primaries, Renee Ellmers has won the Second District primary with 55% of the vote.  Congressman Walter Jones survived his primary challenge with 77% of the vote.  B.J. Lawson edged out Frank Roche in the Fourth District primary with 46% of the vote.  Ilario Pantano won the Seventh District primary with 50% of the vote, defeating 2008 nominee Will Breazeale.  In the closely watched Eighth District, Tim D’Annunzio and Harold Johnson will head to a run off to determine who will face Congressman Larry Kissell in November.  In the Tenth District Congressman Patrick McHenry easily fended off his challengers with 62% of the vote.  The Eleventh District is too close to call.  With 13 of 15 counties reporting, Jeff Miller had 40.47% of the vote, just half a percent more than what he needs to avoid a run off election.  The results from the last two counties will determine whether or not that will be needed.  If so, he will face Dan Eichenbaum in a run off.  And CPO contributor Paul Terrell won his primary race in State House District 33 with 67% of the vote.

In Mecklenburg County for the Republican primary for County Commissioner At-Large, former Sheriff Jim Pendergraph, former Commissioner Dan Ramirez, and Corey Thompson were the top three vote getters.

According to the Scott Keadle campaign, members of primary opponent Vance Patterson’s campaign have been telling voters throughout the Tenth Congressional District that Scott Keadle is dropping out of the race and is going to endorse Patterson to “increase” the chance of defeating Patrick McHenry in Tuesday’s primary.  Talk about your filthy political tricks.

From a Keadle press release:

The Keadle Campaign wishes to correct the record after an attempted smear by Vance Patterson.
If Vance Patterson is going to tell lies about Scott Keadle, then it is time for people to start telling the truth about Vance Patterson. The facts are below:

1. Vance Patterson is telling people, including members of the press, party activists, and Keadle campaign volunteers, desperate and deliberate lies in an attempt to buoy his failing money-driven media campaign. Mrs. Kristine Gates, of Lenoir, was one witness to this behavior. Gates said: “I was told by Vance’s campaign manager, on two separate occasions, that Scott Keadle had terminated his campaign, ‘wanted Vance to win’, and that ‘[the Patterson campaign manager] would be receiving a letter stating as much in a few days’.”

Scott Keadle said: “This is an intentional lie intended to benefit Patterson at the expense of my dedicated volunteers, Tenth District voters, and the truth. Keadle For Congress is campaigning full steam ahead with grassroots volunteers, and I intend to win the Republican nomination next week. If Vance Patterson aspires to be a lying politician, he is getting a good start on it, and based on his liberal debate answers on YouTube, he would be my fifth pick among the six of us running.”

This smear tactic is particularly hypocritical given the pandering letter-to-the-editor written by Patterson a few weeks ago claiming to be conducting a clean campaign. Scott and his grassroots volunteers have spent countless hours in the past weeks and months working to get his positive conservative solutions heard, while Patterson has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars misrepresenting himself as a conservative on television and radio.

Despite his personal wealth and heavy advertising, Patterson has only 8% of the vote according to the latest tracking poll conducted Sunday, April 25th by PMI Polling. Nightly tracking polls confirm that Patterson has never been above 14% and his average for the last week is only 10% .

Scott has been at all but two campaign events: Last Saturday the 17th he sent a representative who spoke for him at the Tenth District Convention because he had family duties to attend to. On Tuesday night, he missed a Chamber of Commerce debate in Hickory because he had an Iredell County Commission meeting (Scott is a commissioner). We note that Patterson skipped the Gaston County Women’s Club forum the week prior and that McHenry has missed several forums.

Thursday I received a press release from Congressman Patrick McHenry’s reelection campaign making public his Iredell County steering committee list.  Among those listed as members of this committee are three Iredell County commissioners who currently serve on the county commission with one of McHenry’s Republican primary opponents, Scott Keadle.

From the release:

Congressman McHenry represents the Southwest half of Iredell County including Mooresville and Troutman. In the 2008 Republican primary election he carried Iredell County with 78 percent of the vote.
Steering Committee members include:

• Representative Grey Mills–NC House of Representatives District 95, Mooresville
• The Honorable Frank Mitchell–Former NC House of Representatives District 96, Statesville
• Sheriff Phillip Redmond-Iredell County Sheriff, Union Grove
• Commissioner Marvin Norman-Iredell County Board of Commissioners, Statesville
• Commissioner Ken Robertson-Iredell County Board of Commissioners, Mooresville
• Commissioner Steve Johnson-Iredell County Board of Commissioners, Statesville

There is one small problem with this list.  Iredell Commissioner Marvin Norman had no idea he was a McHenry supporter and on his steering committee.

Norman said he didn’t know his name was on the steering committee list and that he did not give anyone permission to use it for this year’s election.

He said he recalls being placed on McHenry’s steering committee list for a prior campaign.

“But this time is obviously different,” Norman said. “We have a board member running against him (McHenry) and I just don’t think it’s right to endorse someone else. They (McHenry’s campaign) didn’t call me about this year, but if they did, I would have told them, ‘no.’ ”

Statesville Record & Landmark

American Conservative Union Chairman David Keene says the House Conservatives Fund is engaging in a corrupt endorsement process.

The ACU is crying foul over a House primary endorsement in Connecticut, suggesting the candidate was chosen over another Republican because he shares a consultant with the group.

Connecticut state Sen. Sam Caligiuri was one of 10 GOP House candidates to earn an endorsement earlier this month from the House Conservatives Fund (HCF). The fund is a political action committee started by the Republican Study Committee (RSC) and headed by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.).

But the ACU points out that Caligiuri’s general consultant, Evan Kozlow, also does work for HCF. What’s more, Caligiuri’s primary opponent, former congressional aide Justin Bernier, was asked to fill out a confidential questionnaire that contained instructions to return it to Kozlow.

Bernier didn’t return the questionnaire, and Caligiuri won the group’s backing. The two are battling for the right to face Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).

Keene, whose group has interacted with Bernier over the issue but isn’t officially backing him, said the HCF’s conduct doesn’t meet the smell test.

More about this at The Hill

There is obviously a conflict of interest here when the endorsing group shares a consultant with one of the endorsed candidates.  Now that doesn’t mean of course that Caligiuri won the endorsement fraudulently.  An accusation is not an admission of guilt, but it is another eyebrow raising event in a growing line of suspicious behavior involving Congressman McHenry over the years.

So my mailbox has been the recipient of an onslaught of press releases from angry Republican Congressmen and candidates over the passage of health care deform last night.  I am not going to post every single one of them so I am just going to put up snippets of each one and whose office they were sent from.

Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District)

“Now more than ever we need sensible health care reform,” Foxx said. “That’s why it’s so sad that the Democratic majority forced this overhaul through. This bill is bad medicine, plain and simple. It’s chock full of government mandates, $569 billion in job-killing tax hikes and $1.2 trillion in new government spending.”

In addition to increasing taxes by $569 billion, the final health overhaul slashes Medicare by $523.5 billion. It also includes nearly $200 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage. There are more than 40,000 seniors in North Carolina’s 5th Congressional District who enjoy the benefits of Medicare Advantage.

Katherine Jenerette (Candidate for South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District)

It’s a set up guys. Obama and his brain trust are out in front on this one. They put the ‘thou-shalt-purchase’ clause in the bill deliberately knowing every freedom-loving, red-blooded Republican AG would charge. They intend to have the Republican’s object to this in bit-and-pieces instead of a full frontal attack that the ENTIRE Bill is unconstitutional.

We Republicans bit the bait real good, but, it was a Trojans horse covered with shiny stuff like the abortion debate; deliberately set to get our attention. While all along, ‘Obamanistas’ fully expect that the Supreme Court will strike down the parts that mandate a person will buy insurance or they will pay through the nose to BigFed one way or another. There are bigger problems ahead, so save some ammo.

We had a saying when I was in the desert in the first Gulf War, ‘It’s not just the mouse that ran through the tent you need to worry about – it’s the viper that’s chasing the mouse you better be afraid of.’

When the Supreme Court decision is finally made – with the anticipated ruling, the bumper sticker “I Heart Socialized Medicine” liberal crowd will pull out the already prepared Round Three plan: Public Option in tandem with the Federal Government picking up the tab incrementally to offset the loss.

Scott Keadle (Candidate for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District)

Congressional candidate Scott Keadle today called on North Carolina’s Attorney General Roy Cooper to join other states’ attorney generals in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the health care reform bill passed by Congress late last night.

Currently, Attorney Generals from Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington have announced plans to do so. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced this morning that he would file suit on behalf of Floridians.

Keadle said, “The health care reform legislation passed by the U. S. House of Representatives last night violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state’s sovereignty. North Carolina should join the other states and file a lawsuit to protect the rights and the interests of its citizens.”

“The 10th District citizens overwhelmly are opposed to this legislation, and they deserve legal representation from our state’s top lawyer to fight on their behalf,” he said.

State Representative Jeff Duncan (Candidate for South Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District)

As I watched the health care debate, it was my hope that Congress would have considered legislation that would lower costs and improve access by offering free market solutions. I hoped Congress would have remembered the Constitution of the United States and realized they were leading our nation away from our founding principles

Instead, we witnessed a 2,700 page bill rammed through Congress by using a mixture of backroom bribes and procedural tricks. Instead of passing a transparent bill that would help rejuvenate our economy, thousands of small business owners are left wondering if this health care bill will be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

With the passage of this flawed health care bill we witnessed free market ideals substituted for more government bureaucracy. The federal government will be hiring approximately 16,000 new IRS agents just to enforce the new tax element of this legislation. In addition, this bill will make major cuts to Medicaid and Medicare and ask private citizens and doctors to pick up the tab. Ultimately, I believe this health care legislation is too expensive and is clearly unconstitutional.

Congressman Patrick McHenry (North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District)

“Today’s vote means the President will sign federal funding of abortions, the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, 19 tax increases and $500 billion in Medicare cuts into law. His so-called health care ‘reform’ plan raises premiums, ignores lawsuit abuse and adds billions to the federal deficit.

“This is an anti-jobs bill. Instead of helping businesses create jobs it will increase federal spending, raise taxes and slow economic growth.

For Release March 8, 2010

Keadle Asks for FEC Investigation

Scott Keadle takes issue with Congressman Patrick McHenry’s abuse of the franking privilege in a recent mailer to residents of North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District.

“Mr. McHenry has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars sending thinly-disguised campaign mail to voters. All of them have pretty pictures and explain what a great guy he is. All of them cost a lot of money, and add to the mountain of bills that McHenry and the Washington politicians have piled on the struggling taxpayers in this district,” said Keadle.

“This is an abuse of his office and McHenry should charge all costs to his campaign fund and not taxpayers,” said Keadle. “This is just one more example of how out of touch this Congressman is with the struggling citizens of North Carolina.”

“I’m calling for the Federal Elections Commission to investigate the printing and mailing of this slick color brochure,” added Keadle.

In anticipation of McHenry’s denial of adding to the size of government, Keadle said: “Mr. McHenry, please do not insult us further by denying that you voted for bigger government when you were in the majority under the Bush administration. In FY2006, for instance, you voted to increase taxation of North Carolina families by more than 5% of their paycheck. Saying a Republican President made you do it doesn’t make it right or ‘conservative’.”

—30—

Contact:
Garry Ballard
Keadle for Congress
press@keadle.com
704-775-8037

Congressman Patrick McHenry has sponsored H.R. 4705, a bill that would redesign the $50 bill with the likeness of the late President Ronald Reagan.  According to a press release from McHenry’s office he had the following to say regarding the bill:

“Every generation needs its own heroes,” said Congressman McHenry.  “One decade into the 21st century, it’s time to honor the last great president of the 20th and give President Reagan a place beside Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy.”

It’s an interesting proposal and I certainly don’t have an issue with it, but the timing is questionable in my mind.  McHenry has two primary opponents facing him in the May election and I just wonder if he his invoking Reagan to appeal to the tea party demographic.

The campaign of Scott Keadle, one of McHenry’s primary opponents, had the following comments:

“While President Reagan certainly deserves to be memorialized, I doubt whether he would have focused on this issue when we have such urgent problems facing North Carolina’s workers and families.”

A few weeks back I wrote about how Change the Congress in 2010 came out against Patrick McHenry’s reelection bid and instead endorsed one of his primary opponents, Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle. Keadle’s endorsement was based on the idea that he will not be a career politician and has experience as the average working man, something sorely lacking in the halls of D.C.

Keadle’s campaign have responded to the endorsement.

“Scott is always pleased to have the endorsement of true conservatives who want to take our government back from career politicians. It takes guts to challenge the powerful Washington establishment, and Scott shares that quality with Mrs. Wellborn. Obviously she recognizes that before we can clean out the Democrats in the fall elections, we must first nominate authentic Republicans. Scott is the real deal–no politics, no bull, just a dentist and a family man who has had enough of the same lousy people getting the same lousy results. He’s tired of watching his team lose and he thinks we need new players on the field.”

“Conservatives across the country are demanding a return to citizen-legislators who truly represent the intent of our Founding Fathers. It is time for an end to Washington insiders ruining our country. Change The Congress 2010 members from here in Western North Carolina have given Scott financial and volunteer support, and are excited about his candidacy.”

A few months back I wrote about an organization that sprouted up out of Charleston called Change the Congress in 2010, the brain child of a Ms Catherine Welborn with the explicit intent of removing as many incumbents from Congress as possible.  The group has crossed the border into North Carolina and now has their eyes set on Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry.

Late last week, the group came out and publicly endorsed one of McHenry’s Republican primary opponents, Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle.  I exchanged emails with Ms Welborn and she cited her motivation being a great many grievances with the current sitting Congressman.  Among them were several improprieties that have shown up in the media over the past few years.  These include the 2007 indictment of one of McHenry’s campaign aids, his 2005 appearance on “ABC World News Tonight” in which he defended then House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s Congressional ethics violations, and a voting scandal in which McHenry claimed a owner occupied tax deduction on a Washington D.C. home, while still voting in North Carolina.

What seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, however, was the recent release of an article by the John Locke Foundation.

Fighting the pay raise

A few lawmakers have consistently fought automatic pay raises. Among them is Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who, according a recent Deseret News article, has tried vainly every year since he was first elected to Congress in 2000 to force a straight up-or-down vote. With the economic downturn, Matheson predicted lawmakers in the new 111th Congress might be more interested in forcing the issue to a vote.

Early in 2009, three bills were introduced in the House and one in the Senate to deal with this issue. All members of the N.C. delegation were contacted. Of those who responded, most added they would likely support any bill to stop pay raises, should one come up for a vote.

The first bill, H.R. 156, would prevent members of Congress from receiving any automatic pay adjustment in 2010. N.C. delegation cosponsors are Reps. Walter Jones, R-3rd, Howard Coble, R-6th; Sue Myrick, R-9; Larry Kissell, D-8th; and Heath Shuler, D-11th. Rep. David Price, D-4th, plans to cosponsor the bill, according to his spokesperson, and added the decision was made prior to being contacted about his position on this issue.

Rep. Virginia Foxx , R-5th, is a cosponsor of H.R. 346, which would repeal the law that provides automatic pay adjustments for members of Congress.

Coble is also a cosponsor of H.R. 201, which would prevent automatic pay raises for members of Congress in the year following a fiscal year in which there was a federal budget deficit.

S.B. 102 would repeal the law that provides automatic pay adjustments for members of Congress. Deputy Press Secretary David Ward said Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has voted against automatic pay increases in the past and would do so again. Colleen Flanagan, a spokesperson for Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., said Hagan is opposed to any automatic pay adjustments, given these economic times.

Something is glaringly missing here.  Patrick McHenry.  Every member of the North Carolina Republican Congressional delegation has co-sponsored one of these bills, including a few Democrats, seemingly except for Patrick McHenry whose name is no where to be found.  I too found this somewhat curious and I emailed his press secretary last evening, whom I get frequent press releases from each week, asking about this.  At this point I have not received a response regarding my question, although I did receive a new press release this afternoon.

Regarding Mr. Keadle’s candidacy and her endorsement of him over McHenry, Welborn based her support upon Keadle’s promise to not be a career politician, but to serve no more than three terms in the House.  He has also pledged to oppose Congressional pay raises and to not accept the Congressional pension upon leaving Congress.

Welborn also stated, “Scott Keadle is not a career politician.  He is not in anyone’s debt, not beholden to any group or organization except the people of NC-10.  He believes that it’s time to take back our country.  He believes that it’s time to replace career politicians with people who have real experience working at real jobs.  He believes that it’s time to send real people to Washington, people with real experience dealing with families and the emergencies involved with families.”

I have to say, it’s difficult to argue with her logic.

I agree with the following press release from Congressman McHenry’s office, however, I think there is more than just dissatisfaction with the health care bill that drove what we saw last night.  This Congress, which Nancy Pelosi said would be the most open and ethical in history, has been the most sneaky and underhanded I think we’ve ever had in my lifetime.  They are supposed to be representatives of the people, not aristocrats, and they have shown nothing but a snobbish contempt for the American people.  I would like to think what happened in Massachusetts last night will serve as a warning shot over the bough of the Democrats’ sinking ship, but I’m not holding my breath.

“If you’d told me a month ago that a Republican running against President Obama’s health care plan would win Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat, I’d have said you were crazy.

“If the Obama health care bill has sparked such a massive backlash in Massachusetts, I can’t imagine what Democrats in red and purple districts are hearing back home. Democrats should take the hint and stop pushing their unpopular plan on the American people.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 8, 2010
Contact: Josh Kahn
(202) 225-2576

McHenry: Geithner Must Come Clean on AIG Actions

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) released the following statement on House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns’ (D-NY) decision to hold hearings on the growing American International Group (AIG) disclosure controversy.

McHenry earlier joined Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) in calling on Chairman Towns to hold a hearing and bring Secretary Geithner before the committee to testify.

“We owe it to taxpayers and investors to find out why Secretary Geithner pressured AIG to withhold important disclosures from the public, and what precisely he was trying to hide. When billions of dollars are funneled to foreign banks right out of taxpayers’ pockets, both Republicans and Democrats have a fiduciary duty to get to the bottom of it. I hope Secretary Geithner will choose to testify at the hearing voluntarily, but if he declines he must be subpoenaed and compelled to tell the American people the full story.”

###

The Democrats in Congress are ready to unveil their version of the health care bill.  To the dismay of most Americans, it’s not much different than the last disaster they pushed out of committee known as H.R. 3200, which the public soundly rejected.  This bill will cost near one trillion dollars, unconstitutionally try and force people to purchase health insurance, and result in higher insurance and health care costs for everyone.

Below is a press release from Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2009
Contact: Brock McCleary
(202) 225-2576

McHenry Responds to Pelosi’s Expanded Health care Bill

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) released the following statement in response to the unveiling of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s expanded health care legislation.

“Meet the new plan for a government takeover of health care, same as the old one. The American people have already rejected the approach to health care reform that says government knows best. The results are the same regardless of how many more pages the Democrats add to this bill: hundreds of millions of Americans will be forced out of their current health care plan, Medicare cuts will mean fewer benefits for seniors, bureaucrats will have the authority to restrict health care services, taxpayers will fund abortions, federal and state taxes will increase, and the cost of health care will rise.

“Nowhere in this 1,990-page bill are the common sense reforms that everyone agrees on. Insurance companies are not forced to compete with one another across state lines. Small businesses are not permitted to join together to purchase affordable coverage for their employees. Lawsuit abuse will continue to thrive so the real victims are denied justice and the cost of health care can continue to escalate.

“We can insure the uninsured, which this bill actually fails to do, without degrading the quality and increasing the cost of health care for everyone else. It’s no wonder the Democrats preserved the loophole that ensures Members of Congress never have to enroll in the program.”

###

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.

McHenry is opposed to ObamaCare and yet you won’t hear any screaming or yelling at this meeting.  That’s because McHenry is on the side of the American people on this issue and the people don’t want socialized medicine.

Catawba County Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, August 11th at 6:00 p.m.
Hickory City Hall
City Council Chambers
76 North Center Street
Hickory, NC 28601

Lincoln County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday, August 12th at 6:00 p.m.
James Warren Lincoln County Citizens Center
Commissioners’ Chambers
115 West Main Street
Lincolnton, NC 28092

Caldwell County Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, August 13th at 6:00 p.m.
Lenoir Library
Meeting Room 6, Lower Level
120 Hospital Avenue
Lenoir, NC 28645

Burke County Town Hall Meeting
Monday, August 17th at 6:00 p.m.
Western Piedmont Community College
Phifer Learning Resource Center (LRC)
Second Floor, Room 120
1001 Burkemont Avenue
Morganton, NC 28655

Rutherford County Town Hall Meeting
Tuesday, August 18th at 6:00 p.m.
Rutherford County Schools Offices
School Board Chambers
382 West Main Street
Forest City, NC 28043

Gaston County Town Hall Meeting
Wednesday, August 19th at 6:00 p.m.
Cherryville Fire Department
411 East Church Street
Cherryville, NC 28021

Cleveland County Town Hall Meeting
Thursday, August 20th at 6:00 p.m.
Charles A. Harry Cleveland County Administration Building
County Commissioners’ Chambers
311 East Marion Street
Shelby, NC 28151

Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) has co-sponsored House resolution 615 that will require any member of the House of Representatives who votes for a public health care option to enroll in it themselves.  It makes sense to me.  If it’s so good, why wouldn’t they want it?  This resolution won’t come close to passing so don’t get all giddy or anything and I’m sure McHenry knows that.  The introduction of this legislation has more to do with making a very valid point and hitting home with it.  It would be nice if the MSM were to actually pick this up, but I’m not crossing my fingers.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2009
Contact: Brock McCleary
(202) 225-2576

McHenry Statement on Vote Against Cap and Trade

WASHINGTON – Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) released the following statement regarding his vote against H.R. 2454, the cap-and-trade bill.

“For this Congress to cut jobs and raise energy costs on working families at a time like this truly boggles the mind. The economy is shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs every month and families are struggling to pay their bills. So I fail to see the wisdom in eliminating 88,000 jobs in North Carolina alone, raising energy prices by $1,400 annually on every household, and hiking gasoline prices by 77 cents per gallon. For what? So we can possibly lower the earth’s temperature by two-tenths of a degree by the end of the century. Any serious climate change initiative must include binding commitments from China and India to reduce carbon emissions. In the absence of that, we are asking the American people to bear enormous sacrifices at a time when they can least afford it – for two-tenths of a degree by 2100.”

(sources: Heritage Foundation, Congressional Budget Office, American Petroleum Institute)

NOTES:
Groups opposing the legislation include the National Association of Manufacturers, National Textile Association, and American Farm Bureau Federation.

“Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” – President Barack Obama

“Nobody in this country realizes that cap-and-trade is a tax, and it’s a great big one.” – Congressman John Dingell (D-MI)

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