Carolina Politics Online

The Obama administration will accept no more public input for a federal strategy that could prohibit U.S. citizens from fishing some of the nation’s oceans, coastal areas, Great Lakes, and even inland waters.

This announcement comes at the time when the situation supposedly still is “fluid” and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force still hasn’t issued its final report on zoning uses of these waters.

That’s a disappointment, but not really a surprise for fishing industry insiders who have negotiated for months with officials at the Council on Environmental Quality and bureaucrats on the task force. These angling advocates have come to suspect that public input into the process was a charade from the beginning.

ESPN

Of course it was a charade. Obama doesn’t give a damn about what the public thinks about anything. He’s demonstrated that pretty consistently throughout the past year.

So what is the point of this? The states have been managing the use of their waterways with little to no problem for over 200 years. Well, it turns out that this whole unconstitutional power grab is being orchestrated by the radical left environmental movement.

As ESPN previously reported, WWF, Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, Pew Environment Group and others produced a document entitled “Transition Green” shortly after Obama was elected in 2008. What has happened since suggests that the task force has been in lockstep with that position paper.

Then in late summer, just after he created the task force, these groups produced “Recommendations for the Adoption and Implementation of an Oceans, Coasts, and Great Lakes National Policy.” This document makes repeated references to “overfishing,” but doesn’t once reference recreational angling, its importance, and its benefits, both to participants and the resource.

Additionally, some of these same organizations have revealed their anti-fishing bias by playing fast and loose with “facts,” in attempts to ban tackle containing lead in the United States and Canada.

That same tunnel vision, in which recreational angling and commercial fishing are indiscriminately lumped together as harmful to the resource, has persisted with the task force, despite protests by the angling industry.

As more evidence of collusion, the green groups began clamoring for an Executive Order to implement the task force’s recommendations even before the public comment period ended in February. Fishing advocates had no idea that this was coming.

The commercial and recreational fishing industries have already been taking a big hit in both North and South Carolina and the last thing we need is further encroachment by the Federal government.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already exhibited plenty of incompetence in the way it enforces U.S. fisheries laws such to the effect that Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC-03) has called for a halt to all prosecutions of fishermen by the NOAA and a complete overhaul of how the laws are enforced.

Morlock fears that “what we’re seeing coming at us is an attempted dismantling of the science-based fish and wildlife model that has served us so well. There’s no basis in science for the agendas of these groups who are trying to push the public out of being able to fish and recreate.

“Conflicts (user) are overstated and problems are manufactured. It’s all just an excuse to put us off the water.”

In the wake of the task force’s framework document, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition against voiced their concerns to the administration.

“Some of the potential policy implications of this interim framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethic,” said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Morlock, a member of the CSF board, added, “There are over one million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The task force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies.

“Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable.”

This is not the only access issue threatening the public’s right to fish, but it definitely is the most serious, according to Chris Horton, national conservation director for BASS.

“With what’s being created, the same principles could apply inland as apply to the oceans,” he said. “Under the guise of ‘marine spatial planning’ entire watersheds could be shut down, even 2,000 miles up a river drainage from the ocean.

“Every angler needs to be aware because if it’s not happening in your backyard today or tomorrow, it will be eventually.

This is what happens when you put an out of touch ideologue beholden to radical special interests in the highest office in the land. The fact that Obama intends to implement this with an Executive Order completely bypassing Congress gives credence to the accusation that he is becoming an elected dictator, much like Hugo Chavez.

This won’t be used to just regulate fishing either. Rest assured that the bureaucratic entities created to manage all of this will also be used to thwart any oil or natural gas exploration off our coastal waters, thus effectively reinstating the Federal drilling ban that just expired less than two years ago.

There is already talk of a ban on bottom fishing all the way down the North and South Carolina coasts to Georgia.  Thousands of jobs in these states can potentially be effected by this at a time when they are experiencing double digit unemployment rates. That aside, there is also the element of this being yet another chipping away at the block of individual freedom and liberty that Americans have enjoyed for over two centuries and that the President and this Congress spit on daily.

If this is put into place it seems like El Presidente will get to decide when and where you go fishing. With the industry being so large I am hoping this will end up in the Supreme Court with a Constitutional challenge if Obama makes good on this move.

On Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives voted on whether or not to debate a resolution to remove tax cheating Charlie Rangel (D-NY) from his seat on the Ways and Means Committee.  Naturally, the Democrats voted almost in lock step to kill the debate.  Partisan politics at its finest.  They then voted on a resolution to refer the matter to the House Ethics Committee which has no obligation to hear the complaint.

All Democrat representatives in North and South Carolina voted yea on both.  Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC-03) voted in the affirmative to send the matter to the committee which is unlikely to take it up, thus helping Rangel.  As for Congresswoman Sue Myrick (R-NC-09), she took the coward’s way out on both by voting present, which is basically saying, “I was here for the vote, but I am not taking a position on it.”  Yeah, cause I bet being on record fighting against corruption in the Federal government will really piss off all of those McMansion dwellers in Ballantyne.

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?

The purpose of the legislation is to “prohibit unreasonable and excessive compensation and compensation not based on performance standards,” according to the bill’s language. That includes regular pay, bonuses — everything — paid to employees of companies in whom the government has a capital stake, including those that have received funds through the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP, as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The measure is not limited just to those firms that received the largest sums of money, or just to the top 25 or 50 executives of those companies. It applies to all employees of all companies involved, for as long as the government is invested. And it would not only apply going forward, but also retroactively to existing contracts and pay arrangements of institutions that have already received funds.

In addition, the bill gives Geithner the authority to decide what pay is “unreasonable” or “excessive.” And it directs the Treasury Department to come up with a method to evaluate “the performance of the individual executive or employee to whom the payment relates.”

The bill passed the Financial Services Committee last week, 38 to 22, on a nearly party-line vote. (All Democrats voted for it, and all Republicans, with the exception of Reps. Ed Royce of California and Walter Jones of North Carolina, voted against it.)

The Washington Examiner

You know, if politicians had tried something like this 200 year ago we’d have probably killed them.  It’s lucky for folks like Congressman Jones and his parasitic brethren on Capitol Hill that we are now “civilized.”

I wonder if this bill would also apply to Congress, considering that their salaries are completely funded by the government.  If we had to compensate them based on their performance would they even get a paycheck this year?

The “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009” passed the House today with a vote of 234 to 191.  If you were too careless, reckless, and stupid to buy a home within your means you’ll get rewarded with a reduced mortgage.  If you have been responsible and have been living on a sensible budget and making your mortgage payments on time, you get punished by paying for the blockheads that didn’t.  That is the American way these days.

With the exception of Congressman Larry Kissell, all North and South Carolina House Democrats voted in favor of you paying for other peoples’ mortgages and they were joined by Republican Walter Jones of North Carolina’s Third Congressional District.

Here is Congressman Patrick McHenry’s (R-NC-10) statement on the bailout bill:

“I opposed this legislation because it will prolong and deepen the housing crisis by raising interest rates, freezing consumer credit, and driving down home values.  With the promise of reduced mortgage payments subsidized by taxpayers, the bill encourages foreclosures.  Over 90% of homeowners are working hard, tightening their belts, and making their mortgage payments on time.  They should not be forced to bail out irresponsible mortgage lenders and borrowers.  In Washington, the answer to every problem is to spend tax dollars that the government does not have and leave the bill for future generations to pay.”

CORRECTION: I originally stated that all Carolina Democrats voted in favor of the bailout.  Actually, Congressman Larry Kissell (D-NC-8) voted against the bill.

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

A North Carolina congressman who tried to block strict new rules for driving on Outer Banks beaches last year is trying again.

Republican Rep. Walter Jones said Wednesday that small businesses on Hatteras and Ocracoke islands are being hit by the economic downturn, but also by federal rules that bar or restrict access to some beaches. The businesses heavily rely on beach fishermen.

The park service adopted strict rules under a settlement with environmentalists to protect endangered birds and sea turtles while they nest.

WRAL

You gotta love the misguided view of the environmental extremists.  We are supposed to starve and uproot our lives so that the sea turtles and the yellow bellied nut scratcher can live untainted by the evil encroachment of man.

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 Sun Journal did a piece over the weekend about Congressman Walter Jones (R) and his Democratic challenger Craig Weber.  As part of a quick Congressional history recap on Jones, they noted his well publicized shunning he’s received from his own party over the past few years after he broke from the neo-con ranks opposing continued action in Iraq.  Ironically, if the GOP followed Jones’ lead from the get go they might still be in power today and not facing their second electoral bloodbath in a row in tomorrow’s election.

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.

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.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a taxpayer watchdog group that ranks our Congressmen on their effectiveness of responsibly managing our tax dollars and not spending it on frivolous pork barrell spending.  Overall, the current Congress sucks the toejam off a homeless man’s foot in this regard, but our representatives from both North and South Carolina were a little better than most.  A rating of 100% is a taxpayer hero and a rating of 0% is a government elected thief stealing your money in order to pander to his constituents at reelection time.  Our two states received no 100s or zeros, but came close on both ends.

Our four Senators did a pretty good job.  Both Burr and DeMint received an honorable mention by the CAGW, each scoring a 97%.  Graham came in with an 87% and Dole with 73%.  Overall, these scores are acceptable.  The House?  Not so much….

The Republicans did decently for the most part, which surprised me because southern Republicans typically are some of the worst abusers for earmarking in Congress.  The Democrats all performed abysmally and Henry Brown, Robin Hayes, and Walter Jones could use some work themselves.