U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge will spend the upcoming recess getting gas.

The Lillington Democrat will visit gas stations in Sanford, Clayton and Selma, among other places in his district, during the Fourth of July break.

He'll be talking with motorists about his recent bill to crack down on oil market manipulation.

The bill, introduced last week, would beef up a federal commission charged with policing commodities futures trading and close a loophole that allows some traders to work overseas. It's unclear what effect it would have on gas prices.

Still, it's a timely topic. With Etheridge's bill fast-tracked, the House Agriculture Committee will hold three hearings on the bill when it returns from recess. 

What bipartisan efforts has U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole worked on?

At Dome's request, the Salisbury Republican's staffers sent a list of bipartisan efforts that she is most proud of from the past six years:

* Climate Change: Dole co-sponsored a "cap and trade" bill to reduce carbon emissions by Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman and Republican John Warner this session.

* Military Family Leave: Dole co-sponsored a bill by Sen. Hillary Clinton to allow some workers 12-month leaves to care for family members wounded in action.

* Lumbee Recognition: Dole worked with Gov. Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre, Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski, among others, on legislation to recognize the Lumbee tribe.

* Tobacco Quota Buyout: Dole worked with U.S. Reps. McIntyre and Bob Etheridge on a tobacco quota buyout program included in a 2004 jobs bill.

* Catching Fugitives: Dole co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Richard Durbin to give law enforcement agencies help capturing fugitives from the U.S. Marshals.

Dole's staffers also cited her work on 211 expansion with Clinton, creating infrastructure bonds with Sen. Ron Wyden, requiring a White House conference on nutrition with Sen. John Kerry, demanding Iraq fund a greater share of its reconstruction with Sen. Ben Nelson, and amending trade adjustment laws and calling for an Oil and Gas Market Fraud Task Force with Sen. Maria Cantwell.

Previously: Dole's Democratic cosponsors 2003-08.

Lobbyist Roger Bone was presented with The Order of the Long Leaf Pine at a breakfast Wednesday.

The award is the highest honor the governor can bestow on a North Carolina citizen.

Bone, a former legislator who is consistently ranks as one of the state's top lobbyists, was recently diagnosed with cancer.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge of Lillington, who roomed with Bone at the Brownstone Hotel when they were legislators, reminisced in a letter about the old days.

"Those were great times and I was lucky to have you as a roommate and as a friend," Etheridge wrote.

The U.S. House of Representatives appears to be fast-tracking U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge’s bill (HR6334) to crack down on any oil market manipulation or excessive speculation that might be going on in the energy commodities markets.

Etheridge introduced his bill Friday. He held a news conference on it today. Tomorrow, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing. Then a committee vote. A vote on the full House floor could come as soon as Wednesday.

Such speed is virtually unheard of in Congress unless leadership wants to push something through quickly, Barb Barrett reports. With gas prices jumping an average 10 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, Congress is working hard to prove that it is responding to public outcry.

It’s unclear what effect Etheridge’s bill might have on oil prices.

But over in another House committee hearing today, oil trading experts predicted that regulation could have an immediate impact on prices.

One oil analyst told Congress that global crude oil trading regulation "would significantly curb speculation and could burst the current oil price bubble."

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate by U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge wants to reign in spiraling oil prices and thinks cracking down on any market manipulation and excessive speculation going on out there is the way to go.

Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to beef up regulation of energy trading, Barb Barrett reports. Etheridge is chairman of the Agriculture subcommittee on commodities, which has jurisdiction over the Commodities Futures Trading Commission.

His bill would:

* add 100 staff members to the trading commission, encouraging President Bush to make an emergency spending request for the agency. Etheridge says the agency is at its lowest staffing levels in its 33-year history.

* give the CFTC more authority over trading of energy overseas, closing the so-called"“London loophole." Some markets currently are not overseen by United States regulaors. If foreign exchanges don't provide the CFTC information it requests, the bill directs the agency to remove those exchanges’ computer terminals from U.S. soil.

* offer more transparancy so that the public can see how much influence certain traders, such as index funds and swap dealers, have over the energy markets.

More after the jump.

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U.S Rep. Bob Etheridge may not be that close to Barack Obama, but his former staffers are.

Two former staffers for the Lillington Democrat are now working for the Democratic National Committee, according to the Washington Posts' The Fix blog.

Brad Woodhouse served as a policy aide and then press secretary Etheridge's for nearly five years before leaving to work for Erskine Bowles' 2002 campaign against Elizabeth Dole. He previously worked for Gov. Jim Hunt's administration.

He will now share communications duties at the national party with other staffers.

Woodhouse has a close relationship with Robert Gibbs, a spokesman with Obama's campaign. Gibbs worked as Etheridge's press secretary, leaving to join John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign and later the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

When he left that job, he was replaced by Woodhouse.

How closely tied are North Carolina's Congressional Democrats to their presidential nominee?

Though all but one of the state's seven Democratic representatives will cast their superdelegate vote for Barack Obama, they're at slightly different levels.

Here's where they stand, from closest to least close:

G.K. Butterfield: Switched endorsement from John Edwards before the South Carolina primary. Stumped in Tennessee, Louisiana and Georgia. Participated in multiple teleconferences. Talked to reporters. Served on "Truth Squad." Attended rallies. District backed Obama by 63 percent. Name-checked in acceptance speech. Still working.

David Price: Defended Obama. Endorsed before primary, after Edwards dropped out. Participated in teleconferences. District backed Obama by 66 percent. Name-checked in acceptance speech. Still working. 

Mel Watt: Previously skeptical of black candidate's chances. Endorsed before primary, after Edwards dropped out. Participated in teleconferences. Served on "Truth Squad." District backed Obama by 78 percent. Name-checked in acceptance speech.

Brad Miller: Wife sat behind Obama for acceptance speech. District backed Obama by 63 percent Stayed neutral before primary, endorsed shortly afterward.

Bob Etheridge: District backed Obama. Stayed neutral before primary. Endorsed Obama the day before Clinton dropped out. Attended Obama rally.

Mike McIntyre: District backed Clinton. Stayed neutral before primary. Endorsed Obama the day before Clinton dropped out.

Heath Shuler: Received $10,000 from Obama's PAC in 2006. District backed Clinton. Endorsed Clinton after primary. Staff says he's been too busy to think about race since then.

The state's Congressional Democrats endorsed Kay Hagan.

The seven U.S. representatives issued a joint endorsement of the Democratic nominee, who faces U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in November.

"Kay Hagan has a decade-long record of effectiveness in the North Carolina state Senate, and has earned the distinction of being one of the Senate's top 10 most effective lawmakers for three consecutive terms," said U.S. Rep. David Price in a statement. "She's a work horse, not a show horse."

Along with Price, U.S. Reps. Mel Watt, Mike McIntyre, Bob Etheridge, Brad Miller, G.K. Butterfield and Heath Shuler backed Hagan.

"I'm so honored to receive these endorsements," Kay said. "I'm looking forward to working with them in my campaign and of course, when I am up in Washington working in the U.S. Senate."

Barack Obama recognized Democratic pols in the crowd.

At the N.C. State Fairgrounds today, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee recognized Gov. Mike Easley, John and Elizabeth Edwards, U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge and G.K. Butterfield.

He also noted the three Democratic governors being escorted by Edwards: Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Gov. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre joined the Obama cause today, pledging his support for the Illinois senator.

Barack Obama secured the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night with the last primaries, but McIntyre waited a few days for his endorsement, Barb Barrett reports.

Although Hillary Clinton carried McIntyre's southeastern North Carolina district in the May 6 primary, McIntyre had told both candidates he wanted to let the national primary process play itself out before making his choice.

"I will be supporting Sen. Obama," McIntyre said in an interview this afternoon. "It has been a robust exchange of ideas, and it has been a healthy process."

Obama tried several times last weekend to reach the Democratic superdelegate for a last-minute endorsement, but the pair kept missing one another, in part because of a storm that knocked out power in McIntyre's Lumberton home.

More after the jump.

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