U.S. Rep. Howard Coble has $525,373 in his campaign account.

Coble, a Greensboro Republican, has received $25,311 in individual contributions and $117,165 from political action committees in his bid to keep his seat, according to federal campaign finance records.

Contributors include Roger Milliken of Spartanburg, S.C., CEO of the Milliken & Co. Textile company ($2,400);  Allen Gant of Burlington, an executive at textile maker Glen-Raven Mills ($1,000); the Major League Baseball PAC ($5,000); the National Football League's Gridiron PAC ($4,000) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association PAC ($5,000).

Coble is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees aspects of professional sports leagues.

Here's a summary of what members of Congress had in their campaign accounts through September 2009. The remaining members of the state's delegation will be added to the list.

G.K. Butterfield: $231,000.

Howard Coble: $525,000.

Bob Etheridge: $1 million.

Virginia Foxx: $1.1 million.

Walter Jones: $127,766.

Larry Kissell: $244,000. Businessman Lou Huddleston has raised $57,641 from individuals and loaned himself $45,125. Tim D'Annunzio, who owns a skydiving business, has loaned himself $303,000 and raised $8,400. Hamlet resident Darrell Day has raised $30 and loaned himself $3,000. Republican Thomas Sweeney has not reported raising any money.

Patrick McHenry: $158,000. Iredell County Commissioner Scott Keadle has loaned himself $250,000 to challenge McHenry for the Republican nomination.

Mike McIntyre: $824,917. Republican Will Breazeale has received $3,800 in individual contributions and has $400 in his campaign account.

Brad Miller: $148,000. Challenger William Randall II has not reported raising any money.

David Price: $218,000. Republican challenger Frank Roche has raised $10,879, mostly through individual contributions. Republican George Hutchins has loaned himself $5,000.

Heath Shuler: $1.1 million.

Mel Watt: $140,000.

No, not the kind you're thinking about.

In this case, we're talking about what's known as "the other white meat."

Seven of North Carolina’s members of Congress have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect the pork industry from its economic troubles by buying $100 million worth of meat for the USDA’s federal food assistance programs.

In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, they say the recession and the recent swine flu outbreak have hurt the industry. The lawmakers thanked Vilsack for his push earlier this year to call the swine flu virus H1N1 to disassociate it from pork products, but they said the impacts of the scare have hurt the industry.

The letter notes that USDA already has announced $30 million in purchases through the end of the fiscal year, reports Barb Barrett.

“We asking for additional help with the economic crisis the U.S. pork industry currently faces,” the letter reads. “Without your assistance, we are putting thousands of rural jobs and businesses at risk.”

The N.C. lawmakers are Democratic U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge, Larry Kissell, Mike McIntyre, Brad Miller and G.K. Butterfield, along with Republican U.S. Reps. Howard Coble and Walter Jones. Fifty-five other lawmakers also signed the letter.

They want Vilsack to use $100 million to buy pork for federal food assistance programs, with an emphasis on sow meat to reduce breeding stock.

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* North Carolina's air quality this summer was the best it's been in more than three decades — the combined result of environmental laws, balmy weather and the recession.

The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Monday that the state had just six "code orange" days in which ground-level ozone levels exceeded federal clean air standards. That's the lowest number since some local governments began tracking air quality in the state in the early 1970s. In the summer of 2008, the state had 36 days of unhealthy ozone levels, and 66 the year before that.

The primary reason for the decline in ozone levels is lower emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles, according to DENR. The state's Clean Smokestacks Act of 2002 required the state's 14 coal-burning plants to cut ozone-forming emissions by three-fourths by 2012. Coal is used to generate more than half the state's electricity. (N&O)

* U.S. Rep, Howard Coble has some problems with a plan to open up a host of new Internet domain names.

Coble, a Greensboro Republican, co-wrote a letter to the nonprofit organization that oversees internate domains such as .com or .org.

Coble’s interest extends in large part from his work on intellectual property rights.

Among the concerns, companies with recognizable brand names worry they’ll have to rush into a new cyberspace land grab to avoid others from squatting on their trademarks. Home Depot, for example, may find itself not only needing to hold onto homedepot.com but names like home.depot. (GN-R)

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican, criticized the national media this morning for what he called a lack of coverage on the ACORN scandal.

ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now) came under criticism after two activists, posing as a prostitute and her pimp, secretly recorded some of the group’s employees offering advice on how to fill out tax returns for an illegal business, Barb Barrett reports.

In the wake of the scandal, Congress pulled federal funding for the organization.

In his brief speech during the House of Representatives’ "one-minutes" this morning, Coble said the national media should report the facts.

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U.S. Rep. Howard Coble is among the top recipients of campaign money this year from the National Football League, according to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks spending in Washington.

Coble, a Greensboro Republican, was one of seven House members to receive $5,000 this year from the organization's PAC, reports Barb Barrett.

That amount eclipses even U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat who used to play quarterback for the Washington Redskins. Shuler received $1,000 this year, according to the study.

Coble spokesman Ed McDonald said the NFL held a breakfast for Coble early this year.

McDonald said it makes sense the NFL would support Coble. He is the top Republican on the Judiciary subcommittee that handles matters of antitrust.

McDonald added that Coble also received $5,000 from Major League Baseball.

Rep. Howard Coble says it bothers him when people say that Republicans are trying to derail health care reform.

In an interview with Washington News Observer, Coble, a Greensboro Republican, said that Democrats have the numbers to do what they want in Congress. The responsibility for passing, or failing to pass, a health care bill is theirs, he said.

"Now I'm annoyed when some people say, 'Well if we don't get a health care plan it'll be the Republicans fault.' Well do the mathematics on that. The Democrats not only have the majority, they have the leverage," Coble said.

North Carolina Public Television is planning a call-in show on health care that will be brought to you by the letters "D" and "R."

UNC-TV intends to air the live show 9 p.m. Tuesday. All members of the state's congressional delegation have been invited. So far, Democratic Reps. David Price, Bob Etheridge, Brad Miller and Mel Watt have accepted, according to a UNC-TV spokesman. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican confirmed his participation Thursday afternoon.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D), and Reps. G.K. Butterfield (D), Howard Coble (R), Virginia Foxx (R), Walter Jones (R), Sue Myrick (R), Mike McIntyre (D) and Heath Shuler (D) have declined the recently issued invitations.

Reps. Larry Kissell (D) and Patrick McHenry (R) have not yet responded.

Perhaps UNC-TV should sweeten the pot with a few tote bags and mugs.

Update: Post includes updated list of who has decided to participate. 

The Club for Growth’s new report card on congressional earmarks gives perfect scores to just one North Carolina Republican.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk voted 68 times to eliminate specific projects around the country that had been inserted into spending bills by her congressional colleagues. Earmarks, which are projects funded by directed spending by individual members of Congress, have been targeted by several government watchdog groups, including Club for Growth, a think tank in Washington that supports economic prosperity, Barb Barrett reports.

The group rated members on how often they supported amendments that would have eliminated specific projects around the country for programs such as research initiatives, hospital rehabilitations, cultural grants and small business assistance. Among North Carolina’s other members, Republican Reps. Patrick McHenry scored 99 percent, Sue Myrick scored 97, and Howard Coble scored 84. At the other end of the spectrum, Democrats Mel Watt, David Price, Mike McIntyre, Larry Kissell and Bob Etheridge each scored a zero.

U.S. Rep. Howard Coble announced this afternoon that he plans to vote against health care reform legislation moving through Congress.

Coble, a Greensboro Republican, said the bill under consideration in the House amounts to a government takeover of health care.

"This will eventually limit patient choice and increase the cost of insurance premiums," Coble said in a press release.