David Price

Price heads to Southeast Asia

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:01:14 -0500

U.S. Rep. David Price is heading to Southeast Asia this week.

The Chapel Hill Democrat will lead a bipartisan delegation to monitor the work of the Department of Homeland Security in the Phillippines, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

The trip is designed to give members of Congress a better understanding of the department's coordination with foreign governments to secure U.S.-bound cargo and work on anti-terrorism efforts and international adoption issues.

The delegation includes Democratic Reps. Sam Farr, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mike Honda and Mazie Hirono as well as Republican Rep. John Carter.

Most of the members sit on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, which Price chairs.

They were scheduled to meet with Phillippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, among other foreign leaders, during the trip.

N.C. Dems vocal about Dingell, or mum

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:02:14 -0500

During this two-week battle for power on the Energy and Commerce Committee, U.S. Rep. John Dingell of Michigan has been more open than U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman of California.

Dingell has been more willing to give interviews on the matter. He publicly announced a long list of supporters and slammed Waxman as a "left-wing Democrat" who doesn't understand manufacturing, Barb Barrett reports.

Waxman has stayed fairly quiet. And while he is close to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, another California representative, she didn't disclose publicly whom she supported either.

It was generally expected that Dingell would receive support from moderate and conservative Democrats, along with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Waxman was expected to win the backing of more liberal members.

Tough to say whether the differences in the candidates' style on transparency translates to caucus members' transparency on the vote itself, but let's review:

Reps. Mel Watt and Mike McIntyre both publicly supported Dingell. U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler was on his whip team. Both McIntyre and Shuler are conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield serves on Energy and Commerce under Dingell and was reportedly lobbying for him as well. Watt and Butterfield serve in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Reps. Brad Miller and David Price, along with Rep.-elect Larry Kissell, all declined to say who they supported.

(Butterfield, it should be said, also declined today to reveal his vote.)

The National Journal ranked Price in March as being more liberal than 90 percent of the House; it ranked Miller as being more liberal than 78 percent of House.

Rep. Bob Etheridge, a conservative Democrat who isn't a Blue Dog, hasn't yet responded to requests for comment on his vote.

Price mum on Dingell-Waxman vote

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:17:21 -0500

U.S. Rep. David Price isn’t saying who he supported to lead the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, has worked closely with Waxman on issues regarding private security contractors working in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Barb Barrett reports.

He also is a strong partisan who respects Democratic party rules. Those reward seniority.

Here’s what Price's spokesman, Paul Cox, had to say: "This internal party election was conducted through secret ballot."

Previously: Rep. Mel Watt backed John Dingell.

Which Congressman was most popular?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:49:18 -0500

Which North Carolina Congressman was most popular?

That depends on how you break down the numbers, but U.S. Rep. David Price clearly won the largest number of votes in the November elections.

The Chapel Hill Democrat snagged 265,751 votes. The next most popular were Reps. Sue Myrick (241,053), Brad Miller (221,379), Howard Coble (221,018) and Mel Watt (215,908).

The numbers are slightly different if you look at percentages, though.

From that perspective, Watt was the most popular, winning 71.6 percent of the vote, followed by Reps. G.K. Butterfield (70.3), Mike McIntyre (68.9), Coble (67) and Bob Etheridge (66.9).

Either way, the least popular was Rep.-elect Larry Kissell, who picked up just 157,185 votes, or 55.4 percent.

Generally speaking, the newer members of Congress were less popular than the older ones.

Price visits New York, Bloomberg

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:12:50 -0500

U.S. Rep. David Price traveled to New York City on Monday to take a look at how the city is protecting sites from radiological or nuclear attacks.

New York recently received $29.5 million for its "Securing the Cities" protection program. The federal project is to be expanded to other cities as well, Barb Barrett reports.

Price and three other members of Congress flew over sites by helicopter and visited Grand Central Station. Price also was a guest of Mayor Michael Bloomberg for dinner at the mayoral residence.

Such visits allow host cities to show how they're spending federal dollars and lobby for more funds. Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, holds the purse strings as chairman of the funding subcommittee for the Department of Homeland Security.

Price visited New York at the invitation of Rep. Steve Israel.

Anyone in N.C. going to D.C.?

bkrueger — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:31:50 -0500

Who will be the next treasury secretary? Who's going to be secretary of state? What about defense secretary?

Washington's favorite parlor game - Who will get the key jobs in Barack Obama's administration? - is in full swing.

Jim Morrill and Barb Barrett looked at some of the North Carolinians who might - and we stress, might - be in play for a post:

Former Gov. Jim Hunt: Could North Carolina's longtime "education governor" be considered for education secretary after stumping so hard for Obama in Eastern North Carolina?

Suzanne Reynolds: The Wake Forest University law professor lost her bid for a seat on the N.C. Supreme Court, but might she get a look for a seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, one step below the U.S. Supreme Court?

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield: The Wilson Democrat was the first member of North Carolina's delegation in the House to abandon John Edwards to support Obama. Might a federal judgeship be his reward?

Gov. Mike Easley: Easley has said he has little interest in Washington, and he initially supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. But he is about to be out of work. Might the former prosecutor get a look for a Justice department post?

Reggie Love: This one would seem to be a slam-dunk. Love, the former Duke University basketball and football player, was Obama's "body man" during the campaign. Hard to imagine he won't have a post waiting for him in the White House.

Karol Mason: A lawyer who sits on the UNC-Chapel Hill board of trustees, Mason is a close friend of Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. She was also on Obama's national finance committee. Some sort of policy post, perhaps?

Steve Lerner: The Chapel Hill venture capitalist hosted a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Obama way back in June 2007. Might such early support lead to an ambassadorship?

Jim Wynn: Wynn, just re-elected to his seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals, was nominated by President Clinton for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, but was blocked by U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Will Obama give him another chance?

U.S. Rep. David Price: The Chapel Hill Democrat leads the powerful Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, and has worked with Obama on legislation concerning private security contractors. Would he be willing to give up his seat in Congress for a spot at the Department of Homeland Security?

In the crowd at Obama rally

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:25:43 -0400

A handful of the state's top Democrats were at a Barack Obama rally today.

Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight, House Speaker Joe Hackney and U.S. Rep. David Price stayed for the entire speech in downtown Raleigh today, Rob Christensen reports.

Gov. Mike Easley and gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue were also at the rally, but had to leave early.

Lawson's 'Ripoff' ad on Price

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:02:49 -0400

An ad from Republican B.J. Lawson criticizes U.S. Rep. David Price over his support of a Wall Street bailout.

Lawson airing ads against Price

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:54:39 -0400

A Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. David Price is running T.V. ads thanks to help from Ron Paul.

Cary resident B.J. Lawson has raised more than $460,000 from more than 3,000 individuals in North Carolina and around the country, according to a campaign spokeswoman.

He raised more than $177,000 in a single day of fundraising, thanks in part to an e-mail sent to supporters of Paul, a Texas Congressman and former Republican presidential candidate.

The fundraising success has allowed Lawson to air a television ad, something typically not seen in races against Price, who has represented the heavily liberal district since 1987, losing only one race.

The Lawson campaign is airing the ad, which criticizes Price for supporting the recent Wall Street bailout, on several stations on Time-Warner Cable, including MSNBC, News 14 Carolina and B.E.T., according to campaign media consultant Gail Marold.

"The economy is still crashing," a narrator says. "This election, fire David Price. Vote Lawson for Congress."