Walter Jones

How N.C. delegation voted, Part II

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:03:05 -0400

How often have North Carolina's members of Congress voted with President Bush?

Congressional Quarterly, a Washington-based news service, has compiled statistics based on votes taken in which the president has a clear position.

Here are the results of a recent study of all roll-call votes from Bush's inauguration until the August recess in 2008:

Republicans:

Rep. Sue Myrick: 89 percent
Sen. Richard Burr*: 88 percent
Sen. Elizabeth Dole*: 88 percent
Rep. Virginia Foxx*: 88 percent
Rep. Patrick McHenry*: 86 percent
Rep. Howard Coble: 77 percent
Rep. Robin Hayes: 72 percent
Rep. Walter Jones: 57 percent

Democrats:

Rep. Mike McIntyre: 40 percent
Rep. Bob Etheridge: 30 percent
Rep. David Price: 21 percent
Rep. Heath Shuler*: 19 percent
Rep. Brad Miller*: 18 percent
Rep. G.K. Butterfield*: 17 percent
Rep. Mel Watt: 13 percent

Members who were elected since 2001 are noted with an asterisk.

A recent post used the averages of each year's score by Congressional Quarterly, but a representative of the news service said that method is inaccurate.

Dole, Burr attend Raleigh event

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:56:19 -0400

U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr will be in Raleigh today.

The two senators will attend the AgFIRST! forum on food safety sponsored by the N.C. Department of Agriculture at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

They will be joined by U.S. Reps. Howard Coble, Walter Jones and Brad Miller. Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler is hosting the event.

The forum will focus on protecting state crops, responding to foreign animal diseases and developing programs for recalling tainted food.

Speakers include top officials with the Agriculture department, an assistant commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and representatives of Harris Teeter and Food Lion.

The event will be at the Kerr Scott building from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

How often N.C. delegation voted with Bush

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:43:26 -0400

How often have North Carolina's members of Congress voted with President Bush?

Congressional Quarterly, a Washington-based news service, has compiled statistics based on votes taken in which the president has a clear position.

Here are the averages since Bush took office through last year:

Republicans:

Sen. Elizabeth Dole*: 91.6 percent
Rep. Sue Myrick: 91.4 percent
Sen. Richard Burr*: 89.4 percent
Rep. Patrick McHenry*: 87.3 percent
Rep. Virginia Foxx*: 87 percent
Rep. Robin Hayes: 81.9 percent
Rep. Howard Coble: 79.6 percent
Rep. Walter Jones: 65 percent

Democrats:

Rep. Mike McIntyre: 50.7 percent
Rep. Bob Etheridge: 37.3 percent
Rep. David Price: 27.4 percent
Rep. G.K. Butterfield*: 24.8 percent
Rep. Heath Shuler*: 19 percent
Rep. Brad Miller*: 17.9 percent
Rep. Mel Watt: 16.1 percent

Members who were elected since 2001 are noted with an asterisk.

Dole has been in office since 2003. Burr's score is an average of his Senate score since 2005 (88.7 percent) and his House score from 2001-2004 (90 percent).

McHenry and Foxx have been in office since 2005, Butterfield since 2004, Shuler since 2007 and Miller since 2003.

Update: A representative of Congressional Quarterly said that averaging the yearly scores is mathematically incorrect. A complete tally of voting scores is available here.

Walter Jones' reading list

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:05:10 -0400

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones may be a fan of a new book urging the prosecution of George W. Bush.

The Washington Post reports that the Farmville Republican is likely the "conservative Southern
Congressman" who called Vincent Bugliosi on June 16 to say he is a big fan of his book.

The name of the book: "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder."

In a subsequent phone conversation, Bugliosi says he asked Mr. Southern Conservative Congressman if it would be better that the author not disclose the name of his biggest Republican fan on Capitol Hill. The congressman, according to Bugliosi, replied, "It's better that my name not come out at this point. But I promise you that after the election I'll be standing there by your side."

The book pushes the argument that Bush should be tried for murder for the invasion of Iraq.

Jones not on McCain train

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:23:18 -0400

John McCain's also got an empty seat on his train.

The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper, reported last night that at least 14 Republican members of Congress have refused to endorse or publicly support McCain, including one from North Carolina:

Many of the recalcitrant GOP members declined to detail their reasons for withholding support, but Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) expressed major concerns about McCain’s energy policies and Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cited the Iraq war. ... Jones, who has voted repeatedly with Democrats on Iraq, said he can’t back McCain until he gets “a better explanation of the plans for Iraq and more discussion on the economy.” Jones added that no one from McCain’s campaign has reached out to him.

Jones accepts border fence petition

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:44:27 -0400

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones today accepted a petition signed by 200,000 people calling for double-layered fencing along 700 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico to restrict illegal immigration.

The petition was presented by GrassFire.org, Rob Christensen reports. It urges Congressional action on a bill the Farmville Republican introduced in January requiring construction of the fence by next June.

"By fully funding a physicial fence across the U.S-Mexican border, and setting a date for completion, we can regain control of our nation’s borders and stop the flood if illegal immigration," said Jones, a Republican, said in a statement.

Among those joining Jones at a Washington news conference was Rep. Virginia Foxx.

Pelosi honors pledge to Jones

bkrueger — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:35:21 -0400

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi kept her pledge to Walter Jones.

Pelosi just called the U.S. House to order and observed a moment of silence in honor and memory of those killed or injured in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, reports Barb Barrett.

Jones, a Farmville Republican, asked Pelosi several weeks ago to begin each month’s legislative business with a moment of silence to the fallen. Just before the Memorial Day recess, Pelosi told him she would.

At 4:25 p.m., Pelosi gaveled the House to order and asked them to stand. The entire House was silent for a minute.

Pelosi likes Jones' moment of silence

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:09:36 -0400

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likes U.S. Rep. Walter Jones' idea to honor the fallen troops during monthly moments of silence in Congress.

Jones, a Farmville Republican, pitched legislation earlier this month as a way to honor those killed or wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barb Barrett reports. He wants a moment of silence on the first legislative day each month.

"Thank you for leadership," Pelosi wrote Jones this week. "Your idea is an excellent one and I plan to honor it when Congress returns."

Conservative Union: Foxx, McHenry tops

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:05:31 -0400

The American Conservative Union ranked two North Carolina representatives tops.

U.S. Reps. Patrick McHenry and Virginia Foxx both scored 100 percent on the conservative group's annual Congressional ratings — two out of only 62 representatives to land among its "best and brightest" for the 2007 session.

At the same time, four Congressional Democrats — Reps. David Price, Brad Miller, Mel Watt and G.K. Butterfield — scored 0 percent, landing among the group's "worst of the worst."

The ratings were based on votes on a minimum wage hike, stem-cell research, the Iraq war, Amtrak funding, earmark reform, border security, support of Planned Parenthood and energy policy, among other things.

The rest of the delegation was in between. Among Republicans, Rep. Sue Myrick scored a 96, Rep. Howard Coble an 83, Rep. Robin Hayes a 79, and Rep. Walter Jones a 71. Among Democrats, Reps. Mike McIntyre and Heath Shuler, both Blue Dog Democrats, scored 44 and Rep. Bob Etheridge an 8.

Sens. Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole both scored a 92.

The Domeys: Best Positive Ad

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:36:07 -0400

Who won the ad wars?

One measure is which candidate won. But the political ads are an art into themselves — great ads have been made for lousy candidates, and vice versa.

Which is why Under the Dome wants to recognize the work that went into those ubiquitous political commercials on TV.

The first category for a Domey is Best Positive Ad. (We define that as an ad that does not directly attack one's opponent, although it may make negative statements about "lobbyists" or "special interests.")

The nominees are:

Hillary Clinton: "Mike Easley," "Maya Angelou," "David," "Tammie," "Jewel," "N.C. Ask Me"

Barack Obama: "Minute," "Return," "In America," "Billy," "Turn It Off," "Nothing's Changed," "Need," "Join," "Enough"

Pat McCrory: "Change is Coming," "Jobs," "Immigration," "Caravan"

Beverly Perdue: "Andy Griffith," "Safe Schools," "Positive," "Generations," "Love and Faith"

Richard Moore: "Bulldog," "Challenge," "Studies," "Results"

Fred Smith: "Kitchen Table," "Immigration"

Bill Graham: "Together"

Kay Hagan: "Energy," "Roots"

Hampton Dellinger: "Real Change," "Meet Hampton"

Walter Dalton: "Walter Dalton"

Robert Pittenger: "Pork"

Walter Jones: "Pantano," "Border Security," "Military"

Janet Cowell: "Burned"

David Young: "Families," "Experience"

Wayne Goodwin: "Competence"

Post your vote in the comment thread below.