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With summer coming to an end, members of Congress are cranking up their fund raising machines with events in D.C. at golf courses, in the mountains and at the beach.

Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk will hold a fund raiser on September 14th at the Associated General Contractors of America Townhouse in Washington. Cost is $1,000 for a political action committee.

On September 15, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro, will hold her monthly Women's Senate Network Lunch in Washington. Hagan is network chair, which is part of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which raises money for women Democratic senators and Senate candidates. donors can give as much as $30,800 to the events.

Republican Rep. Walter Jones of Farmville, will hold a two-day “fall fling” at The Sanderling Resort in Duck on Sept. 16th. Cost of the event for two days is $2,500 or one day is $1,000.

Republican Sen. Richard Burr will hold a fund raising golf outing for his Next Century Fund at the Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines Sept. 16-17th. The cost is $2,000 for a political action committee and $1,500 for an individual. The fund allows Burr to contribute money to other candidates.

Democratic Rep. Health Shuler of Bryson City will hold a Biltmore Estate Weekend Oct 21-23 in Asheville. Cost is $5,000.

Hat tip: The Sunlight Foundation.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Democrat from Haywood County, was the subject of a couple of Doonesbury panels as comic strip artist Garry Trudeau made a few points about members of Congress carrying weapons. 

Now,  it's come to our attention that another N.C. politician's words and deeds have become fodder for political humor. This time, it's Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Watauga County. Foxx is the subject of a video cartoon, titled "Foxx in the School House," over at Mother Jones magazine. See it here.

And if if you missed those Doonesbury strips on Shuler last week, see them at www.Doonesbury.com and search archives.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has contributed $5,000 to the campaign of Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

Romney, a presidential candidate in 2008 who is likely to run again in 2012, also had his political committee give money to GOP House members Howard Coble of Greensboro and Virginia Foxx of Banner Elk and candidates Harold Johnson, who is running in the 8th district against Rep. Larry Kissell and Jeff Miller, who is running in the 11th district against Rep. Heath Shuler.

Romney gave each of the House candidates $2,500, Rob Christensen reports.

In the 2008 GOP presidential primary, Burr supported Arizona Sen. John McCain.
 

An annual list of how members of Congress stack up, ideologically speaking, has U.S. Rep. Mel Watt as the most liberal member of the state's House delegation while U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry is the most conservative.

National Journal studied 97 roll-call votes that it used to establish where House members ranked in terms of how liberal or conservative they were.

Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, was among eight House members who were tied for the most liberal in the chamber. Watt was the 423rd most conservative House member.

McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, was the 17th most conservative member of the chamber and the 413th most liberal. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, was the 19th most conservative member and the 411th most liberal. 

No other members of the state's delegation cracked the top 20 as either conservative or liberal.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx is the richest member of the state's U.S. House delegation.

Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, has a minimum net worth of $2.4 million, according to an analysis of disclosure forms by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat is the second richest with $2.3 million in assets. U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell, a Biscoe Democrat, has a negative net worth of $2,000. Numbers reflect a minimum because members of Congress report a range of net worth.

Foxx: $2.4 million

Shuler: $2.3 million

Howard Coble, a Greensboro Republican: $945,000

David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat: $896,000

G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat: $786,000

Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat: $418,000

Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat: $330,000

Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican: $217,000

Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican: $167,000

Walter Jones, a Farmville Republican: $125,000

Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat: $65,000

Mike McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat: $18,000

Kissell: -$2,000

Hat tip: RTB

Update: Post now clarifies that the Roll Call analysis looked at members of the U.S. House and did not include the Senate. 

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.

Sue Myrick: $236,305.

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.

As the summer recess wound to a close, U.S. Reps. Heath Shuler, Mike McIntyre and Virginia Foxx talked about their problems with the health care reform bill currently in the U.S. House.

McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, told the Wilmington-Star News that he is concerned about the expense of the current house proposal as well as the public option insurance plan.

McIntyre pointed to recent projections that the United States will face a $9 trillion federal deficit during the next decade.

"And now, we’re looking at the possibility of a proposed new federal bureaucracy dumping another minimum one trillion more dollars on top of that," he said, referring to the estimate for the reform package over 10 years.

McIntyre also said funding is why he is uncertain about the much-debated public option for a new government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers.

"I’m not convinced yet that the public option is the way to go," he said. "The federal budget right now, we’re not in a position we can afford it."

Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, took questions on a talk radio show. Shuler said health care reform must not add to the federal deficit, focus on wellness and prevention and must start with an overhaul before millions of uninsured Americans are put into the health care system, the Asheville Citizen-Times reports.

More after the jump.

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. 

If money is the mother’s milk of politics, then Congressmen Health Shuler, a Democrat, and Virginia Foxx, a Republican, are the two members of the Tar Heel delegation who are well provisioned at the moment.

Both have over $1 million in their campaign war chests as of June 30, according to campaign reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission, Rob Christensen reports.

Shuler, a Bryson City Democrat whose name had been bandied about at one time as a potential U.S. Senate candidate, had $1.1 million in his campaign committee. Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk had $1,006,121.

The middle weights in campaign war chests were Democrat Bob Etheridge of Lillington ($895,137), Democrat Mike McIntyre of Lumberton ($696,540), Republican Howard Coble of Greensboro ($505,759), Democrat David Price of Chapel Hill ($271,619), Democrat G.K. Butterfield ($225,204), Democrat Larry Kissell of Bisco ($214,051) and Republican Sue Myrick of Charlotte ($160,751).

The light wallet crowd included Democrat Mel Watt of Charlotte ($123,767) Republican Patrick McHenry of Cherryville ($119,270), Republican Walter Jones of Farmville ($85,424) and Democrat Brad Miller of Raleigh ($70,654).

As far as fundraising during the past three months, the big three are Etheridge ($326,561), Kissell ($322,631) and Shuler ($314,753).

What does North Carolina's delegation talk about in Congress?

The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on government transparency, has created a fun new way to answer that question.

The Capitol Words project uses speeches recorded in the Congressional Record to measure the frequency of specific words used by each member of Congress.

Some results from the past year are obvious. Reps. G.K. Butterfied, Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler, Howard Coble and Bob Etheridge basically said "North Carolina" the most. 

Sen. Richard Burr, who is the ranking member of a Veterans Affairs committee, said the word "veterans" the most — some 277 times.

Rep. Walter Jones, who represents Camp Lejeune, said "Marine" 98 times, while Rep. David Price, who chairs an Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, said "security" 48 times.

Other results were a bit surprising. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican, said the word "Democrats" some 428 times — the most of any word used by the delegation. 

To see North Carolina's words by year, month and session, click here.