By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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Stumble It!
WASHINGTON-It's almost guaranteed that when Rep. Health Shuler's opponents criticize him, they'll knock his football career.
So it was no surprise to see a football-related slam from a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid after Shuler said House and Senate leaders had failed to craft a truly bipartisan stimulus package.
"Let me get this straight -- this is coming from a guy who threw more than twice as many interceptions than touchdowns?" Reid spokesman Jim Manley asked a reporter for Politico.
As everyone in his district surely knows, Shuler was a great quarterback in college at the University of Tennessee and a high NFL draft pick. But he was terrible during his four years in the pros, throwing 32 interceptions and 15 touchdowns.
Shuler's been out of football for more than a decade. Perhaps it's time to come up with some new attacks.
COFFIN FLAGS
Rep. Walter Jones, R-Farmville, got a boost last week for his push to allow the news media to photograph the flag-draped coffins of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Pentagon under President George Bush expanded a ban on the practice, which critics said was intended to shield the true cost of war from Americans.
A bill sponsored by Jones would force the military to reverse the policy and allow photographs of coffins when they return to the United States. This week, Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates both said they were reviewing the ban.
"If the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates said.
Jones also sponsored legislation last week to ban the importation of American flags made in other countries, especially China.
"Especially at a time when our nation's economy is hurting, it is just plain common sense that the American flag...should be manufactured here in the United States," Jones said.
TEXTILE AMENDMENT
An amendment sponsored by Rep. Larry Kissell, D-Biscoe, that would force the Homeland Security Department to buy uniforms made in the United States survived in the stimulus package that passed the House and Senate last week.
Kissell's measure was sponsored in previous years by Rep. Robin Hayes, the Republican he defeated in the fall, but it never passed.
Free traders worried that the Homeland Security provision, along with another giving a boost to the domestic steel industry, would cause problems with big trading partners like China.
Kissell's amendment was in the House bill but not in the Senate's version. A conference committee that worked out differences included the measure in the final version that passed last week.
STANDING OVATION
When Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., announced this week that he would not serve as President Barack Obama's Commerce Secretary, he cited irreconcilable differences with the new administration over economic issues and the census.
Minority advocacy groups were concerned that Gregg would undercount blacks and Hispanics, so the White House decided to directly oversee the census.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Cherryville, blasted that move as a partisan power grab, and his vocal criticism helped bring more attention to the issue.
Gregg's withdrawal was seen as an embarrassment for Obama, who wanted another Republican in his cabinet.
At a party caucus meeting, McHenry's Republican colleagues gave McHenry a standing ovation for drawing public attention to the census issue.
(Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668)
So it was no surprise to see a football-related slam from a top aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid after Shuler said House and Senate leaders had failed to craft a truly bipartisan stimulus package.
"Let me get this straight -- this is coming from a guy who threw more than twice as many interceptions than touchdowns?" Reid spokesman Jim Manley asked a reporter for Politico.
As everyone in his district surely knows, Shuler was a great quarterback in college at the University of Tennessee and a high NFL draft pick. But he was terrible during his four years in the pros, throwing 32 interceptions and 15 touchdowns.
Shuler's been out of football for more than a decade. Perhaps it's time to come up with some new attacks.
COFFIN FLAGS
Rep. Walter Jones, R-Farmville, got a boost last week for his push to allow the news media to photograph the flag-draped coffins of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Pentagon under President George Bush expanded a ban on the practice, which critics said was intended to shield the true cost of war from Americans.
A bill sponsored by Jones would force the military to reverse the policy and allow photographs of coffins when they return to the United States. This week, Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates both said they were reviewing the ban.
"If the needs of the families can be met, and the privacy concerns can be addressed, the more honor we can accord these fallen heroes, the better," Gates said.
Jones also sponsored legislation last week to ban the importation of American flags made in other countries, especially China.
"Especially at a time when our nation's economy is hurting, it is just plain common sense that the American flag...should be manufactured here in the United States," Jones said.
TEXTILE AMENDMENT
An amendment sponsored by Rep. Larry Kissell, D-Biscoe, that would force the Homeland Security Department to buy uniforms made in the United States survived in the stimulus package that passed the House and Senate last week.
Kissell's measure was sponsored in previous years by Rep. Robin Hayes, the Republican he defeated in the fall, but it never passed.
Free traders worried that the Homeland Security provision, along with another giving a boost to the domestic steel industry, would cause problems with big trading partners like China.
Kissell's amendment was in the House bill but not in the Senate's version. A conference committee that worked out differences included the measure in the final version that passed last week.
STANDING OVATION
When Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., announced this week that he would not serve as President Barack Obama's Commerce Secretary, he cited irreconcilable differences with the new administration over economic issues and the census.
Minority advocacy groups were concerned that Gregg would undercount blacks and Hispanics, so the White House decided to directly oversee the census.
Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-Cherryville, blasted that move as a partisan power grab, and his vocal criticism helped bring more attention to the issue.
Gregg's withdrawal was seen as an embarrassment for Obama, who wanted another Republican in his cabinet.
At a party caucus meeting, McHenry's Republican colleagues gave McHenry a standing ovation for drawing public attention to the census issue.
(Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668)