By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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Stumble It!
WASHINGTON—What did Virginia Foxx have for dinner Thursday night on the plane from Washington to North Carolina?
If you were one of the 670 people following the Banner Elk Republican on Twitter, you’d know: tomato juice and crackers.
Foxx is among members of Congress using the micro-blogging service – twitter.com – to reveal in real time major and minor, mostly minor, details of their lives.
“Am at Mt Airy HS to honor football team. What a joy! Many being recognized. One of best parts of job,” she wrote Friday.
When she introduced legislation last week to require federal agencies to report the amount of money spent providing services in languages other than English, her Twitter followers were among the first to know.
Lawmakers are generally long-winded. One benefit of Twitter: It forces them to squeeze their thoughts into 140 characters per entry.
Which leads to reports like this from Foxx:
“Am about to handle Rule on housing bill. New rule worse than old. What a sham. Deserves "emperor's new clothes award". Watch on c span.”
MOVING ON
Sen. Richard Burr, R-Winston-Salem, is losing his press secretary, Chris Walker.
Walker, a Tennessee native, is moving to Nashville to work for former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on a project reforming the state’s education system.
“Bittersweet to be leaving, but it's a chance to get home,” Walker wrote in an e-mail.
BIG TARGET
As a freshman congressman who took a seat from an incumbent Republican last fall, Rep. Larry Kissell, D-Biscoe, has a big target on his back for 2010.
For members of Congress, the most difficult re-election bid is always the first. If they survive the sophomore challenge, they are generally safe for many years.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is scrutinizing every Kissell vote and statement for campaign ad fodder next year.
Since January, Republicans have been trying to paint Kissell as a free-spending liberal with his vote in favor of the economic stimulus package.
And earlier this month, they sent out a scathing press release saying Kissell had been “rejected” from joining the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats.
One problem: It wasn’t true. Though Kissell is not a member of the Blue Dogs, he never asked to join and was never rejected, according to the group.
EARMARKS
The $410 billion spending bill Congress passed last week drew a lot of fire from opponents of earmarks, who complained that it was packed with lawmakers’ pet projects.
And it put some House members – like Rep. Howard Coble, R-Greensboro – in a bit of a tight spot.
Coble bragged that he brought $4.5 million to his district through earmarks to fund a runway expansion at Burlington-Alamance County Regional Airport, upgrade an emergency communications system and other projects.
At the same time, Coble, a fiscal conservative, felt compelled to explain his support of the controversial funding mechanism.
“As long as earmarks remain a part of the legislative funding process, I would be doing a disservice to the citizens of the 6th District by not seeking funding for worthwhile projects,” Coble said in a statement.
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.
If you were one of the 670 people following the Banner Elk Republican on Twitter, you’d know: tomato juice and crackers.
Foxx is among members of Congress using the micro-blogging service – twitter.com – to reveal in real time major and minor, mostly minor, details of their lives.
“Am at Mt Airy HS to honor football team. What a joy! Many being recognized. One of best parts of job,” she wrote Friday.
When she introduced legislation last week to require federal agencies to report the amount of money spent providing services in languages other than English, her Twitter followers were among the first to know.
Lawmakers are generally long-winded. One benefit of Twitter: It forces them to squeeze their thoughts into 140 characters per entry.
Which leads to reports like this from Foxx:
“Am about to handle Rule on housing bill. New rule worse than old. What a sham. Deserves "emperor's new clothes award". Watch on c span.”
MOVING ON
Sen. Richard Burr, R-Winston-Salem, is losing his press secretary, Chris Walker.
Walker, a Tennessee native, is moving to Nashville to work for former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on a project reforming the state’s education system.
“Bittersweet to be leaving, but it's a chance to get home,” Walker wrote in an e-mail.
BIG TARGET
As a freshman congressman who took a seat from an incumbent Republican last fall, Rep. Larry Kissell, D-Biscoe, has a big target on his back for 2010.
For members of Congress, the most difficult re-election bid is always the first. If they survive the sophomore challenge, they are generally safe for many years.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is scrutinizing every Kissell vote and statement for campaign ad fodder next year.
Since January, Republicans have been trying to paint Kissell as a free-spending liberal with his vote in favor of the economic stimulus package.
And earlier this month, they sent out a scathing press release saying Kissell had been “rejected” from joining the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats.
One problem: It wasn’t true. Though Kissell is not a member of the Blue Dogs, he never asked to join and was never rejected, according to the group.
EARMARKS
The $410 billion spending bill Congress passed last week drew a lot of fire from opponents of earmarks, who complained that it was packed with lawmakers’ pet projects.
And it put some House members – like Rep. Howard Coble, R-Greensboro – in a bit of a tight spot.
Coble bragged that he brought $4.5 million to his district through earmarks to fund a runway expansion at Burlington-Alamance County Regional Airport, upgrade an emergency communications system and other projects.
At the same time, Coble, a fiscal conservative, felt compelled to explain his support of the controversial funding mechanism.
“As long as earmarks remain a part of the legislative funding process, I would be doing a disservice to the citizens of the 6th District by not seeking funding for worthwhile projects,” Coble said in a statement.
Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.