by Jim Kouri, CPP - While overall, North Carolina politicians didn't fair well in a national survey, GOP Congresswoman Virginia Foxx's score was abysmal in comparison.
The latest annual report on Congressional power released by Knowlegis, a respected consulting firm showed disappointing results for NC politicians who ranked 44th in the nation. The firm looked at the politico's leadership position, direct and indirect influence, overall legislative activity and the number of earmarks secured for their respective states.
The average score of North Carolina's delegation was 17.07, giving the state a rank of 44th, according to the News Observer.
In the US Senate, Sen. Richard Burr scored 18.94, which gave him a ranking of 69. However, Sen. Elizabeth Dole scored worse with 13.39 and a 93 ranking.
Democrats tended to fare better than Republicans in the survey, according to the News Observer.
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Mel Watt scored 32.75, ranking 53rd; Rep. David Price scored 30.16, ranking 67th. The least influential congressional members from NC were Rep. Robin Hayes, who scored 9.56 and ranked 360th; and Rep. Virginia Foxx, who scored 6.49 and ranked 399th.
Meanwhile, last June, Rep. Foxx found herself in hotwater with the public-interest group Judicial Watch.
While posing as a diehard conservative, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) was fingered by the well-known watchdog group for a $550,000 allocation hidden in a transportation bill that would fund an obscure North Carolina teapot museum.
According to Judicial Watch, in its online publication Corruption Chronicles, politicians in both major political parties bring home millions of dollars every year for bogus projects by earmarking them onto large bills after legislation has already passed.
Congresswoman Foxx secured the $550,000 in federal money for the Sparta Teapot Museum in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The money was part of a Transportation/Treasury/HUD appropriations bill.
Also, taxpayer watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste identified nearly 10,000 projects in 11 appropriations bills, costing taxpayers $29 billion, some of which benefited Rep. Foxx.
Among them is $13.5 million for the International Fund for Ireland, which includes funding for the World Toilet Summit; $1 million for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative in Michigan; $234,000 for the Wild Turkey Federation in South Carolina and $550,000 for the Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington.
Conservative activists believe that this sort of government spending is underhanded and sneaky and that most taxpayers would forgo the projects in favor of balancing the federal deficit.
They believe political leaders such as Rep. Foxx are tyrannizing "regular guys" and more and more Americans are beginning to take notice which could make earmarks a thing of the past.
