One way to make Hayes look weak: hold him up next to a real Congressman

Fayetteville Online has a piece up describing a recent visit with two members of our delegation in D.C.: Robin Hayes and Bob Etheridge. What it reveals about the two men is telling, despite the author's noticeable slant to the right.

Topic number one is security, and Etheridge goes first:

Legislation that Etheridge sponsored will change how FEMA works as part of the Department of Homeland Security. The intent is to make FEMA’s top administrator an assistant secretary within the Department of Homeland Security. The administrator will be appointed by the president. To make the job less political, that person "must have first responder experience," Etheridge said.

Next up, Hayes:

Security is also a top issue at the offices of U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes. The first thing a visitor sees upon entering Hayes’ suite in the Cannon Office Building is a poster from the 82nd Airborne, proclaiming it America’s 911 call center.

So Etheridge is trying to reform a broken system, but Hayes has a poster. That's not selective quoting, folks. That's all the article has to say on Hayes and security (except to add that "[n]ational security and the military are among's [sic] Hayes' favorite topics.")

Topic number two is education. We have a swipe at Etheridge: "One would have thought that [education] would have been Etheridge’s primary topic. He served as the state’s superintendent of public instruction for eight years." I think the author has crafted a statement stupid enough that it requires no comment.

Hayes, meanwhile, is taking credit for things he didn't do. The focus is on the recent change to No Child Left Behind that lets North Carolina and Tennessee to track individual students' performance (in addition to the group metrics that have been used so far). The change was allowed by the Department of Education, as described in this NYTimes piece (free subscription required), and not, as the Fayetteville Online author seems to think, thanks to Hayes. In fact, run a quick Google News search on "robin hayes" + "no child left behind" and, as of right now, exactly one article shows up—the Fayetteville Online article now under discussion. Let's hear it for fact checking.

Topic three: ethanol.

The representatives also agreed about encouraging the production and sale of alternative fuels such as E-85, a blend of gasoline and ethanol. A bill by Hayes would give incentives to make and sell E-85. A bill by Etheridge is more comprehensive. It includes provisions for bio-diesel fuel.

When it comes to cutting the federal gas tax, Hayes is all for it. (I imagine him thinking something like "people don't like taxes, right? I'd better say cut it," but it's probably automatic by now.) Etheridge seems to have a better understanding of what actually goes on in government, and points out that those taxes pay for road maintenance.

The author leaves us with this head-scratcher before moving on to other victims subjects:

Etheridge said it’s not that simple. Cutting the revenue would mean less money for road maintenance. Just last week, he said North Carolina officials were in Washington lobbying for more federal funding. For every $1 of gasoline tax, only 91 cents comes back to the state.

"Only"? You give a dollar to the federal government and you get back $0.91 and that's "only"? So here's a federal program that collects money from taxpayers and sends more than 90% back to the states for road maintenance, and Hayes wants to kill it. You've got to wonder whether he had any understanding of where those funds go and how North Carolina would suffer if they were pulled when he spoke to the reporter.