Carney replaces Carter

Delegates to the Buncombe County Democratic Party’s annual convention elected Emmet Carney their new chair on April 9, marking a quick and peaceful end to a race that had shifted rapidly in recent weeks. Several candidates had thrown their hats into the ring and then removed them, including Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell, former […]

Heath Shuler deserves our thanks

Environmental laws took a battering in the U.S. House last week as Republicans passed a continuing resolution … packed with provisions to roll back and de-fund a slew of federal rules aimed at controlling climate change and protecting clean air and water. Along with other provisions in the continuing resolution that passed were ones that […]

Call abortion what it is: murder

Congratulations to Rep. Heath Shuler for his courage in voting to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, [an organization that] deals with the torture and murder of pre-born babies under the polite words “abortion” and “choice.” … What about those babies who have died by the saline-solution procedure that burned the babies’ skin off […]

(Blue) Dog-ged

Rep. Heath Shuler defied national trends last year when, as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning district in a year that saw major GOP gains, he defeated Hendersonville businessman Jeff Miller by a 9 percent margin. While Shuler's caucus, the conservative Blue Dogs, lost more than half its membership, he not only survived but went on […]

Shuler on health care, Patriot Act vote, anti-abortion bill and more

Rep. Heath Shuler bucked national trends when he won re-election last year. In the new Congress, the conservative Democrat voted against the repeal of healthcare reform, voted to extend the Patriot Act, co-sponsored anti-abortion legislation that originally sought to redefine rape, and has had high-profile disagreements with the Democratic leadership. Shuler talks about all these issues — and more — with Xpress.

The Beat: Getting the Statehouse in order

A look at what’s been making headlines: The North Carolina General Assembly continued to claim the spotlight last week as Republicans took control of both the House and Senate for the first time in more than a century. In other political news, Rep. Heath Shuler made waves by getting appointed to the powerful House Committee on the Budget. He also got made fun of in the famed Doonesbury comic strip. And in national attention of a different sort, news outlets nationwide reported that Fodors listed Asheville as a top travel destination.

Shuler lands major financial post, introduces redistrict­ing reform legislatio­n

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler (D) of Western North Carolina’s District 11 has been appointed to the powerful House Budget Committee, which is responsible for setting federal spending priorities and proposing an annual federal budget for the country. And in legislative action, the WNC congressman has introduced a reform bill to require independent, bipartisan congressional redistricting.