Rep. Howard Coble

I'm afraid this is bordering on elder abuse:

The campaign manager for Congressman Howard Coble said Monday that North Carolina Senate candidate Bobby Coffer did not get permission from Coble to run an advertisement that appeared to be an endorsement of Coffer. “If he wants to do that, then that’s fine with me. He has given me his permission and he has taken pictures with me and said he would help me anyway that I want him to help. I’ve known him for 20 years, so if he wants to change his mind, that’s up to him.”

If nothing else, this tiff between Berger and Coffer has revealed one truth: Howard Coble needs to retire.

Via Mark Binker's blog Capital Beat:

Even though he faced opposition in his recent primary from Tea Party-backed candidates, U.S. Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) said he has decided to join the new House Tea Party Caucus. Founded by Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), the Tea Party Caucus will promote many of the same ideals that Congressman Coble says he has advocated during his long tenure in Congress.

Congresswoman Bachmann said she formed the House Tea Party Caucus so everyday Americans could express their views to their members of Congress. “Congressmen will not be setting the rules;” the Minnesota Republican stated, “rather, Americans are encouraged to share their thoughts and frustrations with the direction our country is heading.

Bowing to the wishes of monopolistic beer & wine distributors:

the CARE Act, if passed, would erect large hurdles for anyone attempting to challenge a state’s wine-shipping laws through litigation by giving the 21st Amendment, which grants states the right to control alcohol sales, precedence over the Commerce Clause, the section in Article One that prohibits states from discriminating between in- and out-of-state commerce.

Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), who introduced the bill to the floor alongside Delahunt, has accepted $27,500 from the NBWA since 2005. The wholesaler associations invested most enthusiastically in Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)—the NBWA sent him $42,500 in five years, and the WSWA contributed an additional $4,000.