Keeping track of McHenry

There are many ways to evaluate your congressman. Here are just a few:

Govtrack concludes:

Patrick McHenry has sponsored 12 bills since Jan 4, 2005, of which 11 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 1 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). McHenry has co-sponsored 268 bills during the same time period (Few, relative to peers).

Open Secrets gives a great financial overview of the special interests that back McHenry:

1 Commercial Banks $94,249
2 Leadership PACs $90,913
3 Real Estate $85,741
4 Health Professionals $82,800
5 Insurance $75,000
6 Retired $48,365
7 Securities & Investment $48,250
8 Beer, Wine & Liquor $37,300
9 Lawyers/Law Firms $33,033
10 Accountants $32,314
11 Finance/Credit Companies $29,250
12 Retail Sales $28,900
13 Pro-Israel $27,500
14 Food & Beverage $25,300
15 Textiles $24,700
16 Misc Manufacturing & Distributing $23,700
17 Lobbyists $21,000
18 Automotive $18,500
19 Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $16,250
20 Electric Utilities $16,000

I highly recommend you explore the open secrets site for other McHenry nuggets like this one on personal finances:

Net Worth: $301,018 to $877,000

And this one on top contributors:

1 National Beer Wholesalers Assn $25,000
2 American Bankers Assn $18,000
3 Bank of America $16,999
4 Commscope Inc $15,900
5 Wachovia Corp $15,250
6 Every Republican is Crucial PAC $15,000
7 Independent Community Bankers of America $12,000
8 Hickory Furniture Mart $11,100
9 Patrick Yarns $11,000
9 Reynolds American $11,000
11 KPMG LLP $10,704
12 Desert Caucus $10,000
12 Independent Insurance Agents of America $10,000
12 National Auto Dealers Assn $10,000
12 Outback Steakhouse $10,000
16 Freedom Project $9,999
17 American Society of Anesthesiologists $8,500
18 General Electric $8,250
19 Corning Inc $8,050
20 NorPAC $8,000

Project Vote Smart falsely claims this background for Pat:

Professional Experience:
Sales, Small Business
Special Assistant, United States Department of Labor.

but let's not hold that against them. On the positive side, Project Vote Smart has a great section on how interests groups rate him, his voting records, and his public statements and speeches.

They also have a survey on their positions on the issues but since Pat hasn't answered it, there's a spot to request he do so. That might be worth a few clicks on your keyboard. Congressmen respond more to constituents than to government watchdog groups.