You can add Vance Patterson to the list of Republican candidates for Congress who do not think much of Rep. Patrick McHenry’s proposed legislation to change the face of the $50 bill.

Last week, McHenry submitted a bill with 13 GOP co-sponsors to remove former President Ulysses S. Grant from the $50 note and replace his mug with former President Ronald Reagan.

Now, two of McHenry’s rivals, Iredell County dentist Scott Keadle and Patterson, have shot back. Keadle asserted that McHenry was “pandering” to voters while ignoring the dire unemployment situation in the district.

Meanwhile, Patterson, a Morganton businessman, offered a statement that claimed McHenry, “is up to the old tricks ‘professional politicians’ play in election years.”

McHenry contends that Reagan should be memorialized as a hero of the latter part of the 20th century. He has noted that historians consistently rank Grant as a below-average president, while giving Reagan high marks.

Patterson, a Reagan admirer, thinks McHenry is off-target.

“To use a great American like Ronald Reagan to get votes in an economically devastated district is nothing short of shameful,” Patterson said in a statement released to the media. “(There are) 13.6 percent of our neighbors who don’t have a $50 bill to look at because they are unemployed.”

The candidate added the proposal proves there is a need for mandated term limits and said McHenry is a part of a network of “professional politicians.”

“At election time, they suddenly descend on the voters with emotional appeals and irrational actions,” Patterson said. “Well, 10th District voters know when a politician is grandstanding rather than leading to improve the district and the country.”

McHenry, a Cherryville resident who is seeking a fourth two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives, is being challenged by Michael Boldon, a Maiden councilman, Keadle and Patterson for the GOP nomination.

Early voting is scheduled to begin April 15 and continue through May 1. The primary election is set for May 4.

McHenry honored by taxpayers group

While his rivals were castigating his money plan, McHenry was recognized this past week as a “Friend of the Taxpayer” by the National Taxpayers Union and received the organization’s 2009 Taxpayers Friend Award.

According to NTU, rankings are based on votes affecting taxes, spending and debt.

“Since being elected, I’ve fought against wasteful spending in Washington and believe strongly that in order for businesses to help turn around our current economic crisis they need a stable tax environment that doesn’t punish them for creating jobs and earning a profit,” McHenry stated in a press release.

In accepting the award, McHenry reiterated his opposition to the economic policies of President Barack Obama and the Democratic-led Congress.

“While President Obama has pushed his failed jobs policy, business owners have held back from creating new jobs because they are scared of the President’s cap-and-trade taxes, the future burden they will have from (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi’s unpopular health care bill and liberal Democrats’ insistence on raising taxes,” McHenry stated.

Fischer loses campaign staff

Of course, the worst political week appears to have belonged to Anne Fischer, a Morganton Democrat who is seeking her party’s nomination to challenge the GOP in the fall for the 10th District House seat.

Fischer, who lost to McHenry in the 2004 general election for Congress, had two campaign staffers – manager Will Bigger and communications director Brandon Greeson – quit.

In an e-mailed letter, Bigger said Fischer is not qualified to represent the 10-county district that includes Caldwell, Catawba and Burke counties.

“Anne cites her Ivy League education and master’s degree in this campaign,” Bigger stated. “However, Anne cannot secure a job and she admittedly is in debt.”

Bigger also claimed Fischer consistently showed up late for events, stating “she believes that ‘the time she gets there is the time she is supposed to be there.’”

He closes by stating, “For the sake of the 10th District of North Carolina, I hope that one day a Democrat will be elected to serve the true values of the district...

“Anne’s not it, folks.”

Then on Friday, Greeson, who had assumed the campaign management role, submitted his resignation to the media.

“Personal and professional issues conflict with my ability to effectively serve Ms. Fischer and her campaign,” Greeson stated. “These issues include the recent resignation of my friend, Will Bigger, who also resigned on Tuesday. I will not engage in attacking Ms. Fischer or spotting to destroy her candidacy. I only with her and her campaign all the best.”

Fischer is being challenged for the nomination by Jeff Gregory of Shelby.