• Influence
• Longevity

Richard Burr

Senator Representing North Carolina

Throwing reality to the curb, Senator Tom Coburn and Senator Richard Burr, our Member of the Week, recently announced a plan outlining major reductions in Medicare spending – the plan would reduce Medicare spending between $300 billion and $1 trillion in the next decade by requiring the current fee-for-service government program to compete with private plans, introducing a premium-support plan in 2016.  Moreover, the plan would increase Medicare eligibility age to 67 for people born after 1959, amongst other facets.

Aside from the details, the real issue with proposed plan is its timing.  Rolling out a major Medicare-reform bill less than a year before a presidential election has some Republicans worried about a potential political hit similar to the same one seen after House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan offered a budget that would have replaced the Medicare system with government subsidies for people to use to purchase insurance.

Senator Burr acknowledges this, saying, “They’re [Republicans] probably going to be pretty nervous” but that it would done to “educate” their colleagues as to why this plan was urgent.

Richard Mauze Burr was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on November 30, 1955.  Burr is the 12^th cousin of Aaron Burr, the former Vice-President, Senator, lawyer, and Continental Army officer known most for defeating Alexander Hamilton in an 1804 duel.  He is the first Burr in the Senate – and only the second person with his last name to win election to Congress.  Despite the famous lineage, there are no longer any direct descendants of Aaron Burr.

Burr graduated from Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem in 1974 and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University in 1978.  At both institutions, Burr was on the football team.  Prior to running for Congress in 1992, Burr worked for 17 years as a sales manager for Carswell Distributing Company, a distributor of lawn equipment.

Before perfecting his trade in the Senate, Burr was a member of the House.  In 1992, he ran against incumbent Democratic Representative Stephen L. Neal and lost.  He gave it the old college try again in 1994 after Rep. Neal chose not to seek re-election and was elected to Congress in the midst of a national Republican electoral landslide.  Running on a platform that advocated accountability for the federal government, lower health care costs, economic development, and strong school systems, Burr won in 1994, and every subsequent election with sizeable margins.

In July 2004, Burr put his political winning streak on the line in the Republican primary in a bid for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat John Edwards.  After winning, Burr faced Democrat Erskine Bowles and Libertarian Tom Bailey.  In what became the one of the most expensive Senate races in the country – Burr and Bowles’ combined campaign expenditures totaled over $26 million – Burr would win by five percentage points.  Burr raised more money from political action committees – $2.8 million – than any other Senate candidate in 2004.

A fundraising machine, Burr has the financial backing to cement his stay in Senate – though you’d never know by his car – a 1974 Volkswagen Thing.

Described as non-controversial and non-remarkable, Burr espouses most of the Republican Party’s expected positions.  He voted against the financial reform bill the Restoring Financial Stability Act of 2010 but voted in favor of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (Burr and John Ensign were the only Senators who voted against cloture but voted in support of the final passage).

Burr is opposed to abortion rights, supports second amendment gun rights and the death penalty, and favors a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.  He also co-sponsored a bill prohibiting the creation of human-animal hybrids.

Not possible in real life, according to Senator Burr

Burr’s reelection 2010 was historic.  He became the first Republican since Jesse Helms to be re-elected to the Senate from North Carolina.  He also broke the “curse” that his seat held, being the first Senator re-elected to the seat since 1968.  Formidable in fundraising and immune to curses, Senator Burr fits quite well into the rank and file of the Republican Party.  His risky proposal of Medicare reform is the sign of man confident in his beliefs and his hold on power.

–Amendment202

Did you enjoy our profile on Senator Richard Burr, check out our other Members of the Week!