8th District candidates get endorsements

By GARY WECKSELBLATT
The Intelligencer

Joe the Plumber became Joe the Farmer on Thursday in Bedminster.

Tom Manion made the comparison as he accepted the endorsement of about 50 farmers on property owned by Ken and Judy Buck.

Calling them “the fabric of our country and our community,” Manion said he supports tax breaks to create opportunities for both Joe and Josephine the Farmer.

“The small farm is where I am,” he said. “These mega farms are not what we need.”

Manion, a Republican, is running against Democratic incumbent Patrick Murphy and independent Tom Lingenfelter for the 8th District congressional seat that includes all of Bucks County and a small piece of Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia.

The farmers were well aware of Murphy’s support for Sen. Barack Obama’s plan to increase taxes on people making $250,000 a year. They were also wary of Obama’s suggested increases on capital gains and the inheritance tax.

“You can own a million and a half dollars worth of farm, that doesn’t make you rich,” said Penrose Hallowell, who owns a dairy farm in Tinicum. “Every time we sell a cow it’s a capital gain.”

Murphy has also been commended by farmers, receiving the Friend of Farm Bureau award from the 44,000-member Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. The award was for his support of the 2008 farm bill.

In an e-mail, Sam Kieffer, the state bureau’s national governmental relations director, said Murphy has helped pass legislation “vital to Bucks County” that doubled the funding for farmland preservation and fix the alternative minimum tax this year. He also praised Murphy’s “commitment to renewable and alternative energies that initiate from the farm and help family farms.”

Manion has taken issue with the energy bill Murphy supported, claiming Congress “played politics” by passing legislation “that everyone knows is not going anywhere.”

Thomas M. Trycieki, a third generation farmer from Buckingham, said “this country is probably at a crossroads. We’ve got to get people like Tom Manion down there. … Someone with the toughness of a Marine and the smarts of a businessman … who understands the meaning of fiscal discipline.”

Manion told the crowd that “our community” could play “a special role in history here.”

Concerning the presidential election between Obama and Sen. John McCain, Manion said: “The reality is we’re in a swing district in a swing state. And if we can win this district, Sen. McCain will win the state of Pennsylvania, and if he wins the state of Pennsylvania, he’s going to be the next president of the United States.

“And Tom Manion will be our next congressman,” someone shouted.

Said Tom Haldeman, who farms properties in Bedminster and Danboro, “We’ve got to get a Republican Congress … somebody’s got to start saying no.”

While Manion received the support of these Bucks County farmers Thursday, Murphy was getting the endorsement by the League of Conservation Voters, which works to turn environmental values into national priorities.

LCV President Gene Karpinski called Murphy “a true leader in moving our country toward a clean energy future. As a firm supporter of renewable energy, Murphy has worked tirelessly during his first term to end our nation’s dependence on oil and invest in clean energy alternatives.”

The group has given Murphy’s environmental voting record a 91 percent score.

In an e-mail, Murphy said “I will continue to fight for an environmentally sound energy policy that ends our dependence on foreign oil and creates jobs.”