Manion Questions Murphy’s Embrace Of ‘Fiscal Conservatism’

By Bradley Vasoli
The Bulletin

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-8th, of Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, is one of three Pennsylvanians in the Blue Dog Coalition, Democratic members of Congress who espouse a more conservative economic agenda, distinct from the House leadership.

The group bills itself as a fiscally conservative outfit more restrained in spending than the party’s liberal wing. Mr. Murphy has himself cast two votes against passage of a Democratic budget on the basis that it would raise taxes too much and restrain spending too little.

His Republican opponent Tom Manion and nonprofits like Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) have been inquiring, however, as to what passes for fiscal conservatism in the current Democratic Party.

Mr. Manion has said Mr. Murphy has voted the preferred position of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., 93 percent of the time. Such statistics are inevitably contentious because many of the votes in Congress are unanimous. (Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has said roughly the same of Republican John McCain’s votes for the policies of George W. Bush.)

But when votes on economics are separated out, CAGW - a group co-founded by centrist newspaper columnist Jack Anderson - still paints a picture of Mr. Murphy’s record at variance with the congressman’s rhetoric. CAGW’s scorecard for House members says Mr. Murphy voted their preferred position 15 percent of the time.

Mr. Manion has further criticized the congressman for declining to support across-the-board spending cuts (with some programs excepted) ranging from one percent to three percent.

“The fact is, he hasn’t voted to reduce the cost [of government],” the Doylestown Republican said.

Democrats have, with Mr. Murphy’s encouragement, instituted the congressional PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) rules designed to provide budgetary restraint. But even in the wake of the new guidelines, the deficit has grown 170 percent since Democrats gained a majority in the chamber two years ago.

“I think the PAYGO is in name only,” Mr. Manion said. “PAYGO sounds good but all you have to do is go down to Washington. They [say] one thing down there and another thing at home.”

The two candidates furthermore disagree on the wisdom of raising some taxes to reduce the federal deficit. Mr. Murphy has opposed some tax increases as excessive, but has supported an increase for taxpayers in higher brackets.

“The priority should be on how we spend taxpayer dollars and making sure we get the best value for the money,” Mr. Manion said. “I think the worse thing would be to increase taxes in a time when the economy’s struggling.”

He said he believes policymakers should work toward reducing the estimated $100 billion in federal health-care programs before contemplating tax hikes.
Mr. Murphy’s campaign did not return two calls for comment.