Murphy, Manion, Schwartz, Kats react to bailout plan
By GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy is among those in Washington calling for a limit on executive pay for the leaders of companies whose firms are being bailed out by U.S. taxpayers.
Murphy, a freshman Democrat, wants Wall Street executives and bankers whose companies stand to be helped by the government’s proposed $700 billion rescue plan to “be held to account by placing some limitations on the executives’ pay and compensation.”
Murphy made his thoughts known in a letter Tuesday to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
The correspondence, which other House members signed onto, also called for the return of bonuses “if executives did cook the books.”
“Any bailout legislation should include, not just immediate action to stop the bleeding, it also must include provisions to prevent this from happening again,” the memo stated.
In the meantime, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urged swift action Tuesday by Congress.
“The financial markets are in quite fragile condition and I think absent a plan they will get worse,” Bernanke said. “I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, that our credit rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP (gross domestic product) will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way.”
Marina Kats, a Republican challenging Democratic incumbent Allyson Schwartz for the 13th District seat in Montgomery County, agreed there is little time to waste.
“If the government did not step up Friday we would have been in a lot of trouble,” said Kats, a lawyer. “There would have been a calamity that we haven’t seen in our lifetime.
“It’s not a stock market crisis, it’s a credit crunch. The government is not doing a good job explaining the problem to the American people. They’re trying to prevent a panic.”
Lawmakers, however, weren’t rushing to accept the administration’s plan to allow the government to buy bad mortgages and other troubled assets held by endangered banks and financial institutions.
Getting those debts off the books should bolster the institutions’ balance sheets, making them more inclined to lend and easing one of the biggest choke points in the credit crisis. If the plan works, it could help lift a major weight off the sputtering national economy.
“The real issue here is a lack of regulation by the Bush administration and where there was regulation it wasn’t enforced,” Schwartz said Tuesday after a day of meetings.
She understands “the emotions” of constituents who would want to see CEOs stripped of their “golden parachutes” if wrong doing was involved.
“CEOs made bad decisions,” she said. “There will be hearings and investigations into how it happened.”
Tom Manion, a Republican challenging Murphy in Bucks County, said: “We held interest rates too low for too long, allowed Fannie and Freddie to give out too much credit, messed up the banking regulators and were too focused on meeting unrealistic “affordable housing’ goals. It’s a mess, and now we’re going to have to work together for a solution.
“We clearly need to take some action and I’m anxious to hear the debate about this proposal on the House floor. I do have serious concerns about executive compensation and improving the transparency and oversight in our financial sector, so that our taxpayer’s needs are better served in the future. Or served at all, really. ”
Rangel keeps local support
By GARY WECKSELBLATT
The Intelligencer
Two local congressional Democrats have voted to keep House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel in his post until an ethics committee completes an investigation into his financial and tax filings, real estate deals and fundraising for an academic center that bears his name.
Rangel, head of the committee that writes the nation’s tax laws, has himself called for a probe after admitting his failure to disclose more than $75,000 in rental income from his vacation home in the Dominican Republic and said he had paid no interest on the villa’s mortgage.
He also received favored treatment in occupying four rent-stabilized apartments in a luxury development in Manhattan, and owned up to his improper use of official letterheads to solicit support from charities and corporations for an academic center to memorialize his career in public service — the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service.
Thursday, as the Democratic controlled House voted along party lines — 226 to 176 — to kill a Republican effort to force him from his leadership post, Rangel’s vintage 1972 Mercedes-Benz was towed from the House of Representatives parking space he had been using for years in violation of congressional rules.
Rangel, 78, who said he was hiring a forensic accountant to investigate 20 years’ worth of his tax returns and financial disclosure reports, remains a major draw at fundraisers for his colleagues. A member of the House for 38 years, he has given out more than $900,000 to 100 House members, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filing.
Locally, Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy has received $15,000 from Rangel’s National Leadership PAC, according to Opensecrets.org Center for Responsible Politics.
Murphy’s communications director, Adam Abrams, is “glad that the ethics committee is looking into this and hopes they get to the bottom of this situation soon.”
Though Rangel’s ethical problems primarily illustrate an apparent gross sense of entitlement, the misuse of power for financial gain is what Republicans pounced on.
“Pennsylvania voters now know the price Patrick Murphy charges to stand with corruption,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman with the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Tom Manion, challenging Murphy for the 8th District congressional seat, said Murphy “should give the cash back.”
Two years ago, Manion noted, Murphy went after then-Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, who was linked to donations from congressmen who dealt with Jack Abramoff, the now-imprisoned lobbyist. At the time, Murphy called for Fitzpatrick to return the donations.
Although Rangel has not been found guilty of wrongdoing, Manion said Murphy finds himself in the same position as Fitzpatrick and called for him to “take the ethical high road and give the cash back.”
“Character is priceless,” Manion said. “More and more Patrick just appears to be yet another part of what’s wrong with Washington.”
Abrams said comparing Rangel and Abramoff is a stretch. Murphy, he said, takes a backseat to no one when it comes to ethics and recalled how last year the congressman called on fellow Democrat Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana to resign after he had been indicted on racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering. Investigators raided Jefferson’s home and found $90,000 in cash stuffed into a box in his freezer.
Should the Rangel probe lead to an indictment, he said Murphy would donate the money to charity.
Montgomery County Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz of the 13th District hasn’t received money from Rangel.
Her spokeswoman, Rachel Magnuson, said “the congresswoman urges the ethics commission … to quickly look into the issue.”
Newspapers like the New York Times have also taken Rangel to task and called for him to temporarily step down.
“When the ultra-liberal New York Times has lost all faith in the ability of a liberal to lead, you know the jig is up,” NRCC spokesman Ken Spain said in a press release.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee fired back, labeling Republicans hypocrites.
“John Boehner has settled on a re-brand of House Republicans and it looks like their old brand — dishonest, partisan hypocrites,” said DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell.
GOP throws weight behind Manion
By GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
In national politics, getting your name on the ballot is one thing. Getting people to vote for you is another. The latter doesn’t happen without support, in terms of both money and manpower.
Tom Manion is apparently getting both from the national Republican Party, giving him at least a fighting chance against incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy in his challenge for the 8th District congressional seat.
“He has really turned a lot of heads around here,” said Kevin McCarthy, a first-term congressman from California.
Those turning heads have been turning over cash. Through the June 30 reporting period, Manion had raised $664,817, third most among challengers for 19 Pennsylvania congressional seats.
Two years ago, Murphy had raised $961,000 for his race against then-incumbent Mike Fitzpatrick. He ended up raising $2.42 million, compared to Fitzpatrick’s $3 million.
Murphy has already raised $3 million, the largest in the state for a House race.
Republicans claim Manion doesn’t have to raise as much as Murphy, just enough to get his message out. They would not give a number he was targeting.
“We have to tell quite a story in one of the most expensive markets in the country,” said Jerry Morgan, a “general consultant” to Manion with a background in running campaigns.
That story is of a Doylestown Township father who decided to run for office following the death of his son, Travis, a 26-year-old Marine killed in Iraq. Manion, 54, served 11 years of active duty as a Marine and another 19 years in the Marine Reserves, retiring in 2007 as a colonel. He also worked for 20 years as a business executive at Johnson and Johnson.
“It’s a very compelling story,” said John Kline, a three-term congressman from Minnesota, who, like Manion, retired as a Marine colonel.
It’s people like Morgan, McCarthy and Kline who illustrate the attention being paid at the national level to the race between Manion and Murphy, the only Iraq war veteran in Congress.
Morgan is a veteran of congressional campaigns. He helped Don Sherwood defeat Pat Casey in 1998 in what some called the “biggest upset in the country.” McCarthy, though only a freshman, is a founder of GOP Young Guns, a group he said is committed to earning a Republican majority in Congress by supporting hand-selected candidates who “embody the values and principles to fix a broken Washington” and “unite America.”
Then there’s John Boehner, the House minority leader who campaigned for Manion in Bucks last month and developed The Freedom Project, which offers “grassroots tools” to Republicans. Boehner lists the Manion-Murphy contest as one of seven “Featured Key Races” to receive GOP support.
Democrats had a different spin on the race.
“National Republicans can talk all they want, but with less than 50 days until Election Day, they are nowhere to be found,” said Doug Thornell, press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Their absence speaks volumes about their faith in Tom Manion’s candidacy, particularly when facing Congressman Murphy who has broad support from Democrats and Republicans throughout Bucks County.”
Locally, SEPTA Chairman Pat Deon, who called Manion’s run for office “a noble cause,” has been networking on Manion’s behalf.
“I wouldn’t be putting my name on the line if this guy couldn’t win,” Deon said.
Murphy Cashes A Corrupt Check
The Bully Pulpit
The Bulletin
09/19/2008
Murphy Cashes A Corrupt Check
Freshman incumbent Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th) accepted donations totaling $19,000 from embattled Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) who is being investigated for failing to pay his taxes. Murphy has asked the American people not to rush to judgment on Mr. Rangel’s finances or his ethics. However, constituents of the 8th Congressional District will be judging Mr. Murphy on Nov. 4. The Murphy campaign Web site proclaims that the Congressman has Democratic values and bipartisan solutions.
His actions tell another story. Since the 110th Congress reconvened Mr. Murphy has voted with the National Rifle Association while still speaking against them, voted against the energy bill that he co-sponsored and not surprisingly he has been silent about Barack Obama’s refusal to return $112,000 in donations from collapsed mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Doors And Dollars
Tom Manion, the GOP candidate for the 8th Congressional District had a fundraiser at Ventresca’s in Doylestown. Sal Paolantonio, ESPN Analyst and Philadelphia news legend, hosted the event at the famous Doylestown haberdashery. Momentum is building in Manion’s quest to unseat freshman incumbent Patrick Murphy.
Both campaigns have been out knocking on doors getting their respective messages out to the people. Those not at home can catch the candidates’ television commercials during the local news broadcast to get the message.
Editorial: Gun Control
Murphy ducked
If U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D., Pa.) had not served as an Army captain in Iraq, the Bucks County congressman might be suspected of running scared as he faces a spirited challenge for reelection.
It sure looked that way yesterday, when Murphy voted with the National Rifle Association - and against the best interests of cities in his own backyard trying to stem gun violence, including Philadelphia.
Murphy was among 85 House Democrats who joined 181 Republicans in approving a bill that would roll back gun-safety measures enacted by the District of Columbia, after the Supreme Court struck down the city’s 32-year-old handgun ban in June.
The legislation would undo gun- registration and trigger-lock requirements, as well as a ban on semiautomatic weapons. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said the measure would “endanger public safety in a city that is already a target for terrorists,” permit “dangerous people to stockpile dangerous weapons,” and hamstring local officials in combating gun violence.
Take that approach nationwide, and it would become easier to buy and own firearms in already dangerous urban areas. That makes no sense, and it’s certainly an odd place for Murphy to be.
As CeaseFirePA President Phil Goldsmith noted in an open letter, Murphy is viewed as “a supporter of reasonable, common-sense handgun safety reforms.” What’s more, his district - even with its slice of Northeast Philadelphia - trends progressive. Hardly NRA country.
Aides insist the congressman hasn’t changed his stripes. He still favors a ban on assault weapons and supports “reasonable gun laws.” The District of Columbia vote was about “striking the proper balance between constitutional rights and reasonable restrictions.”
But it’s hard to see the gun vote as anything but political gamesmanship. With a Republican challenger who’s trying to score points about Murphy’s commonsense view that the United States needs to extract itself from Iraq, Murphy’s vote on the gun bill deprives his GOP opponent - retired Marine Col. Tom Manion - of another issue.
Is there a political price to be paid in his Bucks County district for pandering to the NRA? Murphy will get the answer from voters on Nov. 4.
Meanwhile, Murphy might spend some time talking to Mayor Nutter and other mayors from around this region who this week vowed to enact their own local gun laws in defiance of likely NRA legal challenges. The congressman would learn that these local elected officials - just like city officials in Washington - don’t have the luxury of giving lip service to gun control.
That won’t stop the killing.
Congressmen for Freedom
Candidates in it for the fight.
By Mark Hemingway
In 2006, Democrats ran a slew of veterans for office under the moniker “Fighting Dems.” It wasn’t a terribly successful effort — out of almost 60 candidates for office just five were elected, Virginia Senator Jim Webb and four more in the House.
Perhaps the Fighting Dems’ lack of success is in some way attributable to the fact that their opposition to the Iraq war was, well, militant.
Appearing across the street from the U.S. Capitol at a Vets for Freedom press conference, the organization’s chairman, Pete Hegseth, wants to make sure the voice of pro-war veterans is heard in Congress. According to Hegseth, winning in Iraq is a position that’s much more representative of the views of veterans.
The Audacity of Honor
Backing the mission in the worst of times has brought better political times to the candidates of Veterans for Freedom.
When John McCain first started saying he’d “rather lose an election than see the country lose a war,” it was a serious aside in a self-deprecating assessment of his own uncertain political future.
He’d chuckle and deliver his reworking of Chairman Mao’s line, “It’s always darkest before it’s totally black.” He was speaking of himself, but he could just as easily have meant Iraq, to which his future had become so inextricably linked.
In the darkest days for the Iraq mission, in 2006, a handful of Iraq and Afghanistan vets formed an organization designed to defend progress and urge patience to those in Washington who wanted the U.S. to abandon the field.
Since, then, instead of total blackness, the non-partisan Vets for Freedom and McCain have met an astonishing political dawn that has put them both in an unexpected position: on the offensive.
Vets for Freedom is endorsing 23 candidates for Congress this year, 17 of which are veterans of the current conflict, up from just three candidates endorsed in 2006.
Fifteen of those men were on Capitol Hill today, urging senators to sign onto Senate Resolution 636, “Recognizing the strategic success of the troop surge in Iraq and expressing gratitude to the members of the United States Armed Forces who made that success possible,” including Gen. David Petraeus.
The Hill visits came after the morning release of an ad hitting Barack Obama for his longtime refusal to acknowledge the surge’s success.
Obama told Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly in a September interview that the surge “succeeded beyond our wildest dreams,” but the Democratic presidential candidate has not signed on to the resolution.
David Bellavia, co-founder of Vets for Freedom and a Medal of Honor nominee for his feats in Fallujah, visited Obama’s Senate office and was told the candidate may sign on to a Democrat-crafted alternative with reportedly weaker language (right after he was told VFF’s ads about Obama are “hateful”).
“It’s missing some important parts,” Bellavia said of the competing resolution, which hasn’t been finalized. “Petraeus’s name and the surge working—the whole essence of what we were going for.”
These days, McCain’s oft-repeated line about losing elections sounds more like a rallying cry than a resignation, and with good reason. Many of the Vets for Freedom congressional candidates’ fortunes have risen along with those of the country where they fought.
But the electoral forecast isn’t exactly sunny. Of the 15 Vets for Freedom on hand today, only two are running in “toss-up” districts, as designated by the Cook Political Report. Duncan Hunter is running in the solidly Republican 52nd District of California. The rest are facing some pretty blue territory.
Steve Stivers, who is racing for the retiring Rep. Deborah Pryce’s seat in the toss-up 15th District of Ohio, said the Republican Party is trailing in registration, but the gap won’t necessarily translate into victory on Election Day.
“I don’t think the voters’ behavior has changed,” he said, blaming Democratic gains on the relatively dull Republican primary, which was decided before Ohio voters went to the polls.
Others facing more difficult fights said they’re benefiting from the Palin effect on Republican enthusiasm and the absence of Hillary Clinton from the Democratic ticket.
Col. Thomas Manion, a career Marine who decided to run soon after his son was killed by sniper fire in Fallujah last year, is facing the only anti-war veteran of the current conflict who won a congressional race in 2006—Rep. Patrick Murphy.
“We didn’t have the kind of leadership we needed in Washington,” he said of his district. “My only regret is my son isn’t here to see that on the streets he fought and gave his life on, the Iraqi children play now.”
Manion said his polling shows he’s gained 10 points on his opponent since May. In a district that went 63-37 percent for Hillary in the Democratic primary, Murphy was an early and vocal Obama backer.
“They just don’t like the top of the ticket,” he said of voters.
Lee Zeldin, running in the heavily Democratic 1st District of New York, is counting on veteran turnout and Palin power to put him over the top in his bid to unseat six-year incumbent Tim Bishop.
“There’s no scientific way to measure it,” but women are especially energized by Palin, he said. “They’re all an inch taller when you mention her.”
For some of them, the politics of the war is personal in a way it isn’t for many candidates.
Will Breazeale is accompanied on the trail in North Carolina by his Iraqi interpreter, Benny Aldosakee.
Craig Williams, running in Pennsylvania’s 7th District, called out his opponent Joe Sestak, a veteran himself, for “offering up a bill of surrender when we were in our darkest hour.”
Manion’s faith in the surge comes not solely from a security briefing, but from a front-line report that began with the words, “Hey, Dad.”
And, that’s part of the VFF mission, said the group’s executive director Pete Hegseth—to get people who truly understand the battle we’re facing and the cost of losing it into the halls of Congress.
They may not sweep their seats, but they’re much better positioned than anyone would have imagined two years ago, when a handful of anti-war candidates were the only veterans making headlines.
“That may have been the wave in 2006, but it’s not the case now,” Hegseth said.
Sal Pal to raise money for Tom Manion
Political football, or one of Tom Manion’s Top Plays?
ESPN correspondent and football analyst Sal Paolantonio will headline a fund-raiser for Bucks County Republican Party congressional hopeful Tom Manion Sept. 16 at Ventresca’s, a high-end Doylestown clothing store that counts pro athletes among its high profile customers.
Manion is hoping to unseat incumbent first-term Democrat Patrick Murphy in the 8th Congressional District, centered in Bucks County.
He may need more than a little help from the man known by some Philly sports fans as “Sal Pal” on the fund-raising front. According to the Federal Election Commission, Murphy had 2.2 million on hand, compared to about $500,000 for Manion at the end of June.
Murphy is no stranger to “gridiron” politics. A die-hard Eagles fan, he cast the lone vote in February against a Congressional resolution honoring the New York Giants for their Super Bowl victory, earning him a few chits among the Eagles Green faithful.
Da da da, Da-da-da. That’s the Sportscenter theme, if you couldn’t tell.
Article from The Morning Call
Op Ed – Alarm Bells
There is so much talk in this election process, and much of the talk surrounds our future. Our energy future, our economic future, the future of healthcare and Social Security. With all this talk, one might think that at some point the discussion would come around to focus on the actual future; our children, and the education of these children. Is anyone else alarmed at how little focus there is on education during this election?
It may seem to be a stale phrase to say that our children are our future. It will not be today’s work force, however, that will work in the green buildings, with the alternative energy sources, in the increasingly global economy. It will be tomorrow’s work force.
Nationally, 30% of our students are not even graduating high school. What are we doing to ensure that today’s students are ready for tomorrow’s work force? The mandated standardized testing required by President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, while a start, is not the answer. From my discussions with local educators, I’ve come to understand that a standardized test is not even the best measure of academic progress. From my experience in the business world, I know that American workers are prized the world over for their creativity and ingenuity. Continued success in the global economy depends on our educational system’s continued ability to produce the world’s most valued workers. Specifically, our schools should produce workers who are adept at twenty-first century skills.
In the twenty-first century, we find ourselves with vast amounts of information at our fingertips. Rather than simply regurgitating information, today’s students need to become masters at analyzing and understanding information. In addition to that, business leaders want employees who can collaborate, work with technology, problem-solve and communicate. How can we improve our educational system to supply our workforce with employees that have these twenty-first century skills?
Many American businesses struggle with the dilemma of outsourcing jobs to other countries to reduce costs. Even with tax credits to keep jobs in the U.S., some jobs may leave the U.S. to follow the cheapest labor path. What can we do to retain the best jobs? We can reform our educational system to ensure it is producing the type of employees the workforce needs. With the right skills, employees can adapt to changes in the workplace, rather than falling prey to a changing economy. Our goal should be no employee left behind.
It has been many years since I took a standardized multiple-choice test, or asked it of one of my employees. Yet, every day in my workplace we collaborate, work with technology, problem-solve and communicate. Some schools here in Bucks County are already providing the relevant instruction that results in these twenty-first century skills. Student progress is already being measured with authentic, real world assessments. Schools should be accountable for their results, and we should build on the examples of our best schools. Instead of penalizing the struggling schools, let’s assist the schools to invest in staff development and training with proven, successful models. Most importantly, educators on the front line in classrooms should be an integral part of the educational reform process.
The new school year has begun, and I think it is time to ring the bell. The alarm bell. Why isn’t anyone talking about supporting or changing our educational system? Was it not a shortsighted energy policy that led us to the current energy crisis? Let’s not allow the same narrow vision to restrain the thinking and reform in our educational system. Such a vision will stifle the potential of our children, who are simply the most precious natural resource, and the foundation of tomorrow’s energy.
Tom Manion
Candidate for the US House of Representatives, PA District 8
Blue Dog Dems fiscal grades in the red
Posted in News on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 4:26 pm by Assistant Managing Editor Carl LaVO
Tom Manion, running against Patrick Murphy for the 8th District congressional seat, just sent out a press release hitting the fiscal record of Blue Dog Democrats.
It reads:
“Someone should explain what fiscally conservative means to the Blue Dog Democrats,” said Congressional candidate Tom Manion. “It’s not fiscally conservative to vote for a debt limit increase, or to vote for a spending bill that contains 9,000 earmarks. The Blue Dogs are misleading the voters with this label, and the failing grade from the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste group is well deserved.”
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste released their annual Congressional ratings recently, and the Blue Dog Democrats, self-proclaimed fiscal conservatives, earned an 11% out of 100 in the report. Tom’s opponent Congressman Murphy fared slightly better with a still failing grade of 15% out of 100. The Heritage Foundation also reviewed the Blue Dogs, stating that “they have failed as fiscal stewards.”
A recent commentary on the Blue Dogs by syndicated newspaper columnist Froma Harrop overlooked these details, separating Blue Dogs from “the old-time lefties” and supporting the fiscal conservative label.
“It’s pretty clear who Ms. Harrop is voting for in November,” said Tom. “But I think the voters know that 15% is a failing grade by any measure. The Blue Dogs are barking up the wrong tree. Just wait until the pit bull arrives in Washington!”
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