Intelligencer Endorses Fitzpatrick
The Intelligencer has endorsed Mike Fitzpatrick. You can read the article online at http://www.phillyburbs.com/opinions/opinion_details/article/579/2010/october/24/8th-congressional-mike-fitzpatrick.html. I especially enjoyed the reader comments.
Here are some highlight quotes from the endorsement:
In one very telling episode, Murphy spent virtually his entire endorsement interview with our editorial board taking shot after shot at the challenger while answering none of our questions. It was, in a word, a “terrible” performance.
But let’s cut to the chase here. When you get beyond the nasty rhetoric and innuendo, what you have is this: Murphy, a loyal soldier in Barack Obama’s Democratic army who has voted consistently to advance the president and his party’s agenda, versus Fitzpatrick, who believes that agenda is wrong for America and promises to vote to undo a lot of it.
Fitzpatrick can be expected to work on behalf of a different agenda. We feel strongly that that’s what America needs.
Make sure you find the time to research the candidates (the commercials are full of mis-representations on all sides) and vote on November 2nd.
Why stimulus doesn’t work
Independence Caucus published this video explaining why Stimulus doesn’t work. It’s a high-level simplified view, but get’s the point across. We need to keep more money in our economy. The one thing they did leave out what borrowing money from China and sending it to other countries (like $2 billion to Brazil to drill in deeper water than Obama just banned and $2 billion to Mexico to drill in the Gulf of Mexico).
News on October 4th debate
Here are some articles about the October 4th debate between Mike Fitzpatrick and Patrick Murphy
- Philly.com – Murphy, Fitzpatrick face off in Eighth Congressional District debate
- Thomas Jefferson Club – Round Four – Murphy vs. Fitzpatrick
- Intelligencer/Courier Times – Murphy, Fitzpatrick draw rowdy crowd
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- Murphy, Fitzpatrick clash in first debate in Bucks race (philly.com)
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Ana Puig from Kitchen Table Patriots endorsed Mike Fitzpatrick
In this Bulletin article, Ana Puig (the co-chair of the Kitchen Table Patriots) outlines the failed policies of this administration and Patrick Murphy. While you may be a little skeptical because of Mike Fitzpatrick’s prior votes, all indications are that he is a changed man. However, it is clear that Patrick Murphy continues to tell us he is fiscal conservative, but vote like a far-left progressive. What it really comes down to is this. do you think our country, your family, your friends, and out district is better off now than 4 years ago when Patrick Murphy and his party took control of the Congress.
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- Murphy, Fitzpatrick face off in Eighth Congressional District debate (philly.com)
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Beware of the top 2% talk
There has been a lot of talk about extending the Bush tax cuts. Almost everyone agrees that the tax cuts should be at least extended on the middle class. President Obama, and many others, want to let the tax cuts expire on the “top 2%” of the taxpayers. Even if you don’t think that this will affect our economy (I think it will be catastrophic myself), consider these facts:
- When the income tax was instituted in 1913, it only applied to the top 1% of wage earners.
- When the Alternative Minimum Tax was implemented in 1970, it was supposed to target only 155 tax payers.
You can bet that these tax increases will eventually affect more than just the top 2%. You can read more about taxes here.
Spaghetti Code – Government needs restructuring
- Image via Wikipedia
In the computer programming world, there is a term of “Spaghetti Code”. I found the following definition (here’s the link):
Spaghetti code is a derogatory term for computer programming that is unnecessarily convoluted, and particularly programming code that uses frequent branching from one section of code to another. Spaghetti code sometimes exists as the result of older code being modified a number of times over the years.
Our tax and legal code has also become “unnecessarily convoluted … as the result of … being modified a number of time over the years”. This is undeniable. Even the representatives writing the laws no longer read them, because of their complexity, and don’t even know how conform to them (they can’t properly do their own tax returns). As new legislation is passed, they create new organizations, that overlap with existing ones. The legislation becomes more and more complex, inter-twined and lengthy (ex. Health Care Reform). Our presidents, both Republican and Democrat, need to appoint more and more Czars to help them navigate the mess that our government has created.
So, what do you do with Spaghetti Code? You restructure and simplify to make the program more efficient (both operationally and effort required for future modifications). We need our representatives to bite the bullet and restructure our government to make it even slightly viable. It would also be nice if they also re-evaluated the constitutionality of the “code” as they restructure.
Message to Congress
The conservative talk shows seem to be confident that the Republican party will win control of the House of Representatives. While I agree that it looks good, we can not be complacent. We need to keep encouraging others to research the candidates words AND actions before deciding on who they will vote for. If they do, I’m confident that the balance of power will change.
What really bothers me is the talk of John Boehner being the next Speaker of the House like it is a foregone conclusion. This is politics as usual. If there are 40+ new Republicans elected, people obviously want change. The current practice of choosing the Congressional leadership, including committees, also needs to change. We need the best leaders not the ones who are “due” or have the most seniority. Our government is heading in the wrong direction and is in drastic need of new leadership and new practices. So, if Boehner is the best person, then he should be the next Speaker. If not, our Congressional representatives should pick the representative who is.
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- Boehner speaks of tax compromise (politico.com)
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Fitzpatrick Wins First Debate Against Murphy
- Image via Wikipedia
The following was posted here on Mike Fitzpatrick’s Facebook page. This sounds like a private debate, that will be aired on Comcast Network.
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Murphy makes up facts, unable to provide plan on economy
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.– In their first face-to-face encounter of the fall campaign, Mike Fitzpatrick trounced incumbent Congressman Patrick Murphy during a taping of Larry Kane’s Voice of Reason earlier today.During the debate, Fitzpatrick pressed Congressman Murphy on record unemployment that more than doubled during his time in Congress.
Unable to provide any plan for economic recovery and job creation, Murphy feebly claimed that the massive $787 billion stimulus bill he championed last year has helped the economy. Additionally, to hide his record of increasing joblessness and deficit spending, Murphy grossly misstated and made up facts during the thirty-minute debate.
Murphy claimed that during the eight years of the Bush Administration, during two of which Murphy was also a member of Congress, America lost 8 million jobs. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal study published in January of 2009, there was a net gain of 3 million jobs between January 2001 and January 2009. “Congressman Murphy has never been particularly good at counting jobs,” Fitzpatrick said, “unemployment is high enough, but now Patrick Murphy is trying to make 11 million more jobs disappear.”
Additionally, Murphy claimed that the North American Free Trade Agreement was enacted by a Republican Congress. In reality, NAFTA was enacted in 1993, when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress. It was later signed into law by then President Bill Clinton, also a Democrat. “This is just a further example of how Congressman Murphy is willing to bend the truth to suit his political needs,” Fitzpatrick said, “unfortunately for Congressman Murphy he can’t hide the fact that unemployment is at 9.6% and he has no plan to reduce it.”
The debate is scheduled to air on the Comcast Network station on Sunday, September 12th at 9:30 PM and Wednesday, September 15th at 5:30 PM.
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Patrick Murphy’s Recovery Bummer: Unemployment at 9.6%
This article by PoliticsPA.com talks about how this administration and Patrick Murphy have failed the American people. I urge you to look at Patrick Murphy’s rhetoric versus what he actually does. Then get out to vote on November 2nd. He is as far from a “Fiscal Conservative” and honest as you can get . People are realizing this and that’s why, according to this article, Mike Fitzpatrick now leads Patrick Murphy in a recent poll.
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- Polling and Political Wrap, 8/26/10 (dailykos.com)
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