Bailout Votes Starting in 2008 and continuing through 2009 Congress has voted to "bailout" various sectors of the economy by simply throwing more money at the problem.  Supposed "fiscal conservative" Pat Murphy has thrown fiscal discipline aside and voted right along with party leaders supporting billion dollar bailout after bailout. In October 2008 Murphy voted to send $700 billion to the Treasury Department to somehow rescue financial institutions and of course the bill was loaded with pork as the Washington Post reported.  Murphy's vote helped to steer taxpayers money to various pork measures unrelated to rescuing financial institutions: - Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children - Seven-year cost recovery period for NASCAR motorsports racing track facility - Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands - Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation - Provisions related to film and television productions - Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds. - Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa - Inclusion of cellulosic biofuel in bonus depreciation for biomass ethanol plant property - Transportation fringe benefits to bicycle commuters - Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund

Pat Murphy is giving billions of our dollars away to unsuccessful private companies. In December 2008 Murphy voted to bailout the Auto Industry approving transfers of $14 billion to private automakers. At the time Senator Obama, who was supported by Pat Murphy, had this to say "We don't want government to run companies... generally, government historically hasn't done that very well" on Meet the Press.    Of course now we see President Obama trying to run GM by asking their CEO to resign and telling them what kind of cars to build.                And back in July 2008 Murphy voted again to spend $25 billion to bailout mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as they were near total failure because of their questionable lending practices granting risky mortgages.  Then after voting to pass the bailouts that allowed companies to give bonuses Murphy signs on to a bill to tax those bonuses at 90% representing one of the greatest extensions of government into the free market that has ever occurred. Did he ever read the original bill?  We may never know.

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