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Letters to the Editor
Here are some
letters from local residents concerning some of Murphy's actions,
votes and statements. If you have a letter that you have sent to
the editor please feel free to send it to us and we will publish it
right away.
Some letters sent to local papers have taken as long
as 5 weeks to publish which is part of the reason we started this
website as we realized the local press will often edit or hold back on
publishing criticisms of our current Congressman. Worse yet when
they publish a letter they may send it to the Congressman's staffers
first and ask them to write a rebuttal before the letter is even
published.
-- Paul Salvatore, Murphy Watch spokesperson,
contact@patmurphywatch.com
The Intelligencer, July 26, 2009
The Murphy
Connection
The July 15 front-page article about Richard Ianieri and
Coherent Systems reported Ianieri's guilty plea to kickbacks and
defrauding the U.S. Air Force. The real news of interest to
Bucks County readers was buried on Page 2.
Ianieri and affiliates (Coherent) of western Pennsylvania donated
$21,400 or more to the Patrick Murphy 2006 campaign. Coherent
Systems opened an office in Doylestown in January 2007, the same month
Murphy took office.
Murphy secured a $2.4 million earmark contract for Coherent (without
competition).
When Coherent and Ianieri were cited for criminal charges, Murphy
announced he would donate the $21,400 campaign money to charity, as if
this would make everything OK.
Whoa. Didn't Obama promise to eliminate earmarks because of their
potential corrupting influence?
This is clearly "pay to play" at its ugliest. Murphy's contribution to
charity is minor compared with the cost to the U.S. Defense Department
to deal with a multimillion contract that it did not want or need and
now has to litigate.
It would be interesting and appropriate for Mr. Murphy to announce to
the public the justification for the $2.4 million earmark. I work for
a Bucks County defense contractor that has been in business for 25
years and employs 20 residents, and I have never been offered a deal
like this.
George Yerkes
Solebury Township
Bucks County Courier Times, July 23, 2009
Pelosi Lap Dog
Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy is not getting
the job done for this county. He panders to the extreme left wing when
possible, and votes as if he were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's
personal lap dog. I attended a meeting where Murphy actually
scoffed at the idea that our elected officials needed more time to
read the stimulus bill. Based on the results of this bill, I think
they did, Congressman.
Ask Murphy to explain a 10 percent unemployment rate despite being
several months into a massive aid package and he'll spin it by blaming
Bush. Nancy's smiling stage right. Many of our local citizens
were forced out of work after bailing out the auto industry with our
tax dollars. Murphy blames it on Bush and says he went to Washington
to save those jobs. Yeah, right! The unions are smiling stage right.
Patrick Murphy has comfortably joined the elite left wing of the
once-proud Democratic Party and has no idea what's good for Bucks
County or Pennsylvania. He cares more about making friends in the left
wing of his party than creating a prosperous county to live and work
in. Given time, he may be the next John Murtha.
Wow, what an honor for our district.
Michael Sicherman
Middletown
Listen to the Voters
I agree with the recent opinions regarding Congressman Patrick Murphy
milking the system and Murphy as a tax and spend liberal. It very much
surprises me how many Bucks County voters fail to recognize that one
of Murphy's mentors is Sen. John Murtha, one of the great pork barrel
spenders.
I am hoping he will change his ways and start listening to the voters.
If not, he must be voted out of office.
The taxpayers of Bucks County need someone who will represent their
interest as opposed to someone who is focused on pleasing his party
and mentors.
Michael Mariakis
Middletown
The Intelligencer, July 21, 2009
Fiscal
Conservative?
Are Rep. Patrick Murphy's constituents aware of
what this purported "fiscal conservative" is up to in Washington?
First with the stimulus, next
with cap and trade and now with Obamacare? The first two "initiatives"
were passed in such haste that no one read them. Astounding. Now we
have this new health care reform that is supposed to "save" money but
will actually cost money, unless you do not work and get government
assistance. Sounds like the Chief Democrat and his minions lied to the
whole nation during the campaign.
I wanted to e-mail Patrick
Murphy to apprise him of my concerns but was surprised to learn that
he, unlike virtually every organization in America, will not make his
e-mail address public. Instead, one must submit questions to a Web
site, and his staff then selects those to which he deigns to reply.
Amazing.
It is clear that Rep. Murphy does not represent the views of his
constituents, is not concerned with their long-term interest and is
instead beholden to his own political ambitions and to the satraps of
the Democratic Party.
It is time to vote him out.
Paul O'Brien
Buckingham Township
Bucks
County Courier Times, July 12, 2009
Tax and Spend Liberal
In the July 3 Thumbs Up/Down
editorial you praised Congressman Patrick Murphy for voting for a
spending cut of $5.75 billion for the Department of the Interior and
against spending $3.7 billion for a Legislative Appropriations
package.
Since Congressman Murphy voted
for the $787 billion "Stimulus Package" (better know as the Pelosi
pork barrel bill) and the $2.6 trillion fiscal 2010 budget, Murphy's
votes against spending are a mere 0.2 percent of his votes for
spending. Murphy should be criticized for his votes for huge spending
bills not praised for his votes for trivial spending cuts.
If Murphy votes for the
"socialist medicine bill" and the "Cap and Trade bill" (or better
described as the "Tax and Trade bill," which are huge spending and
taxing bills that will make us all broke), we will all know that
Patrick Murphy is just a plain old "Tax and Spend Liberal Democrat."
Edward Garabed
Penns Park
Bucks
County Courier Times, July 12, 2009
Instead of Reforming System, Murphy
Milks It
Like most Bucks County residents I was surprised to learn that
a significant contributor to Congressman Patrick Murphy was a
convicted felon and illegal drug supplier. What was even more shocking
was to find out that this person Bill Kuchera's company, which was
raided by the FBI, was business partners with a company for which
Congressman Murphy secured a $2.4 million earmark.
What is even more incredible to
learn is that the business had been based in Johnstown, Pa., for many
years, but all of a sudden decided to open a small office in
Doylestown. I can honestly say in all of my years in politics I
have never seen so many coincidences.
When Murphy ran for office he
talked about reforming Washington and its culture. Instead of doing
that he has publicly expressed his admiration for Jack Murtha, who
interestingly enough is from Johnstown, Pa., and Kuchera principals
and their wives gave tens of thousands to Murtha. Murtha like Murphy
has in turn steered millions of our tax dollars to Kuchera's private
company.
So it's OK for candidate Murphy
to rail against then-Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick for the donations
that he had received from a political action committee but Congressman
Murphy is free to participate in business as usual in Washington,
D.C.?
I ask the congressman to speak
on the record to his constituents about this tainted donation and
return the money to the Kucheras. To donate this money to charity is
just a way to make himself look good at the financial expense of a
criminal. Additionally, he should apologize for this lapse in judgment
and retract all federal payments to Kuchera Industries and its
subsidiaries.
Harry Fawkes, chairman
Bucks County Republican Committee
Bucks
County Courier Times, June 19, 2009
Calling for a better role model and better accounting
Hats off to Gary Weckselblatt on
his recent article on Congressman Patrick Murphy’s acceptance of
$9,200 from blocked Navy defense contactor Kuchera Defense Systems.
Once again, Murphy continues to follow in the footsteps of “his
mentor” John Murtha by accepting campaign contributions from
questionable firms that reap the generous rewards of government
earmarks.
Just to remind those who voted for Murphy, the FBI recently raided the
offices of the PMA Group, which also has close ties to Murphy’s pal,
Murtha. PMA was formed by the former congressional aide Paul
Magliochetti and specializes in winning earmarked taxpayer money for
its clients.
If you follow the money trail, you will see that millions of dollars
in government spending are handed out through Murtha’s office and
hundreds of thousands of campaign donations come in from firms like
PMA and Kuchera. Both the PMA Group and Kuchera reportedly have
received well over $100 million in government earmarks, thanks to
Murphy’s role model John Murtha.
I wonder how much longer the voters of Bucks County are going to
tolerate this type of political debauchery. Let’s call for an open and
honest public accounting of the campaign funds Murphy has received
from firms that have been awarded earmarks. That would be very
interesting reading on the front page of the Bucks County Courier
Times.
Todd Logan
Holland
Bucks County Courier Times, June 12, 2009
Wrong breed
Much has been written recently regarding Congressman Patrick Murphy
being an “independent thinker and voter.” His office proudly promotes
Murphy as one of the few “Blue Dog Democrats.”
But reviewing his voting record and his position on many key issues,
the good citizens of Bucks County know exactly what breed he is — and
that’s a Nancy Pelosi lap dog!
Cortland Coleman
Holland
Bucks
County Courier Times, June 11, 2009
The game is rigged by self-serving politicians
Whether it’s Arlen Specter, John Murtha, or our own Patrick Murphy,
the goal of all elected officials is to be re-elected at all costs.
Specter couldn’t get nominated as a Republican so he took the path to
success, switched parties, and most likely will remain a senator in
2010. John Murtha takes money from the U.S. taxpayer in the name of
earmarks to his district, and says this type of corruption is fine.
Congressman Patrick Murphy does basically what Nancy Pelosi says to
do, and she’ll make sure he gets elected. Check his donor list if you
doubt me.
This system of playing the system for all it’s worth leaves only one
set of victims: the common, everyday taxpayer/citizen.
The game is rigged. Watch, even Chris Dodd will get re-elected. Change
that matters will never be enacted. Why? Because the power mongers who
govern us would no longer be able to function. Term limits, folks, is
the only way we can remove this corrupt system of government.
I suggest three three-year terms for a congressman, and three six-year
terms for a senator. Robert Byrd, Ted Stevens, Ted Kennedy and many
other corrupt or worthless officials would be gone, and fresh voices
would be heard.
Right now we are getting unparalleled spending, unchecked political
revisionism, and now blatant corruption from the party in power on a
grand scale. Isn’t that why the people removed the Republicans?
We need to clean house of self-serving officials like Specter, Byrd,
and all the others from both parties that practice the business of
getting themselves constantly re-elected.
Some bright young Democrat now has to take a back seat to Specter, who
made a deal with his new pals for power now.
Michael Sicherman
Middletown
Bucks County Courier Times,
April 27, 2009
Blue Dog Democrat? Murphy tells white lie
Congressman Patrick Murphy calls himself a “Blue Dog Democrat.”
The homepage of his congressional Web site proudly says so. You can’t
miss it; his Blue Dog logo sits right above an estimate of our current
national debt. If you click on the logo, it takes you to the official
Blue Dog Democrat Web site, which contains the following description:
“The fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition was formed in
1995, with the goal of representing the center of the House of
Representatives and appealing to the mainstream values of the American
public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to a core set of beliefs that
transcend partisan politics, including a deep commitment to the
financial stability and national security of the United States.”
Read more
here...
William Bishop
Northampton Township
Bucks County Courier Times,
April 16, 2009
Cagey Congressman
Saturday, April 4 marked the deadline for members of Congress to
submit their earmark requests for fiscal year 2010. Patrick Murphy met
the deadline, tucking a PDF file in the far reaches of his Web site.
Interestingly, the politically sensitive term "earmark" is not used
once in the 23-page wish-list. Instead the word "appropriation" is
preferred.
Hampering the public's ability to sift through the file is a lack of
numbers. Costs are tucked in the middle of paragraphs, dollar values
spelled out. See, numbers have a tendency to jump off the page when
they share space with a bunch of letters. Perhaps that is why none of
the 32 earmarks totaling $40,617,000 are detailed in number form. The
number $40,617,000 does not appear on the site either - I had to sift
through the pages, pull out the "numbers" and add them up myself.
All this from a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog
Democratic Coalition. I would hate to see how much of our money an
irresponsible congressman would flush down the toilet!
Chris Nowakowski
Middletown
The Intelligencer, April 15,
2009
Disingenuous on Budget
Congressman
Patrick Murphy has stated repeatedly that he is a Blue Dog fiscal
conservative and that he would not support a budget that could not pay
for itself. I find his commentary about his vote to support a
presidential budget with the biggest proposed federal deficit in the
history of our country quite disappointing and inaccurate. Murphy was
quoted as saying, "I am proud that with this budget ... we cut the
deficit by almost two-thirds in four years."
The facts belie this point. The fiscal year 2009 budget presented to
Congress last year called for $3.107 trillion in spending and a
projected deficit of $407 billion. The fiscal year 2010 budget that
Murphy just voted for and stated was fiscally responsible calls for
$3.552 trillion in spending (a 14 percent increase from last year) and
a record $1.17 trillion deficit just for 2010. One does not need a
Ph.D. in mathematics to realize this budget alone produces a deficit
nearly 300 percent higher than the projected deficit from last year.
Additionally, the budget forecast for the next 10 years shows the
national debt nearly doubling from $8.3 trillion to $15.37 trillion
and not being reduced at any time in the next four years.
We in Newtown Township have been
extremely mindful of every cost in our budget and made significant
cuts in order to prepare for a downturn in the economy in the form of
lower earned income tax revenue and transfer taxes. Amazingly,
Congress seeks to increase expenditures and increase the debt, and
then has the audacity to state it is being fiscally responsible. I
guess that kind of rhetoric only rings true inside the Beltway echo
chamber, not in the towns and neighborhoods of places like Bucks
County.
Any member of Congress can
surely advocate record deficit spending regardless of his or her
campaign rhetoric not to do so, but to do that and then make false
claims about deficits being reduced is not being true to their
constituents.
Robert L. Ciervo, vice
chairman
Newtown Township supervisors
Bucks County Courier Times,
March 26, 2009
Pork Festival
A front page article in the
March 11 issue of the Courier Times read "Murphy, Schwartz bring home
federal funding." Shouldn't it have read "Murphy, Schwartz once again
join Washington's Annual Earmark Pork Festival?"
How can a newspaper oppose
earmarks and run a headline phrased like that?
W. F. Trainer
Washington Crossing
Bucks County Courier Times, March 12, 2009
The two Patrick Murphys
In a Feb. 19 article,
Congressman Murphy defended his earmarks by citing "the Constitution's
requirement that spending decisions be made by the legislative branch
- by elected officials like me."
But on Feb. 25, Murphy voted for
the Omnibus Appropriations Act (for the current fiscal year, which is
almost half over.) That bill includes tens of billions of dollars in
additional discretionary spending, to be spent at the discretion of
the executive branch and its bureaucrats - not the elected officials,
as required by the Constitution.
So who do we believe that the
Congressman Murphy who writes and explains the Constitution in Bucks
County, or the Congressman Murphy who votes and ignores the
Constitution in Washington?
R. C. Blackburn
Warminster
The Intelligencer, March 8, 2009
Law of the land’ needs more work
I have been following the
earmarks/Patrick Murphy articles. Your editorial of Feb. 12 noted the
$4 million in earmarks “earned by” PMA. Of course, PMA was raided by
the FBI and, as I understand, has reopened and is back in business
under a different name.
Mr. Murphy has returned or
donated to charities the $28,750 he received in “campaign
contributions” from PMA. Mr. Murphy did not say he was returning this
money in his guest column of Feb. 18. Only when the PMA story became
national news was the money donated.
Murphy agrees with earmark
reform. He voted for reform and “now is the law of the land.” Looks
like “the law of the land” could use some additional work.
Why did Mr. Murphy vote to table
(kill) the motion to open an Ethics Committee probe of any suspect
links between House members’ receipt of campaign contributions and
their sponsorship of earmarks that benefit the contributor? Sure
sounds like he is not for “full” reform. Political reform is very
different from what most non-politicians would classify as true
reform.
Why can’t a company go directly
to any of our members of Congress and state their need. Why do they
have to hire lobbyists?
I firmly believe that most
citizens have lost confidence and trust in our government. With the
likes of Fumo, the judges in Scranton, Gov. Blagojevich, the senator
from Alaska, the congressman from New Orleans found with $90,000 of
“cold, hard cash” in his freezer and the recent DRPA giving money for
non-bridge items, which was fully backed by Gov. Rendell, is it any
wonder “we the people” do not trust politicians?
Dan Hurley
Furlong
Bucks County Courier Times,
March 4, 2009
How deep does it go?
The current situation our
congressman finds himself involved in: accepting money from lobbyists,
doing favors for them and the seeing the FBI get involved is serious.
Congressman Murphy called it "troublesome," but we have to ask
ourselves how much deeper does this go?
I believe the constituents of
the 8th Congressional District deserve a full investigation into the
matter. Giving disputed campaign contributions to charity does not
make everything right again.
Congressman Murphy is not the
only one of our politicians who is in this position. They come from
both sides of the aisle and none of them are above the law. Our
lawmakers are not above the law and should be held responsible for
their acts.
This country is in a period of
turmoil and we need lawmakers who are honest and care about America
more than their own self interest.
Robert E. York
Warrington
Bucks County Courier Times,
March 2, 2009
Barbaric killing
As a midwife who has had the
privilege to participate in life's greatest miracle, I find myself in
"suspension of disbelief" at Congressman Murphy's co-sponsorship of
the Freedom of Choice Act known as "FOCA." Incidentally, this
congressman is a graduate of Archbishop Ryan Catholic High School in
Philadelphia.
As well as unrestricted taxpayer
funding, FOCA legislation would repeal all state and federal limits on
abortion and legalize late-term partial birth abortion. Partial-birth
abortion is the barbaric killing of a baby outside the womb. In late
pregnancy, because of the large size of the baby, killing inside the
womb is no longer feasible.
Trudy Beckschi
Newtown Township
Bucks County Courier Times,
February 27, 2009
Murphy and Murtha
Jack Murtha, who appears to be
Pat Murphy's mentor in Washington, has been named to the list of the
20 most corrupt members of Congress. (http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/report).
During his campaign for Congress, Pat Murphy bragged that he was "100
percent Jack Murtha."
And now, according to Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, it is reported that
federal authorities raided another firm linked to Congressman Murtha.
It is no secret that Murtha and
Murphy have, in the last two years, earmarked millions of our
hard-earned tax dollars to businesses (some not in our district)
represented by a lobbying firm that is in apparent trouble with the
FBI. The lobbying firm has contributed handsomely to Jack Murtha and
Pat Murphy.
Murphy is, indeed, 100 percent
Jack Murtha. And Bucks Countians need to begin asking the question:
Who is pulling the strings of our congressman?
Lou Angelucci
Lower Makefield
The Intelligencer, February 22,
2009
Explain, Mr. Murphy
Emboldened and strengthened by a
Democratic-controlled government, Congressman Patrick Murphy recently
selected this somber economic time to explain his use of earmarks as a
defendable constitutional requirement. Citing their minuscule amount
in relationship to the entire federal budget, he masterfully related
that numerous projects in the 8th District would have gone unfunded
had he not tipped his share of the congressional piggy bank in our
direction.
Lost in his eloquence was an
explanation of the earmark process, how favors are returned using
taxpayer money, how seniority plays a role in the allocations, how
recipients are selected, how pork can be slipped into bills and how
absurd projects are routinely funded by members of Congress. Mr.
Murphy needs to devote some time to a follow-up article revealing the
real way earmarks and pork are processed in this era of openness and
"transparency."
Constituents and taxpayers would
benefit by having Mr. Murphy explain that we did very well as a nation
without earmarks prior to the 1980s. He might relate to us the success
of the congressional districts his colleagues represent throughout
America that accept no earmarks. He might tell us how individual
citizens can manage to compete with the money, influence and power of
35,000 registered lobbyists. He might clarify his co-authored support
for earmarks and expenditures of taxpayer monies that do not affect
our district. He might enlighten us on his failure to communicate to
his constituents the scope and extent of earmarks that were inserted
into the recent "stimulus" package at the 11th hour. He might want to
make clear to us all what he meant when he said, "Banning earmarks
would relegate significant local spending decisions solely to the
executive branch." He might also give us details regarding the
long-awaited "Transparency and Integrity in Earmarks Act."
Finally and most importantly,
Mr. Patrick Murphy can do all of us a great favor by not patronizing
us: "You don't need a lobbyist to meet with my office; all you need is
a phone!"
James B. Beerer Jr.
Durham Township
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