Yep, In The End, Just Another Repug

This phillyburbs.com story tells us that Patrick Murphy and Tom Manion debated for three hours yesterday in two separate locations, covering a gamut of issues…

Murphy, in his first term, laid out two years of effort that included increased benefits for veterans and green energy jobs for Bucks County and several instances of bipartisanship.

Manion, a 30-year Marine and business executive with Johnson & Johnson for 18 years, railed against a “broken Washington” and a “do-nothing Congress.”

This Think Progress post tells us that the 110th Congress set a record for most roll call votes in a session a year ago, outpacing the happily-long-gone Repug 109th, which recorded the fewest days in session since the end of World War II (yes, I’ve linked to this numerous times already, and I’ll keep linking to it as long as Republicans continue to make stupid charges like this).

And this was worth a laugh…

In his closing, Manion took Murphy to task for taking credit for the alternative energy companies in Lower Bucks “as they were here before the current representative even took office.”

Yes, but Patrick managed to bring the players together and do the following (as noted here from his web site)…

Congressman Murphy helped to break ground on the fourth largest solar field in the United States – the largest east of the Mississippi River. In Bucks County, nearly 1,000 people have been put to work building components for wind turbines and solar panels at the old U.S. Steel site in Fairless Hills. Quickly, it has become a green energy hub, supplying the area with jobs that were lost when U.S. Steel stopped manufacturing at the site.

To help meet the needs of emerging businesses in the alternative energy industry, Congressman Murphy introduced and passed a bill that will prepare students for green energy careers by helping technical schools to modernize. He also voted for the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act to provide $20 billion in tax incentives to invest in, develop and use renewable energy.

And for a bit of a history lesson on the environment, I give you this from our former rep Mikey Fitzpatrick; before Murphy ousted him almost two years ago, Fitzpatrick “voted to fundamentally rewrite our national mining policy by ending a decade-long congressional ban on the sale of public lands to mining companies.” He also “voted for a conference report that would have allowed drilling in the ANWR,” and “voted to cut discretionary spending on the environment and natural resources by $2.85 billion, more than 9 percent below the previous year's levels.”

Maybe it’s unfair to take note of Mikey’s past failures, but I only do so because, more and more, Manion reveals himself to be cast from the same sorry mold as Patrick’s predecessor (And by the way, Tom, what say you on drilling in the ANWR? There’s nothing on your web site about it.)

And get a load of this from Manion…

He also kept up his attacks on Congress, saying it hasn't acted on the big issues of Social Security, health care and national security.

You can thank these characters for that, first and foremost (along with Dubya’s privatization scheme, of course).

“And where are we now on the economy?” he asked. “What did we do in 2006 when we knew we had problems with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? And we've got the same people that are pulling together the solution ... that were part of and responsible for the oversight of those groups.

“Nothing sickens me more than seeing Barney Frank and Chris Dodd at the front of the TV.”

Manion apparently struck a chord as the large crowd at Shir Ami broke into applause when he named Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Dodd, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. The two have been among the top recipients of campaign cash from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

This story from the Politico (don’t usually cite them, but this looks surprisingly Drudge-free) tells us that Fannie and Freddie have spread plenty of dough around between the two political campaigns, so nobody has a monopoly on virtue (I’ll see you Obama’s Jim Johnson and raise you McBush’s Rick Davis, OK?).

And if the Shir Ami congregants choose to detest Dodd and Frank (interesting because Frank is Jewish) along with Manion (a pretty ugly comment from a guy who’s been milking this “duty-honor-country” thing all these months while saying virtually nothing else of substance, by the way) – well, all I can say is that Jews have the right to be intolerant too.

Oh, and another thing, Tom: criticizing the Dems for 2006 is particularly ridiculous on your part, seeing as how the 110th Congress wasn’t even sworn in until January 2007!

The rest of the Courier Times story tells you how Manion merely echoed the talking points prepared for him by his handlers (close the borders, “abortion as birth control is reckless” - ??? – “more government intervention is not where we need to go”…you get the idea).

Come to think of it, as I consider some of Manion’s meandering Guest Opinions and generally low profile to date before he, now in the closing weeks, has revealed himself to be at least as reactionary as the person Patrick Murphy replaced, it actually makes me miss Mikey Fitzpatrick a bit. Our former rep was a lot more honest about his petulance, shallow understanding of the issues, and – in the final analysis – lack of qualifications for the position he sought to hold onto for at least two more years.

And by the way, to help Patrick, click here.