Bucks County's "Prodigal Son" Returns

Why, look who showed up in Bucks County recently (to campaign for Repugs Jim Cawley and Charles Martin running for re-election as county commissioners, of course). It’s our own former U.S. House Rep Jim Greenwood!

(I mean, it had to be so he could shill for Repugs, right? The only other reason for his appearance would be if he’d gotten lost wandering from “K” street.)

The Courier Times story notes the following…

At Penn-Vermont Farm on Rolling Hills Road, Greenwood announced that he is now the honorary chairman of the campaign to re-elect incumbents Charley Martin and Jim Cawley. He and his wife, Tina, will host a fundraiser for the pair at their home in Upper Makefield in October.

And how’s this for a subtle dig at Dems, in this case Steve Santarsiero and Diane Marseglia, the two commissioner candidates running against Cawley and Martin…

The choice of Penn-Vermont Farm to make the announcement was no accident. Martin and Cawley are running primarily on the issue of open space and farmland preservation, a feel-good topic that even the Democratic candidates Diane Marseglia and Steve Santarsiero support.

Yes, and I’m sure Diane and Steve love their families and are kind to animals as well, and I’m sure they also look both ways when crossing the street (oh brother…).

And the issue of open space is a heck of a lot more than “a feel-good topic” anyway (the article notes that a bit later, trying to overcome this gaffe).

Much of this article is political posturing, I realize; for that reason, I don’t want to rehash it too much.

The real point of this post, though, is to call attention to Greenwood and this supposed “kindly elder statesman” role that he seems to be assuming.

Let’s not forget the circumstances under which he left Congress in 2004, OK? As noted here in a comment (far down I’ll admit, and I’ll try to source this a little better), Greenwood chaired the Education and Work Force committee in the House, and in this capacity, postponed hearings scheduled for July on the effect of antidepressants on kids. Subsequent to this, he took a job running the Biotechnology Industry Organization as a lobbyist for the pharmaceutical industry.

Greenwood has protested forever that this was not a “quid pro quo” (duly noted by Fact-esque here). The problem is that it sure as hell smelled like one at the time and continues to now.

Now I’ll grant that the Biotechnology Industry Organization under Greenwood has advocated for the safe use of biotechnology products, including their careful regulation and marketing (still trying to learn more about this, but holding off on passing the bill seems to be prudent for now). And working with other health organizations towards a disaster-response initiative to improve patient access to biotech medicines (as noted here) is wise.

But I really wonder how much it would have helped if he had not postponed those hearings on the use of antidepressants by kids in July 2004. Maybe we would have been spared stories such as this.

As for the two incumbent commissioners Greenwod showed up here to prop up...as noted here, Diane and Steve favor an actual plan for the entire county to curb sprawl and use and preserve space wisely, as opposed to Cawley and Martin trying to buy up whatever open space they can, which is impossible anyway; this is funny when you consider that Repugs always accuse Dems of “throwing money at problems,” or whatever.

Also (speaking of Repug demagoguery), didn’t they call Patrick Murphy the Bucks County U.S. House candidate “dropped in from Washington” by Nancy Pelosi, or some such nonsense last year? Well then, wasn’t Greenwood transported here from his cushy Beltway digs to stand in a field with two Repugs who have a lot to answer for in the face of some actual serious competition for their jobs?

Jim, go back to D.C. for more face time with your pharma friends while attending various high-profile symposia (and perform functions such as this one), promoting all of your “new bio” projects while your corporate benefactors fork over too much money and nod with approval. Bucks County doesn’t need you anymore.