Newbie Congressman Chris Gibson has done just one thing to distinguish himself from the rest of the tea party freshmen.
Generally, he votes for whatever Boehner wants, and explains his votes with typical tea party platitudes about the horrors of federal government spending.
The nuclear power special interest group calls Gibson "a Key Member of the Largest Freshman Class in more than 60 years and U.S. Nuclear Energy Proponent" in promoting its fundraising event.
Let me count the ways that Gibson's nuclear fetish is weird, below.
I am proud to be Internet Director for Gillibrand For Senate - Todd
It was a homecoming for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, back in NY-20 stumping for Scott Murphy, just as she did last year prior to the special election to fill her seat in the House.
Yesterday they appeared together at the Country View Diner in Troy and today was a rally at the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs with Bill Clinton. 1500 people gathered at 7:30 in the morning, greeted by a small but vocal crowd of Gibson supporters chanting "One More Day" and "Fire Scott Murphy!" But they only energized the crowd inside more, which cheered speaker after speaker rallying the voters in the room, making the case for Murphy as a strong advocate for Democratic reform policies and for moving the country forward.
In a close race, like the NY-20 one between Rep. Scott Murphy and Republican/tea partier Chris Gibson, newspapers endorsements will obviously have an impact.
Not much -- 1 to 5 percent -- but when the winning margin by either will be in the same range, newspaper endorsements matter in NY-20.
The good news is that Murphy is doing very well in that part of the campaign.
An e-mail alert about canvassing Saturday is being shared by local tea party groups, who have been all in for Gibson from the get-go, in the most Republican-by-registration district in the state.
Since the few dozen active tea partiers around here are already committed to field work, mostly for Gibson, this will probably be another AFP FAIL.
Details, and some good news about Cuomo, Gillibrand and Bill Clinton turning out for Murphy, in the three days before Tuesday, below.
Massive Mutant Combination of Right-Wing Pols and Greedy CEOs to Drop Huge Checks at Dinner, Continues Eating Working American's Finances for Breakfast
There's a lot of creative progressive activists in the Capital Region, concentrated in the Saratoga MoveOn chapter, and these good folks have been instrumental in getting Scott Murphy to Congress. To help keep him there, they've devised an ingenious mock press conference where they will endorse Republican Chris Gibson in the spirit of the approaching holiday: by dressing up as corporate fat cats and highlighting how corporate interests and the Republian party have become indistinguishable.
Here's the official announcement, complete with clickable social network links for you to rsvp:
Please join us at a Press Conference where RepubliCorp will officially endorse Chris Gibson - Please sign up to attend: on MoveOn.org also Facebook
Join Protesters posing as representatives of fictitious new merged entity-RepubliCorp-outside the Saratoga Republican Dinner, Tues. 5:30pm, at the Holiday Inn, Broadway and Circular St, Saratoga Springs.
We will stage a mock press conference and present Chris Gibson with the official RepubliCorp endorsement, to highlight how he stands for the interests of the largest multi-national corporations, and against the interests of middle-class families in New York.
The RepubliCorp theme emphasizes the close allegiance between corporate interests and their Republican allies who together plan to spend at least $400 million this election cycle to try to take back control of Congress. We will present also Gibson an -sized checks from RepubliCorp intended to reward service to corporate interests/pay for future votes. Come dressed as a CEO or Lobbyist, or dress casual & come to take photos & video.
Any questions - please call (518)583-4326.
Please pass this on to your friends & lists.
Emphasis mine - SP
Sad to say I won't be able to attend. It's going to be my first day back to work in nearly two years, so I doubt I'll be asking the boss for any time off. But I absolutley love the concept because laughter is, after, the best medicine, and the Republican/Corporate alliance is worth taking seriously enough to make a public mockery of it. This also reminds me of what Stephen Colbert and John Stewart will be doing down in Washington later this week, and tomorrow you can get even more into the spirit of Halloween.
Because at the end of the day, the thought of Chris Gibson serving in Congress is very, very scary.
Oh, and did I forget to point out that they will be doing all of this just outside the Republican's real-life fat cat dinner? MoveOn's totally punking these freeloading lobbyists and executives tomorrow! Here's hoping you can make it if you're in the area. Go show your support for Scott Murphy while having a guaranteed blast doing so.
NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy is in a tight race with Republican/tea party challenger Chris Gibson in the most Republican-by-registration district in the state.
As are several other NY Democratic Congressmen (John Hall in NY-19, Bill Owens in NY-23, Michael Arcuri in NY-24, Dan Maffei in NY-25) who have won longtime Republican districts in the last few elections.
Which is great news, as New York is one of the major House battlegrounds this year, with hopeful Republicans looking to pick up a handful of seats here.
Chris Gibson, the Republican/tea party challenger to NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy, has been referring to the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts as "the people's tax cuts" lately.
And, according to a quick Google search, Gibson is evidently alone in this weird rebranding.
Given the withering attacks on "Obamacare" from the right-wing media machine and their political confederates, the conventional wisdom for Members of Congress who voted for health care reform is to keep quiet about it.
Especially in purple districts like NY-20.
Rep. Scott Murphy is not keeping quiet, here's his latest ad, "The Truth Behind Repealing Health Care":
Recently retired Army Col. Chris Gibson, who is challenging NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy, is a smart guy, with a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell.
But he's a Republican, so he has to say some stupid things to get the wingnut Republican base excited about his candidacy.
For example, he's repeated the 30-year-old GOP chestnut of calling for abolition of the federal Department of Education, with the same old rationale that this would substantially reduce federal spending.
The only way it could do a small bit of that would be by substantially reducing federal aid to local school districts, which would lead to higher property taxes in NY-20.
Murphy has an ad up about this issue now, and Gibson responded to it yesterday with a loony plan to reduce property taxes by building nuclear power plants.
NY-20 is a battleground district this year, with special-elected Rep. Scott Murphy facing a strong challenge from recently retired Army Col. Chris Gibson.
The district was drawn to be Republican, and while now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Murphy have won there three times since 2006, it still is the most Republican-by-registration district in the state (about 70,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats).
NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy represents the most Republican-by-registration district in New York, and like his NY-20 predecessor now-Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, joined the Blue Dog Coalition.
Though Murphy has supported all the major Obama/Democratic initiatives (stimulus bills, HCR, financial regulation, cap-and-trade, etc.), he is more sensitive to the concerns of small business owners and more concerned about trillion-dollar deficits than Democratic Members of Congress from, say, New York City.
So, he sounded out a senior House Republican about "getting our budget house in order" with a possible coalition of Republicans and moderate Democrats.
And was essentially told screw you, we're going to defeat people like you, take over the House, and deal with the budget our way next year.
Retired Army Col. Chris Gibson will be the Republican/Conservative challenger to NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy, and his first order of business after securing the GOP nomination a week ago has been to pay his respects to the Paul/Beck/Bircher teabaggers in and near the district.
NY-20 Rep. Scott Murphy won a special election a year ago by 700 votes in the most Republican-by-registration district in the state.
Even so, no one of any political stature will be challenging him this year -- the several Republican state senators, assemblymembers and county executives in the county declined, as did at least one former statewide candidate.
And today the teabagger candidate ended his campaign when it became clear that he did not have enough support to win a primary against the candidate chosen by the county GOP bosses.
Murphy will be facing recent Army retiree Chris Gibson in November
Rep Murphy, who this site raised money for and many community members campaigned on the ground for and who had previously voted "no" on health care reform, is now a "yes".
Rep. Scott Murphy, D-N.Y., on Friday declared he would vote for the administration's $940 billion overhaul of the nation's health care system, saying it would shift the balance of power from insurance companies to patients and does a better job of reining in medical costs. Murphy said the final health care package is "much more fiscally conservative" than the broader House-passed bill he opposed last November and would do a better job of reducing the explosive growth in medical costs that "our families and small businesses are facing," while still expanding insurance coverage to roughly 32 million people."This bill is fundamentally different than the bill we voted on last November," Murphy said, adding that while the measure "is not perfect," he feels "much better" about it.
Murphy's decision ends days of intense speculation about how he would handle the issue - the signature piece of President Obama's domestic agenda. Widely viewed as a potential swing vote, Murphy has been a top target for intense lobbying in the nation's capital - including a half-hour White House meeting with Obama - as well as a fierce PR campaign in his mostly rural, upstate congressional district.
Very good, Congressman Murphy. Congressman Hall?
UPDATE: I just received this emailed statement from Congressman Murphy's office:
"Last November, I voted against the House health care reform legislation because I did not believe it adequately addressed the fundamentally flawed system that has led to skyrocketing health care costs, bankrupt families, and excessive profits for insurance companies. In the months since that vote, I have worked closely with my constituents, my colleagues in Congress, and with President Obama to address many of these concerns and ultimately strengthen this legislation."
"From the beginning, I have said that I support meaningful health care reform that is fiscally responsible and stops the out of control growth of health care costs. This legislation will not only make coverage more affordable for New York families, but it will also reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion in the first ten years and $1.2 trillion over the next ten."
"Furthermore, this bill is serious about slowing the out of control growth of health care costs that are devastating our families and small businesses. I am pleased that the final legislation reflects many of my recommendations to encourage individuals to make healthy choices, reward doctors based on quality outcomes, and combat Medicare fraud and abuse. By simply implementing several common sense policies, we can slow the rising costs of health care for New York families."
"As a small businessman, I am also keenly aware of the impact rising health care costs have on small businesses and New York's economy. The bill before us makes significant improvements over the House-passed legislation by eliminating the employer mandate for small businesses, providing meaningful tax incentives, as well as creating heath care exchanges that allow businesses to band together to negotiate better prices from insurance companies. On a local level, I fought to ensure that several of our largest employers-paper mills and medical device manufacturers-are treated fairly under this legislation. These reforms will ensure that our local businesses can continue to provide quality coverage while creating jobs and driving economic growth."
"Over the last year, I have held more than 100 district events to ensure an open and honest discussion about health care reform. I have listened very carefully to the diverse views of our district. Yet despite all of our differences, we remain united in the basic belief that our current health care system can be improved. This legislation takes health care choices out of the hands of insurance companies and puts them back in the hands of families and doctors. These reforms will ensure that insurance companies are prohibited from the practices of excluding those with pre-existing conditions, capping benefits, and discontinuing coverage when people get sick."
"Lastly, to put this in very personal terms, I'm here today in Washington with my son Duke, who is 4. This year, our nation will spend over $2.6 trillion on health care, up from $2.3 trillion last year, and the rate of spending is only increasing. If we do not act to reign in this out of control system, by the time he graduates high school we will be spending over $7 trillion a year on health care. For these reasons, I intend to vote Yes on the President's health care reform legislation."
Don't know if anyone here was at Scott Murphy's telephone town hall meeting. Here are my impressions.
I was told there 8300 people on the call. After Murphy gave an overview of what he was doing, there was a Q&A session. Questioners were lined up by the order in which they queued up.
Most important question - HCR. Murphy still says he'll vote against it because he's concerned about how the government is going to pay for the reform. He's especially concerned about its impact on small business.
He's more supportive of the Senate bill because it has less mandates for small business, making it more affordable for them. He's still reading the Senate Bill - he's half-way through the 2000 pages.
The rest of the questions were interesting - unless they were screened out by Murphy's staff, we didn't have any looming crazies on the call.
One caller liked Gillibrand so much that he called Paterson to thank him for appointing her. Now he's unhappy because she's become too liberal.
Other questions were about Rural Broadband access (Murphy says we're getting federal funds for that); standard deficit worries, pro DADT.
There were some conservative leaning questions, but not regurgitated Conservative talking points. Questions on Tort reform, too much government interference.
I thought it was a useful experience. Murphy is very well prepared for the questions and could respond with specifics for each question.
I'm not happy about his not supporting health care. But I wouldn't be surprised if he is getting a pass on this being a freshman rep in a district that just flipped to Dem 2 election cycles ago.
Serial drunk driver and former NY-20 Rep John Sweeney pleaded guilty to a downgraded DWI charge, his latest, and is now looking at spending 30 days in the Saratoga County jail.
John Sweeney pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in Saratoga County Court today and faces 30 days in Saratoga County Jail when sentenced on April 23.
Sweeney, 53, the former 20th district U.S. representative, was arrested on April 5, 2009 by state troopers. He was traveling 59 mph in a 40 mph zone on Route 9 in Clifton Park and was drunk, police said.
...
Sweeney's lawyer, E. Stewart Jones, said he and his client were satisfied with the outcome of the case.
"We just wanted to avoid a felony and we were able to do that," Jones said. Sweeney will keep his license to practice law.
He'll also have to wear some sort of device that monitors his drinking for a year. Apparently, if we were drink at all, it would be a probation violation.
