Politics PA
(Bristol, PA) – Pennsylvania Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th District) hosted a Small Business Assistance Seminar to provide local business owners valuable information about growing their companies, including through new lending programs, tax credits, government contracting opportunities and export assistance programs. He was joined by representatives from the US Small Business Administration, the IRS and the Department of Commerce.“I’ll continue doing everything I can to support our small businesses and make sure they know what programs are out there to help,” said Murphy.
Doylestown Intelligencer
By: GARY WECKSELBLATT
Congressman Patrick Murphy said "failed economic policies" cost Bucks County 15,000 jobs - 35 percent of its manufacturing base - and called for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement during an economic forum he hosted at Pennridge High School Thursday night.The two-term Democrat from the 8th District organized a three-man panel of two labor leaders and a Bucks County business owner that spoke of the need to rebuild the nation's shrinking manufacturing sector.Murphy said redoing the NAFTA deal is "crucial" to America's economy and said he was also against the Korean Free Trade Agreement and recently voted against the Peru trade deal that the White House supported."We're in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and we've got to stop bad trade deals," Murphy said.The congressman also said:China "needs to play by our rules" and grant U.S. companies more access to their markets.The federal government should do more to support a "buy America" agenda.Companies should be rewarded "for good behavior" with tax incentives.
By PATRICK MURPHY
When I was growing up, my parents taught me the value of an honest day's work. I talk to constituents every day who share those values but just can't find work, though not for lack of trying.
As your representative, it's my job to do what I can to make that a little bit easier.
That's why, on June 26, I hosted a job fair where hundreds gathered at Oxford Valley Mall to connect with dozens of local employers, from green energy companies to health care organizations.
ARCCA Inc., a Wrightstown company developing products to increase military vehicle safety, was there looking for engineers. Gamesa, located in Fairless Hills, was there looking to hire workers to help build its wind energy turbines.
Dozens of job seekers approached me throughout the event, thrilled to get face time with employers rather than leaving another voice mail or sending another unanswered e-mail.
Yet, in a stunning display of cynicism and arrogance, a guest column (June 29) from a campaign worker for Mike Fitzpatrick's campaign mocked the job fair as a "stunt" and a waste of time.
It belittled the job offerings as mostly "entry-level" positions. Jobs like security guards. Or health caregivers. Apparently, these careers aren't good enough for Fitzpatrick.
I heard from job seekers who were hurt and insulted by that characterization.
What scores for us are Murphy's enthusiasm, his focus on the 8th District and his grasp of what's going on in Washington. Residents of the district would be well served by returning him to Congress for a second term. Click
here to read the rest of the article.
On veterans' affairs, Murphy is as strong as any candidate. As the only Iraq war veteran in Congress - he was an Army lawyer who left a prestigious post at West Point when volunteering for overseas duty - Murphy brings a unique perspective to the mess in Iraq. In the 8th District, PATRICK MURPHY continues to serve well. Click here to read the rest of the story.
With “Eye of the Tiger” playing in the Pepsi Center, Murphy, Bucks County's congressman, walked on stage in Denver with about two dozen military veterans, who stood behind him as he spoke. And the scene was appropriate as Murphy's speech dealt with the need to change America's war policy in Iraq and how veterans are treated once they're home.
“For eight long years, we've had a president who rushed to stand with soldiers at political rallies, but abandoned them at Walter Reed [Army Medical Center],” said Murphy, the only Iraq war veteran in Congress. “A president who spent billions on private contractors, but not on body armor for our troops ... who was there for the photo ops, but AWOL when it came to doing right by our veterans.”
On Tuesday, legislation introduced by Murphy last year to protect service members from similar contract hassles went before the House as part of a larger bill called the Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act of 2008. A vote is expected as early as today.
The bill, known as the 21st Century Servicemembers Protection Act, would allow service members to cancel or suspend their cell phone, cable television, Internet or other utility bills without a financial penalty if they're deployed or reassigned by the military. The legislation allows returning soldiers to keep their cell phone numbers and reactivate their accounts when they return without financial penalty.
Families and businesses in Bucks County are struggling with record gas prices. In order to stem this crisis we need short- and long-term solutions to lower the price of gas. In the short term, we can put more oil on the market and provide important tax saving measures. In the long term, we must wean ourselves off our dependence on foreign oil by investing in renewable energy and by requiring oil companies to drill on 68 million acres of land they are currently sitting on.
With the backdrop of a Gamesa wind power component at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex' green energy hub in Falls Township, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8) announced a bipartisan effort to pass legislation that could bring more green energy jobs to Bucks County.
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, alongside Bucks County Commissioners Jim Cawley, a Republican, and Diane Marseglia, a Democrat, stood Wednesday on Sheppard’s driveway to announce more than $2.5 million in federal funding to help with more home buyouts and elevations along the Neshaminy Creek. The money was secured through the fiscal 2008 Agriculture Appropriations bill signed into law in December, but not announced until Wednesday.
Congressman Murphy has worked to bring “green collar” jobs to Bucks County. At the old US Steel site at the Keystone Industrial Port Complex, companies like Gamesa and AE Polysilicon are helping us replace lost manufacturing jobs and working to bring green, renewable energy to our area and the nation.
Murphy said the overall legislation, which still needs Senate approval and faces a veto threat from the White House, included “smart and commonsense measures [that] will help middle-class families.”
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, a co-sponsor of a bill to reinstitute the assault weapons ban and son of a former Philadelphia police officer, said the government needs to be “proactive” to quell gun violence.
“Under this administration, a gallon of gas has soared from under $1.50 to over $3.60 right here in Bucks County; oil companies have made record profits; and President Bush continues to pass the buck instead of take responsibility,” Murphy said in a statement.
“I'm proud that we've made this long overdue honor a reality through hard work and by bringing Democrats and Republicans together on behalf of our veterans,” Murphy said.
My faith in the American system was truly restored on Dec. 20 when I read that Congressman Patrick Murphy voted against a $70 billion war bill. The bill was a blank check with no conditions to alter policy and no timelines. The bill passed, but we saw a young congressman from a working class family stand up to the president of the United States.
Thumbs Up: To Congressman Patrick Murphy for his willingness to fight the small battles for veterans.
The change is expected to be only a sentence or two, but for war veterans like 92-year-old Joseph Cannon of Springfield, it could mean hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars in savings.
The devices will prevent water from backing up through the drainage system out onto the streets and into homes in Rivermawr, officials said.
“I believe Barack Obama's message reaches across to Democrats, Republicans and independent voters. His message is resonating with Americans in Bucks County and beyond,” said Murphy.
Today we mark the 89th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. As prior generations honored the returning veterans of the First World War each year on Nov. 11, Americans today take the day to recognize the service of all veterans.
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, voted for a tax bill Friday that he said will prevent 80,000 middle-class families in the 8th District from having to pay the federal Alternative Minimum Tax, a tax originally intended for America's wealthiest taxpayers.
Lower Makefield is calling all veterans for the township's first Veterans Day Parade starting at 1 p.m. Nov. 11, which is Veterans Day.
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, an Iraq War veteran, is scheduled to march in the parade and also give a brief speech at the reception, special events committee members said.
It's not everyday that your substitute social studies teacher is a member of the U.S. Congress.
But on Monday morning Rep. Patrick J. Murphy conducted a civics lesson of sorts for about 200 social studies students in the auditorium of Pennridge High School in East Rockhill.
Murphy's fundraiser, which will be held at The Brick Hotel, will be the first meeting of “The Congressional Policy Group,” an organization that will allow members from all political backgrounds to discuss a range of policy issues with Murphy.
In my life I have been afforded some incredible opportunities and important responsibilities. After attending Bucks County Community College, I spent 10 years in the Army, eventually becoming a professor at West Point and after 9/11, deploying for our country to Bosnia and then Iraq. This last November, I was elected to Congress and have been fighting for change in Washington ever since.
On Feb. 6, Rep. Patrick J. Murphy stood in the Senate television gallery amid the glare of bright lights and the whir of digital cameras with Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.) to introduce legislation that would redeploy U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Attention was focused on Obama, but the event was far more significant for Murphy, a Bucks County Democrat barely a month into his congressional career who, as an Iraq veteran, would become a go-to spokesman for his party.
Murphy, the first and only Iraq war veteran in Congress, endorsed Obama, D-Ill., just before the presidential candidate was scheduled to address a convention of war veterans in Kansas City.
During a visit to the West Bank last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad spoke to Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, about Fayad's hope for long-elusive peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Salena Zito of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review looks at high-profile congessional races in Pennsylvania and asks which candidates are looking strong and which seem vulnerable. Patrick Murphy, she write, has "probably done the most to establish himself as a quality incumbent who deserves re-election...he gets the importance of paying attention to local issues.
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter takes a look at Patrick Murphy's strategy for ending the Iraq War - one that he calls "pull and strike" - and why that plan holds the greatest chance of success.
Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy introduced legislation this week.
Congressman Patrick Murphy has received a lot of press for his strong stance against the war in Iraq.
Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy paid a visit to Harry S Truman High School.
Murphy (D., Pa.) and Obama (D., Ill.) appeared together to discuss legislation they had just introduced in the House and Senate to stop the escalation in forces being sent to Iraq and to redeploy U.S. troops out of that country beginning May 1.
