Interview With Patrick Murray, Rep. Jim Moran’s Opponent

On Monday evening, a friend told me that Patrick Murray, the Republican opponent of Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), was holding an event on the roof of my apartment complex. Intrigued due to the RealClearPolitics video of Moran saying “the economy has recovered” this past weekend, as well as the ethics issues Moran was cleared of earlier this year, I attended the event, where the campaign allowed me a few minutes to interview Murray.

My first question to Murray was about the recession statement by Moran. Murray noted that the good job news was largely coming from the hiring of Census workers, and said the high unemployment rate showed that the stimulus didn’t work. He also said the comments by Moran showed that after 20 years in Congress, he was out of touch with his own constituents.

The final word on the Congressman’s comments? An emphatic “No!” regarding being out of the recession.

Following up on his comment of Moran being out of touch, I asked what Murray thought of term limits. He said he supported them, though he wasn’t certain what the best limitations were. He verified that he would want to hear different options before deciding on one, though he reiterated his support for term limits.

One of the Murray supporters at the event had told me she liked Murray because he was not a politician, which I found interesting. That brought me to ask Murray if he had chosen to run because of the ethics issues Moran had run into, and he simply and firmly said “No.” He then explained he was running because Moran was not the best person for the job, due to a variety of factors, including anti-Semitic remarks the Congressman made. He also stated he felt Moran was doing too much explaining to his constituents, and not enough listening. He cited a health care town hall where Moran brought former Vermont governor Howard Dean in to explain the health care bill, instead of listening to the concerns of his constituents. [Note: This was an infamously raucous town hall from last year.]

Murray launched into a few details regarding what he felt needed to be done. He said jobs; national security; and the national debt were front-end concerns, and said regarding the debt that we as a nation need to “turn this ship around.” He also said Moran and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi were “at the heart” of the tax-and-spend policies of the current Congress.

Due to time constraints – Murray did say we could go into more detail should I want to sit down with him again – I asked only one more question: as a Republican, if he were elected, would Murray work to cut defense spending as part of an overall approach to turning the debt ship around?

Fiscal hawk Republicans like Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have put themselves on the record as supporting such a policy. Murray, a former Army Colonel with 24 years of experience in the military, said he could not comment on what Senator Coburn had done, but that he supported Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ recent proposal to cut between one and two percent of the defense budget after careful analysis. He said he was “very hesitant” to cut the budget in the middle of two wars, and that the first duty of the federal government is to provide for the common defense.

Unfortunately, I had to let Murray get back to the event, but I plan to follow-up. He seems like he has a pretty good head on his shoulders, and it would be great to have another conservative Republican with military experience since there are so few in Congress.

Author’s Note: I contacted the Moran office so they could respond to some of what Murray said, but as of the publication of this article his office had not responded.

The Congressional Black Caucus Is Out Of Touch

The New York Daily News’ S.E. Cupp said it best: the Congressional Black Caucus “…practically every month seems to find new ways to demonstrate how irrelevant and out of touch it is.” This year alone, the CBC seems to be trying really hard to throw itself on the proverbial ash heap of history.

First it was the visit to Cuba and praising of Fidel Castro’s brother, Raul Castro. Then there was the investigation of one of the caucus’ more prominent members, Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) for a conflict of interest for steering bailout money to a bank she and her husband had a financial interest in. And who can forget efforts by members of the CBC- and ally Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee- to get a bailout for minority-owned radio stations? The original effort, which happened in May, carried into December when members said they would not support certain financial regulations if minority-owned broadcasters were not given specific attention.

Obviously, the name of the Congressional Black Caucus highlights their support for a particular group of Americans. Were their goal to assist what Waters called “most vulnerable of our population,” I would disagree with their avenue and tactics to help black Americans but still hold great respect for their goal. However, it is clear that is not their intent.

According to Cupp, President Obama’s Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, said, “I don’t think the President believes that we should address only one part of the unemployment rate.” The president and Gibbs have it exactly right. It is grievous fact that black Americans have an unemployment rate of over 15%, versus 10% for all of America, but the president has to worry about 100% of over 300 million Americans, not just the approximately 13% of black Americans in the country. (Of course, he seems to be trying to help the less-than-one percent of Americans who are CEOs of insurance companies…)

Unfortunately, Frank caved to the CBC, and is using part of last year’s bailout funds for the caucus’ pet projects, something that is actually illegal, as Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) pointed out recently. TARP, officially known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program, was stipulated in last year’s bill to “be used automatically to pay down the federal budget deficit,” according to Gregg. Given this fact, it appears the CBC, Frank and the majority of Congress might be on the path to continuing to break the very financial laws they passed only 14 months ago.

Passing laws and getting money for constituents and special interest groups is nothing new, of course, though generally they follow the law. Unfortunately, the CBC and others in Congress are sidestepping the law and using billions of dollars for their interests- note, not for America’s- against the very laws they passed to “save” our economy. I think we should hold them and every other Congressman who supports using the TARP funds for more than its initial intent(s) accountable both at the voter’s booth and in every media possible until we reach the voter’s booth.

Of course, there is always impeachment, if some feel that is the best venue to hold our representatives accountable. I’m not certain that would work en masse, or be necessary or appropriate, though I support it in specific circumstances.