If asked, Mike Fitzpatrick will tell you that he is "an independent voice," for his constituents, but his actions and votes tell us quite the opposite:

*    Fitzpatrick accepted nearly $15,000 in campaign contributions over the past eighteen months ($10,000 in 2004 and $4,299 in 2006) from the Tom DeLay's American's for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC).  Both Tom DeLay and his other, now-defunct, Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC) are facing criminal charges in Texas stemming from illegal campaign contributions.

*    Over 95% of Fitzpatrick's votes in Congress have been in line with Tom DeLay's agenda.  In fact, Mike has cast numerous key votes, in line with DeLay, against the interests of his constituents:

o    Voted to change House rules to make it harder to investigate Tom DeLay and the Republican Culture of Corruption (link);
o    Voted to restrict bankruptcy laws so stringently that even military families and natural disaster victims who have severe hardships beyond their control may not be able to declare bankruptcy (link);
o    Voted against punishing energy companies who overcharge for energy and gas (link);
o    Voted against punishing polluters for dumping on minority and low-income neighborhoods (link);
o    Failed to sign a bi-partisan letter urging the EPA to forbid plants to dump sewage into our waterways (he came out against the EPA action only when he received massive public backlash);
o    Voted against greater investment in cleaner energy (link);
o    Succumbed to DeLay's pressure to be the deciding vote in favor of the anti-worker CAFTA bill (link);
o    Voted five times to either not expand or cut funding for veterans, including cutting $155 million in direct spending on veterans in 2006 and $798 million in direct spending over the next 5 years, at a time when more and more troops will be returning from conflicts in the middle east and abroad (link);  
o    Voted against extending TRICARE, the main military health plan, to National Guard and Reserve personnel, to the same extent as active duty troops are covered, even though Guard and Reservists supply 40 percent of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan (link);    
o    Voted to authorize the federal government  to meddle in a private state matter dealing with the end of Terri Schiavo's life (link);  
o    Favors trivatizing Social Security through private accounts.

Is this reflecting "Bucks County Values"?  One can only conclude that by voting more than 95% of the time with Tom DeLay, Mike Fitzpatrick is repaying DeLay for his tainted campaign contributions at the expense of protecting the interests of the good people of Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties.  The people of the Eighth District of Pennsylvania do not want a Tom DeLay wannabe representing them in Washington.  

I'm running for Congress to shed light on the "Republican Culture of Corruption" in Washington and bring back independent leadership and integrity to Washington for my constituents on the issues that matter most.  That is why I'm urging Mike Fitzpatrick and all Republican recipients of DeLay's criminal contributions to take that money and make it good.  Fitzpatrick wouldn't be the first congressional republican to do it.  He could even donate it to the American Red Cross to help victims in the Gulf region.  The almost $15,000 received from DeLay could pay for 6,465 school lunches for displaced kids or one-bedroom houses for six refugee families, who fled to Pennsylvania, for one year.

Politics is about making a difference in the lives of people, not about building your campaign coffers with dirty money.  I look forward to future conversations as I strive to win the primary against an opponent who was a republican up until two months ago and take back PA-08 in the general election from Mike Fitzpatrick, a Tom DeLay wannabe.

Sincerely,

Patrick Murphy
Murphy06.com