Scott Murphy’s PR Fail: small businesses remain unconvinced at prop SBA event

By Sam Foster

Roughly two weeks ago, Scott Murphy made a pitch during his debate with Chris Gibson that government and small business could be partners in economics growth.  A few days later, Scott Murphy launched his second campaign video touting his small business friendly credentials.  Using small business owners as props for his re-election, the video tried to market the idea that Scott Murphy was a boon for Main Street businesses.



 Noticeably missing from the ad was Scott Murphy's voting record.  Here's why.

Continuing on his perceived strength in the area of SBA loans, Scott Murphy held a round table meeting with SBA director Karen Mills.  However, many business owners voiced concern over the extreme difficulty and rigors involved in obtaining SBA loans:

While Levitas said the SBA loan process went smoothly for him, others voiced a different concern, citing burdensome paperwork and a slow approval process.

"I think it's good for the decision makers to hear it straight from the horse's mouth," said Kent Tarkleson, who owns an indoor recreational golf club named Tark's, on the city's west side. Tarkleson said he eventually secured funding for his business project privately, but added that Thursday's roundtable was an encouraging step forward for decision makers to take steps to make the process more user-friendly.

Unfortunately, small businesses owners will need to get used to the bureaucracy involved in obtaining government funding.  Scott Murphy's vote on financial reform has all but ensured credit markets will be stalled for years to come.  Andrew Busch, global currency and public policy strategist at BMO Capital Markets gave the following assessment:

However, he added that after full implementation, the bill will reduce bank's profits, reduce the ability to compete globally and reduce credit to the economy.

"The biggest losers for the drop in credit will be small to medium sized firms which are the drivers of job growth in the United States. Regulation increases the cost of what is being regulated as it simultaneously reduces the supply of what is being regulated."

Scott Murphy's marketing may be slick, but in the end businesses know that his voting record is challenge standing in the way of small business.  Regulations like the 1099 requirements in the health care bill Murphy voted for are crippling burdens to small businesses and inhibiting economic recovery.

Sure Murphy was able to help grease the Volkommer's SBA application, but the real problem is; what is his plan for the thousands of other businesses he's burdened with his Washington votes?  If you ask him, I'll guarantee you'll get a prop instead of an answer.

Preliminary 3rd quarter fundraising: Murphy out-raises, but Chris Gibson’s single donor support is astounding

By Sam Foster

Several campaigns are taking the opportunity to file preliminary finance numbers for their campaign press releases.  I'll be updating UPR throughout the day with the different races.  The most publicized thus far is NY-20 between Chris Gibson and Scott Murphy.

Hoping to stem some of Chris Gibson's momentum, Scott Murphy released his filings early and reported to have raised $325,000 since the beginning of July.  The announcement from Murphy shows that he outpaced Gibson's fundraising in the 3^rd quarter.  Gibson reported a total of $261,955 in a press release last night.  Both figures are an impressive feat from two candidates that are going to give quite a battle for NY-20.

Though Murphy is reporting to have outraised Chris Gibson, his press release is light on information on the sources of funding.  It begs the question of whether his fundraising is the result of individual donations, or personal lending and PAC contributions.  Regardless, Murphy maintains his healthy cash advantage.

While the jury's out on Murphy's sources of cash, Chris Gibson continues to prove strong, local, single donation support.

Gibson's press release reported:

"We are very honored by the overwhelming amount of support we have received," Gibson said. "We may have started later and as a challenger facing entrenched interests supporting my opponent, but we have proven we are competitive and will be running a complete campaign to earn the trust of the voters of the whole 20th district. The groundswell of support from individuals around the district continues to build because people know Washington is out of touch and we need new leadership in Congress."
 
During this latest filing period, Gibson raised a total of $261,955.82 from 952 donors. Over 94% of all the individual donors were from New York. The campaign had over $526,334.46 cash-on-hand as of August 26th. Since Gibson's campaign began in March, the campaign has raised $853,633.73.

Scott Murphy: Pork Cheerleader and Probable Dodge Ball Player

By Bill Claydon

Cross posted to Red State

On September 1st, incumbent Democrat Congressman Scott Murphy (NY 20) did an interview with North Country Public Radio about his reelection campaign. I must say he probably was great at playing dodge ball. It's only 11 minutes long and certainly worth a listen if you like boilerplate fluff.

The interviewer noted that with a district that has a majority Republican registration, he must win over Republicans and Independents and asked if this was possible in the current situation. Like in his opening statement during the August 26th debate with opponent Colonel Chris Gibson, Murphy just went on about being a businessman. There was no reference to his record of voting with San Francisco extreme liberal Nancy Pelosi almost 90% of the time, and supporting all the key bills in the Obama/Pelosi agenda. Murphy suggested people see him as a businessman. He may see it that way, but many others see him as a Pelosi rubber stamp.

Murphy noted that when he travels around, people say they are tired of the bickering, and want politicians to behave in an open and thoughtful way. Murphy is adept at stating the obvious. Of course people are tired of bickering and want politicians to behave in an open and thoughtful manner!

Mr. Murphy cited accomplishments such as federal money for local sewer projects. The Congressman has not even served a full term and he's already well versed in the game. He believes it's an accomplishment to cite the pork he brought home for his district. The federal government should not be involved in determining local projects. People send money to Washington only for Congresspersons and Senators to play games over who gets to bring it back to their state/district.

What is telling is that Murphy did not list any accomplishments in terms of reducing taxes, burdensome regulation, etc. to let businesses create an environment for jobs. Instead, he talked about loans from the Small Business Administration as another accomplishment. Maybe if we had a better business climate, businesses would not need loans from the SBA. Unfortunately, continuing to rubber stamp the Obama/Pelosi agenda of tax, borrow, and waste prevents us from having a good business climate.

In terms of ObamaCare, Murphy cited a few good things about it and misrepresented his opponent's position by claiming Colonel Gibson would like to simply do away with all the good things. Colonel Gibson supports repealing the current multi-thousand page ObamaCare nightmare, complete with the unconstitutional mandate for everyone to buy insurance, and replace it with something that keeps the very few good points of ObamaCare. Murphy seems to have forgotten about Gibson's plan to replace the current ObamaCare law.

As with almost any appearance or interview by Scott Murphy, he called himself a "fiscal conservative." Anyone who is a fiscal conservative does not waste thousands of taxpayer dollars on mailings telling his constituents he is a "fiscal conservative." A fiscal conservative does not vote for bills like ObamaCare, Cap and Trade, the DISCLOSE Act, the second "stimulus," etc., or give support to things like the original FAILED "stimulus."

Speaking of the original "stimulus," Murphy said it was absolutely necessary. Yes, wasting money on expensive road signs to announce that a paving job was done with "stimulus" money was absolutely necessary.

Asked about what Democrat congressional leaders could do to help him, Murphy said he did not want their help. No kidding! Nancy Pelosi and her extremist agenda have "helped" Murphy by putting him in a precarious position. He cannot talk about his dismal record of rubber stamping the Pelosi/Obama mess get through Congress. He must talk as if he has no record. On the other hand, Pelosi, Hoyer, and other Democrats in "safe" seats have donated to Murphy's campaign. He certainly deserves SOMETHING for being such a huge supporter of their agenda.

Murphy cited town halls, saying people want to talk about both national and local issues. How would he know what they want in 2010? Throughout August when Congress was out of session, Murphy announced last minute town halls. Typically, less than 48 hours notice was given. One recent town hall was done in Saratoga Springs, NY. According to the press release it was only open to residents of a given nursing home. Saratoga Springs is a populated area within the largely rural district. Within reasonable distance are towns like Clifton Park and Halfmoon. The town hall should have been open to allow area residents to hear from their Congressman. On the other hand, Murphy did a recent town hall in Halfmoon (with very little notice given) which I am told did not go well.

Congressman Murphy also stated that he visited all 137 towns in New York's 20th district in 2009. He plans to do that again. Time is running out. Visiting these towns last year required a very ambitious August schedule complete with multiple well announced events in a single day. He had nothing like that this year. Soon Congress will be back in session so he will need to be in DC. If his opponent Colonel Gibson wins on November 2nd, will Scott Murphy still visit the towns he has yet to visit by that date?

Young Voters for an Orlean's Reunion Tour "Vote with Me" gets media attention

By Sam Foster

As I pointed out, political marketing can have a major impact on a campaign. Earlier this week, Young Voters for an Orlean's Reunion Tour created a music video that spoof's Congressman John Hall's hit single "Dance with Me" called "Vote with Me."

Today, the local media picked up the music video and hit the streets to see what voters thought.

Here is News 12's coverage below.



Please note two things from the coverage.

First, John Hall's campaign manager makes an awkward pun that comes off very stale in comparison to YV's parody music video.

"..asking Hudson Valley families to dance with some pretty radical ideas."

Second, Nan picked up an endorsement from a very nice lady in a mini van. You can't buy publicity like that.

For those of you who still haven't seen "Vote with me," the video is below.

Big Endorsement for David Malpass, NY Post could put Malpass on the Republican ballot

By Sam Foster
Via NY Post

In a race where New Yorker's are extremely unfamiliar with the Republican candidates running against incumbent Democrat, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the NY Post endorsement for David Malpass, may catapult him into the lead for the Republican Ballot.

NY Post writes:

He served as deputy assistant Treasury secretary under President Ronald Reagan and deputy assistant secretary of State under the first President George Bush; in both jobs, he worked on a host of national and international economic issues.

Earlier, he was senior tax analyst for the Senate Budget Committee and later served as GOP staff director at of Congress' Joint Economic Committee before moving to Wall Street, where he was a highly regarded economic analyst.
Malpass is a different kind of candidate, one who doesn't fit the conventional political mold. Some would call him a policy "wonk" -- yet he speaks eloquently and authoritatively on the economic issues that are of critical concern to New York.

In that respect, he follows the intellectual tradition set by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of the most fertile minds ever to sit in the Senate.
Whether that can translate into vote-getting ability on the campaign trail remains very much to be seen, but New Yorkers can be confident that -- if elected -- Malpass would be a highly knowledgeable and principled advocate for the state's interests.

That would be in sharp contrast to the woman he hopes to unseat -- who almost overnight morphed from centrist Democrat to slavish follower of every hard-left special interest.

The NY Post hasn't made their endorsement lightly.  David Malpass has been trailing DioGuardi in polling.  However, I think one could certainly make the argument that David Malpass' credentials in economics could be a boon to him in a potential run against, as the NY Post put it, a "slavish follower of every hard-left special interest."  Especially given the state of the US and State economy.

Rep. Tonko: "People commit to an industry"

By Bill Claydon

Cross posted at Red State

YNN has a good video segment and article about the recent NY Daily News piece discussing Democrat incumbent Paul Tonko (NY-21) being a double dipper (in fact, the TOP double dipper among NY's US House delegation).

In the video, Tonko says he earned the pension for years of service and that people "commit to an industry." Mr. Tonko's 'commitment' was to be a career politician running repeatedly as an incumbent, feeding off the taxpayers. He has won every election. Nobody asked him to do this; he chose to do this. He was there to represent the people. He was there to serve the people. He was not there to create a career for himself.

It is disingenuous for Mr. Tonko as a career politician to basically compare this to a situation such as, for example, a person who spent their career working at General Electric or some other large company. It is also far different from someone like his opponent Ted Danz, who committed to the heating and air conditioning industry and built a successful business employing people with private funds, taking all the risk.

In Tonko's case, to "commit to an industry," one must be privileged enough to happen to be the incumbent in an area that largely votes for your party. This is a position very few New Yorkers happen to be in. Only a member of the elite political class of career politicians --- like Mr. Tonko --- have that opportunity. Mr. Tonko basically had a guaranteed job (at least until people started waking up) with the New York State Assembly for as long as he wanted it. Most people do NOT have guaranteed jobs like Tonko. Tonko's comment betrays his arrogance.

There is typically an opposition candidate vying for an elected office. There could even be someone in the same party looking to run, but cannot afford to primary or chooses not to do so. The Founding Fathers believed in rotation in office. Political office was never meant to be a career or a livelihood on the backs of the taxpayers as Mr. Tonko seems to imply with his comment. To even say such a thing shows how out of touch the man happens to be.

There is nothing illegal about a career politician in a fiscally underwater state such as New York collecting a fabulous pension and then going on to Congress to earn nearly $200,000/yr. There is nothing illegal about displaying no manners, being egotistical, self-centered, etc. Just because it is legal does not mean it is right, however. Tonko's opponent noted that he believes a pension should be for someone who is actually retired. Danz also pointed out that the amount Tonko receives ($64,000) is more than a lot of working people earn in a year. Tonko gets his because of the power of incumbency.

To continue to run election after election and then ride off into the sunset to get a higher paying job at taxpayer expense while also collecting a taxpayer funded retirement is simply wrong, particularly when New York State happens to be in such a fiscal crisis. Mr. Tonko should do the right thing and reject his taxpayer funded retirement while serving in Congress at taxpayer expense.

Perhaps new elected officials (since the existing career politicians would say they're grandfathered in) should not receive a retirement. That might be one way to achieve voluntary term limits. We could also gauge how much they're in it for the people and how much they're in it for themselves.

Letter to the Editor: Fact-Checking Scott Murphy's Pay-Go Record

By Tip Kubisch

Scott Murphy, Democrat incumbent running for NY's 20th congressional district, has been heralding his fiscal conservative credentials. While fiction can be fun, in voting, I prefer fact.

Fact: In February 2010 Congress passed H.J.R. 45 reinstating the PAYGO rules. Murphy voted for that bill.

Fact: In April 2010 Congress passed H.R. 4851, The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, thus making an emergency exception to circumvent PAYGO. The price tag for the bill was 18 billion dollars. Murphy voted for that bill.

Fact: In June 2010 Murphy sent out a mailing to his constituents stating, "Restoring Fiscal Responsibility. Congressman Murphy helped introduce and pass the Statutory Pay-As-You Go Act of 2009 that requires any new spending be offset elsewhere". However, in that mailing he failed to tell his constituents that he voted for H.R. 4851.

Fact: On July 1, 2010 Congress passed H.R. 5618, The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act, again making an emergency exception to circumvent PAYGO. The price tag for the bill was 34 billion dollars. Murphy voted for that bill.

Fact: On July 1, 2010 Murphy responded by email to a letter I sent to him on the subject. Murphy stated:

“While the current economic situation has required the government to take action to jumpstart our economy, Congress must not lose focus on its responsibility to take the necessary steps to restrain and reduce government spending. To help achieve this objective, I helped introduce H.R. 2920, The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009. This legislation requires Congress to offset the cost of any tax cut or increase in entitlement spending with savings from elsewhere in the budget. I believe that Congress should be required to make budget decisions the same way as families in Upstate New York do and Pay-As-You-Go rules will help bring us back to a more sustainable budget."

Pay-As-You-Go principles are a positive step toward fiscal responsibility, but I am also committed to eliminating wasteful spending. In fact, in my first few months in office, I have voted to eliminate over $24 billion in government spending and have supported efforts to cut and eliminate funding for federal programs that simply should not be continued during difficult economic times. When a bill came up that would increase the budget for my own congressional office, I voted against that too because we should all be making sacrifices”.

Fact: On July 14, 2010 Murphy, along with other members of the Blue Dog Coalition sent a letter to the House leadership urging them to properly impose budget enforcement mechanisms that cut and restrain the growth in federal spending. The letter called on the Leadership to stop designating non-emergency spending as "emergency" to circumvent PAYGO. Murphy stated "last year we took the important step of passing statutory Pay-As-You-Go legislation to keep Congress honest and began to put our fiscal house back in order. But time and again, we see new spending programs deemed to be "emergency spending" in an effort to bypass the restrictions we've put in place. Balancing our budget is going to mean making tough choices and won't be easy. We must stop looking for loopholes and start being fiscally responsible."

Fact: On July 22, 2010 Congress passed H.R. 4213, The Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010, once again circumventing PAYGO. The price tag of the bill was 118 billion. However, all but 30 billion dollars were offset by cuts elsewhere. Murphy voted for that bill.

Congressman Scott Murphy a “fiscal conservative?"

You decide: Fiction or Fact?

Editor Update:

Murphy has since voted for the Education Jobs Bill adding yet another $12 billion to the deficit.