LETTER: Congressman Murphy must stop dodging his constituents
Another on-target, common sense editorial appears in the May 17 Almanac edition, “It’s Time for Veteran Lawmaker Tim Murphy to Face His Constituents,” which calls upon our longtime “public servant” to face the music, to address his constituents face-to-face in a town hall meeting, especially for him to lay out the particulars of President Trump’s American Health Care Act and why he, a psychologist who feigns concern for public health, would vote for a bill which is forecast to cause 24 million individuals to lose their insurance while those at the high end of the totem pole receive tax relief.
Murphy has dodged us because he cannot defend his position and he does not believe he must soil his hands by enduring an unpleasant confrontation that he is not courageous enough to face.
Members of Congress are paid a $174,000 salary and enjoy perks which any other American cannot fathom. Retirement benefits perversely serve to encourage lifelong service and are extraordinarily generous even to those who have not served for extensive periods of time.
Murphy has adopted the credo of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan: “I despise everything about Donald Trump, but I must remain silent. Character, principle, and honor are overrated. All that talk about the Republican Party being the one which cherishes family and moral values? We did not mean it.”
Imagine the apoplexy that would afflict Murphy and his fellow Republicans if it had been a President Hillary Clinton who had fired an FBI director as he was reaching pay dirt in investigation of her email scandal, if she had divulged classified information to our Russian enemy as she “yucked it up” with that country’s foreign minister and ambassador, had barred American media from the meeting, and had then been alleged to have implored the former FBI director to kill the investigation. How long would it have taken Murphy and his cohorts to utter the word impeachment?
The Almanac holds out the possibility that Murphy will face tough opposition when he is up for re-election next year. It is time to get rid of the dead wood in Congress and elect those who will act for the common interest rather than the special interest and who will become animated and involved when a president’s words and actions serve to diminish him, his country, and to make us an international laughingstock.
Oren Spiegler
Upper St. Clair
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