1000 Days

From The Hill, some Republican congresspeople want to wear buttons that say “1000 Days” at tonight’s SOTU to mark the fact that the Senate (Democrat controlled) hasn’t passed a budget for that long.

From Instapundit, an email saying:

I’m on the hill today, visiting with Congressman, and we are finding that many of the GOP members are saying, “It’s against House rules to wear the ’1000 days’ buttons at the SOTU tonight…”

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it “against the rules” to not pass a freaking budget for 1000 days???

Tell people to call their GOP Reps and Sens and tell them show some brass and wear the danged buttons tonight. And the establishment wonders why people are gravitating toward Newt. They want elected officials who want to fight, and if the political class can’t even get up the nerve to wear a button, how are they going to reform entitlements, reform the tax code, or cut any spending?

and a recommendation to look for their senators and representatives tonight to see: button or not?

Will Fitzpatrick wear a button?  I have no idea if we’ll even be able to see him, but still, I’m betting he won’t.  And to be honest, I probably won’t watch the SOTU.  More than 30 seconds of looking at and/or listening to Obama and my mind starts screaming “where’s the scotch?“

Fitzpa – Bah!

For the second time in the past 13 months, I’ve written an email to Mike Fitzpatrick about a legislative issue of concern to me.

For the second time, I’ve received no reply.

I’m not asking for a personal missive exploring the contents of his mind.  He has staff that we pay for.  Why is it beyond them to send a canned response outlining the congressman’s position?

The second email I wrote was to request that he, Fitzpatrick, oppose SOPA.  I saw and took his dopey little online poll.  All I got in response was this:

January 23, 2012

You may have heard in the news last week about a bill, H.R. 3261, titled the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  Several popular websites, including Wikipedia and Google, showed their opposition to this bill by shutting down their website for 24 hours and bringing attention to this very controversial bill.

The goal of this legislation is to prevent intellectual property theft, also known as piracy, on the internet.  Many agree that online piracy is a real threat and some type of legislative solution may be needed to address this increasingly rampant cyber-crime.

However, many have expressed extreme concerns with the way SOPA, and its Senate counter-part, the Protect IP Act (PIPA), are worded.  They believe that the language in these bills is too broad and could lead to government censorship of the internet and the shutting down of many legitimate and popular websites.

You can look at the wording of the bill yourself by reading the full text and the summary provided by the Library of Congress here: H.R. 3261 Summary.

As I look further into the wording of this bill, I want to know what you think.  Please take my poll online to share your thoughts on this bill: Click here to participate in my poll.

As your Congressman, I believe it is my responsibility to reflect the will and the best interests of my constituents. Your input is very important to me as I review this legislation, and I thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Mike Fitzpatrick

Online piracy doesn’t bother me nearly as much as shutting down the most open exchange of information platform we’ve had in years.

And it doesn’t bother nearly as much as clueless congressman.

Jeesh.  I went door to door for this man.  What was I thinking?

If you oppose SOPA, take the poll, for pity’s sake.  Fitzpatrick can’t make the choice himself.

Fitzpatrick Vote Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea

A story in today’s Courier-Times shows there are rumblings about Mike Fitzpatrick’s vote on HR 2587, the bill spurred by the National Labor Relation’s Board’s (NLRB) complaint filed against Boeing’s decision to open a plant in South Carolina, a right-to-work state.

I can’t comment on Ms. Stefano’s statement about an early look at a possible primary.  In general, though I understand they’re expensive, I’m in favor of primaries; they get issues out on the table and force candidates to address them.

I can and will comment on Fitzpatrick’s response about why he voted the way he did.  (I’ll also say that I’m unhappy that I never received more than a canned “got your email” response from Fitzpatrick when I wrote and asked him to help me understand his vote).

Worrisome

To take a break for a moment from the local…

Congressman Fitzpatrick has voted against HR 2587, one of only 7 Republicans to do so.  We are his constituents.

HR 2587:

To prohibit the National Labor Relations Board from ordering any employer to close, relocate, or transfer employment under any circumstance.

This of course is related to the NLRB / Boeing lawsuit.  If you’re not familiar with the story, use a search engine to do a lookup, and read about it.

Here’s the vote tally.

If you’re concerned about Fitzpatrick’s vote on this subject, contact him here.  Many in Upper Makefield went all out for him.  Let him hear from you.