From the bcct:
Fitzpatrick pledges four term limit
By: GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
The Republican restated his challenge to keep campaign spending to $1 million.
Saying it was good enough for Gen. George Washington, Republican congressional candidate Mike Fitzpatrick pledged Wednesday to limit himself to eight years in the U.S. House if he were elected to represent the 8th District.
"Four terms, then come home to Bucks County," Fitzpatrick said.
And since the former congressman has already served one term, he's got only six years to go.
"It would be my self-imposed personal commitment," he said.
In a 75-minute conversation with the Courier Times editorial board, Fitzpatrick reiterated his challenge to limit campaign spending to $1 million; gave his prescription for health care reform; and said if he wins the Republican nomination he would ask Congressman Patrick Murphy, his Democratic opponent, to participate in one town hall event each week.
"I'd do one a day and twice on Sunday if he'll agree to it," he said.
In a press release late Wednesday, Fitzpatrick stated: "Washington has become a town of embedded politicians, many of whom have lost their connection to the real world. A seniority system exists that rewards congressmen for political careers lasting decades and encourages members to serve in perpetuity. If money and power corrupt then Washington is the epicenter.
"I have no interest in becoming a professional politician," his release continued. "If the voters of our district choose me, I will represent their best interest wholeheartedly without regards to a political career. I pledge today not to become part of the problem, but part of the solution."
On health care, Fitzpatrick criticized Congress for "spending a year on it and accomplishing nothing." The lack of legislation was a "failure" for President Barack Obama, he said.
Rather than making the problem 2,000 pages big, Fitzpatrick said it should have been handled by looking for "commonsense solutions."
His four primary fixes:
??Permit individuals to purchase insurance across state lines
??Allow small businesses to group together and obtain purchasing power similar to large corporations and trade unions
??Medical liability reform: end junk lawsuits to reduce the practice of defensive medicine
??Support health care clinics that provide care for the uninsured. This would include tax credits for doctors who work at clinics.
"Our system performs miracles every day," said Fitzpatrick, a recent cancer survivor. "There have not been many times that the government has managed something better than the private sector."
In response to Murphy spokeswoman Kate Hansen describing his call for campaign spending limits a "gimmick," Fitzpatrick said, "I'm dead serious about it."
He called money the "gateway drug to the bad things that happen in Congress" and said of trying to raise campaign cash: "You think about it every day."
In two previous House races, Fitzpatrick outspent Ginny Schrader, $1.27 million to $620,000, and Murphy $3 million to $2.4 million.
Asked if he were the incumbent - with bountiful financial benefits at his disposal - would he agree to such a limit?
"If it was reasonable, why not," he said. "This is a very different economy. A lot of people are out of work. + If not a million dollars, maybe two million. What's the number?"
He said running a congressional campaign with frequent town hall meetings would lead to a more "substantive" political discussion compared with television commercials that are most likely short sound bites, often negative.
"In 2010, money will not buy an election," said Fitzpatrick, who added, "I'm just seeking a level playing field."
He said he entered the race with the support of his wife, Kathy, and six children "who are going to inherit what we're doing in the nation's capital."
He quoted from a book titled "New Deal or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America," by Burton Folsom. The words are those of Roosevelt's Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau in 1939:
"We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work," Morgenthau said. "I want to see this country prosperous. I want to see people get a job. I want to see people get enough to eat. We have never made good on our promises. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt, to boot."
