One day after Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) was thrown into a storm of controversy by her curious appointment to the congressional debt reduction supercommittee, the senior senator from Washington State may have given her critics additional fuel.
While visiting a manufacturing firm in Richland, Wash., Murray pushed for passage of a new workforce training law that would require even more spending by the federal government.
From KNDO/KNDU-TV:
Sen. Murray toured SIGN, an orthopedic implant manufacturing facility in Richland today. She is working to pass new Career Pathways legislation. Murray says getting high school and post high school students trained in technical skills will help them get these skilled jobs.
“What are you going to do with your life? They have no idea. We need to tell them there are engineering jobs, there are health care jobs, there are manufacturing jobs. These are the skills you need to know to get them,” said the Senator.
Murray also talked about getting the Workforce Enforcement Act passed, which is a plan to retrain laid off workers.
Murray’s call for a new program requiring federal spending comes amid a raging debate concerning her appointment yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to the so-called “Super Congress” debt reduction committee.
As the implicit objective of the Super Congress committee is to find spending cuts, Murray’s inclusion in the group is as peculiar as her thrustless rise to power.
Murray’s appointment raised immediate red flags from both liberals and Republicans primarily because of her role as chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the political fundraising arm of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate.
The senior senator from Washington State has never been pinned as a budget hawk (unless one counts preying on chunks of loose pork) and as chief Democratic fundraiser (who can forget her recent promiscuous solicitation of the Dems’ public enemies numbers one and two – the Koch Brothers) makes her an odd choice if the Democratic leadership intends to portray themselves as genuinely interested in debt reduction.
The conflict of interest compelled even traditional allies in liberal groups to offer Murray a choice: She can be a spending hawk or a fundraiser, but not both.
From an article appearing Wednesday in The Hill,
A coalition of liberal groups is calling on Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to stop all fundraising while serving on the debt-reduction “supercommittee.”
If Murray does not pledge to stop her fundraising activity for the reelection efforts of Senate Democrats, she should step down as DSCC chairwoman, some say.
“It really sends a bad message to the American people when you’re the chief fundraiser trying to come up with this balanced approach to deficit reduction,” said Adam Smith, communications director of Public Campaign. …
“She should step down or say ‘I’m not going to raise any money,’” Smith said.
Republicans were less subtle in their reactions to the Murray’s appointment.
“Appointing Senator Murray as the Co-chair of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is like asking a fox to guard a hen house,” said Washington State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur in a statement released Tuesday.
“Senator Murray has absolutely no history of cutting spending, ever. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I do not know of a single substantive vote she has ever cast to cut spending,” said Wilbur.
In his statement to the press, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Preibus called for Reid to commit to a genuine debt reduction process by yanking Murray from the committee.
“Harry Reid’s appointment of Patty Murray to Co-Chair the Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is absolute proof that Democrats are not serious about deficit reduction.” Priebus said. “The Select Committee is no place for someone whose top priority is fundraising and politics. Majority Leader Harry Reid should immediately withdraw her appointment.”
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[photo credit: flickr]
If you want to know just how un-serious the Democrat leadership is about this process and how unwilling they are to address the nations problem look at exhibit A: Patty Murray’s appointment to this committee. There might not be a less intelligent person holding elected office anywhere in the nation than Patty Murray and she’s got a roll in pretending to try to get the debt crisis under control.
It should a constant source of embarrassment for the state of Washington’s resident that this commie moron keeps getting re-elected.
I totally agree! I live in WA State and it is such a degration and a letdown (an embarrassing one to say the least) to have Murrey consistently re-elected! But the liberals living in the bigger cities in this state control the vote! When these ‘progressive’ voters ‘advance’ us to the extent of European liberalism, we have more to look forward to…..riots in the streets and a total breakdown of society!
Common sense tells us that it takes money to make, or save, money. Increasing funding to employment related training programs, such as those recommended by Sen. Murray, make sense. Train people to do the jobs available and the jobs that will become available in the future. This will keep them employed, and off welfare, for years.
Give me a fish, I eat for a day….teach me to fish, I eat for a lifetime.
Sooooooo…………tell me, what is the high school doing to “Tell them there are health care jobs, engineering jobs”…..to paraphrase you, Patty. Or is the Department of Education (an entire department which could be cut out of the budget entirely) too busy protesting and carrying union signs, and leaving their classrooms to picket?
Don’t tell me YOU want to be in charge of education?
What a joke.
free enterprise should take care of this situation NOT Gov.the reason we r in this financial mess is the Gov.is sticking its nose where its not even supposed to b
When has the government ever run a program that actually gets the results intended!? It costs the government more in administrative wastefull spending than any ‘product’ they could ever hope to produce! It’s just another program to hire more govenment workers to run it…..Oh! That’s more jobs, but more government jobs that we taxpayers cannot afford. If they want to start a ‘new’ program, better to recycle in some of the current government workers who are an unneccesary surplus in their current ‘work’!
I would to read this article but can’t because your f’n pop up adds.
Lady you are a real dud! You can never be trusted again.
Deceiver and you must be made to resign. Get out NOW!
remember that she was appointed to this office, and not decieve her way into it. The one to blame are those that conferred on her appointment.
I know this is totally sexist and un-PC, but if there’s a more homely looking female in WA or anywhere, I’d be shocked. Looks are certainly not related to qualifications, but in tennis-shoe Patty’s case, there’s an exception.
STOP SPENDING MONEY!
You are supposed to decide on the trillions of cuts we need on the super committee?
YOU HAVE NEVER VOTED AGAINST SPENDING IN YOUR POLITICAL CAREER!!!!!
You are a horrible unqualified human being.
What is she unqualified as a human being for. Mam, the true test of Diplomacy is keeing one’s cool. Do not let your emtions to guide you. The Senator may be unqualified for this particular poisition, but she has done plenty in other areas (most important; finding the right candidates to run for powerfulk offices.