Murphy Absent Without Leave

It may be recalled that present Senator Joe Lieberman spanked then Senator Lowell Weicker pretty vigorously during their hard fought campaign way back in 1988 concerning Mr. Weicker’s failure to vote on important issues.

One of the most effective ads run by the Lieberman campaign showed Mr. Weicker as a snoozing bear in his cave hibernating while the world about him in the senate was hammering out bills.

The ad caught the attention of the New York Times:

"The 30-second television cartoon, first broadcast in early October, mocked the political persona and physique of Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr., Mr. Lieberman's burly, 6-foot 6-inch opponent, by depicting him as a bear sleeping through important votes."

The Linda McMahon campaign has borrowed a page from Mr.Lieberman.

Here is the McMahon media release:

Chris Murphy's Absentee Record During Financial Crisis

Day 4,971 Without Plan for Jobs, Asleep at Switch During Meltdown

Despite his protestations to the contrary, it is an inescapable fact that Congressman Chris Murphy skipped nearly 80% of the hearings held by his two committees charged with overseeing the management of the financial crisis during 2007 and 2008. As a member of the House Government Oversight Committee and the Financial Services Committee, Murphy missed 170 of 218 hearings, for an absentee rate of 77.9%.

“Nowhere else in the world can you show up for work once out of every five times and then ask your boss for a promotion,” said Linda McMahon campaign manager Corry Bliss. “These were important hearings happening while our economy and banking industry were tanking. People were losing their retirement savings and value in their homes. Murphy was AWOL.”

Murphy’s response that he actually cast votes – something he is paid nearly $170,000 a year by the taxpayers to do – is unconvincing. Two of the hearings he skipped were vital to the conversations happening at the time: one was on the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, while another dealt with the role of the credit reporting agencies in the crisis.

“Murphy says all the time that he spends his time listening. Well, isn’t that what committee hearings are for – gathering information?”Bliss said. “It’s clear that Chris Murphy didn’t need to hear the discussions, because he simply waited for his instructions from Nancy Pelosi on how to vote at the end of the day. 98-percent of the time, he did her bidding.”

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