Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick said the government shutdown was “brought on by leaders at the highest level.”
By Ted Bordelon
Wire Managing Editor
Amid the first government shutdown since late 1995, Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) said he backed a plan that can end the current stalemate by extending government spending for six months while repealing a portion of the Affordable Care Act.
Under the plan, a new tax on medical devices that is included in Obamacare would be struck from the law. To offset the cost of this repeal, a pension-destabilization initiative would be put in place, giving businesses a different formula to fund pensions that would make them more taxable.
He has also announced his support of legislation that would ensure back pay for furloughed federal workers affected by the shutdown, of which about 6,000 reside within the 8th Congressional District.
In a press call with reporters, the congressman said that the shutdown was “brought on by leaders at the highest level.”
“Leaders at the highest level stopped talking and announced prior to the shutdown that they would not negotiate,” Fitzpatrick said. “I take responsibility, I’m a member of the U.S. Congress, but I am telling you that I’m not happy with the fact that leaders at the highest level began negotiations this way.”
Fitzpatrick also stated in a press call on Thursday that he would be willing to raise the debt ceiling, so long as it was done in a way that is “bipartisan and responsible.”
Former CIA officer and U.S. Army veteran Kevin Strouse will face Shaughnessy Naughton in the Democratic primary next May. He said a government shutdown should not be used as “political leverage.”
The two Democratic candidates who hope to take Fitzpatrick’s seat next November were quick to criticize Fitzpatrick on his handling of the shutdown.
Former CIA officer and U.S. Army veteran Kevin Strouse called a news conference in front of his recently opened campaign office in Bristol on Thursday, and said that Fitzpatrick had “caved in to the right wing and the Tea Party faction” by voting for the attempts to repeal Obamacare that helped lead to the shutdown.
In an exclusive interview with the Wire, Strouse said that, were he in office, he would not compromise with Republicans demanding a dismantling of Obamacare.
“I don’t think we should be using the government shutdown and the debt ceiling as political leverage,” Strouse said. “You have a method of government that is harmful to the country, and I don’t think that’s how Republicans should be handling these discussions.”
Shaughnessy Naughton, a publisher and former cancer researcher, will face Kevin Strouse in the Democratic primary next May. Naughton called Fitzpatrick a “hypocrite” for prior statements that he would support a short-term spending bill.
The campaign of Shaughnessy Naughton, a businesswoman and former cancer researcher who is running against Strouse, also fired shots at Fitzpatrick.
“The consequences of the shutdown are being felt acutely in the Eighth District and across the country,” Naughton said. In a press release, she called for the congressman to give his wages during the shutdown back to the U.S. Treasury.
“If the pain of their constituents isn’t enough to motivate Republicans to pass a clean spending bill, maybe the pain in their pockets will be,” Naughton said. “By not getting serious about ending the shutdown, Congressman Fitzpatrick is directly responsible for the $1.6 billion hit our economy took this week.”
Naughton also called Fitzpatrick a “hypocrite” for prior statements that he would support a short-term spending bill, regardless of whether or not any changes were made to Obamacare.
When asked in a press call with reporters what would happen with the pay he received, Fitzpatrick stated that if federal workers did not get their back pay, he would donate his pay to charity. He added that he had asked for his pay to be suspended, although this has not yet happened. Fitzpatrick did not say that he would return his pay to the Treasury.
As the Midweek Wire went to press, Fitzpatrick was unavailable to respond to the criticisms leveled by Strouse and Naughton. Check back for updates.
Andrew Miller contributed to this story.
