It was just recently revealed that Murphy faced foreclosure on his home shortly after being elected to Congress. Additionally, Murphy failed to pay his rent in 2003. Furthermore, it seems possible that Murphy received a sweetheart deal from Webster Bank in exchange for federal bailout money. Murphy was able to secure a below-market mortgage loan at 4.99%, not long after defaulting on his original mortgage. Shortly after, the bank received a bailout from the federal government to the tune of $400 million. Also notable is the fact the bank is both a campaign contributor and has paid Murphy for legal services.

In a statement issued last week, opponent Linda McMahon’s campaign manager Corry Bliss raised several questions about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the Murphy foreclosure, and demanded an explanation from the campaign. Since then, McMahon has filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Murphy.

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In what has become a disturbing pattern, this week Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy voted against three bipartisan jobs bills in three days.

All three of these bills received broad bipartisan support, because they will help protect Connecticut businesses from more government overreach and job killing regulations.  They represent the 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th bipartisan jobs bills passed by the House, and largely opposed by Murphy, now awaiting a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

• REGULATORY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2011 (H.R. 3010):  Bipartisan legislation that “requires agencies to assess the costs and benefits” of new regulations on small businesses.
  Passed the House by a vote of 253-167 – Murphy Voted Nay
• REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2011 (H.R. 527):  Closes loopholes used by federal agencies that allow them to impose costly, job-crushing regulations.
  Passed the House by a vote of 263-159 – Murphy Voted Nay
• WORKFORCE DEMOCRACY & FAIRNESS ACT (H.R. 3094):  Prevents the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from imposing sweeping new regulations that threaten American jobs.
  Passed the House by a vote of 235-188 – Murphy Voted Nay

Notably, Murphy’s job-killing votes comes on the heels of a new report from Gallup that found our country’s underemployment rate – which measures the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time – has risen to over 18 percent.

“It’s unbelievable that Chris Murphy would tell the people of Connecticut that he cares about jobs, and then proceed to vote against three bipartisan jobs bills in as many days,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Jahan Wilcox.  “Unfortunately, this is just another reminder that Murphy will do anything to protect the unelected bureaucrats and their their job-killing regulations.”     

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In response to this evening’s announcement by the deficit reduction Super Committee that they were unable to reach any bipartisan agreement , the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said the failure of leadership by Washington Democrats, and their addiction to higher taxes and more wasteful government spending, will be a defining issue in next year’s U.S. Senate campaign in Connecticut.

“After years of reckless government spending, unemployment mired at 9 percent and a $15 trillion debt that grows daily, the negotiations of the last few weeks have been a remarkable commentary on the misplaced priorities of Congressman Chris Murphy and his fellow liberal Democrats.

“Voters should rightfully wonder why Congressman Murphy and his fellow Democrats didn’t show the same zeal for actually solving our nation’s problems as they did for ramming their health care overhaul and their $825 billion stimulus boondoggle into law.

“Instead, we’ve watched as the Democrats insisted on a trillion-dollar tax hike on job creators and hundreds of billions of dollars in new government stimulus spending, while doing nothing to prevent Social Security and Medicare from going bankrupt.  In contrast, Republicans focused on common-sense tax reform, protecting entitlement programs and trimming the fat from the federal government’s budget.

“It’s clear Congressman Murphy and his Democrat colleagues have an addiction to higher taxes, bigger government and more spending, but if he survives his contentious Democrat primary, voters in Connecticut will have an opportunity to cure him of that addiction when they go to the polls next November.”

-          Chris Bond, NRSC Press Secretary

BACKGROUND ON SENATE DEMOCRATS “DEFICIT REDUCTION” IDEAS…..

• Democrats suggested Wednesday that too much has already been cut from non-defense spending to come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next 10 years, as sources offered a few details about a Democratic proposal to collect $1.3 trillion via tax hikes, stimulus spending and benefits cuts. (Fox News, “Democrats Balk at Non-Defense Spending Cuts, Float Alternative Proposal to Super Committee,” 10/26/2011)

• In a private meeting of the deficit panel Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, presented a proposal backed by a majority of Democrats on the panel that includes more than a trillion dollars in tax increases. The revenue would partially cover stimulus spending for the economy, aides said.  More than 50 percent of the deficit reduction in the plan would come from tax increases, one source said. (The Hill, “Supercommittee Dems push for stimulus to be part of deficit deal,” 10/26/2011)

• According to congressional sources, the plan includes a roughly equal mix of spending cuts and revenue increases; between $200 billion and $300 billion in new economic stimulus spending that would be paid for with lower interest payments from reducing deficits. (Reuters, “US Democrats seek up to $3 trln in budget savings,” 10/26/2011)

• Congressional Democrats are urging the debt-reduction supercommittee to pursue a far-reaching agreement to slice $3 trillion from the federal budget over the next decade through significant cuts to federal health programs, including Medicare, and as much as $1.3 trillion in new taxes. (Washington Post, “Congressional Democrats offer $3 trillion debt deal,” 10/26/2011)

• Aides said Democrats also had included new spending measures aimed at boosting job-creation in their plan, and proposed using some of the savings they had identified to offset the budgetary cost of these measures. (Wall Street Journal, “Democrats’ Deficit Plan Rejected by GOP,” 10/26/2011)

• Aides confirmed reports that Baucus also pressed members of the super committee to approve the president’s request for as much as $300 billion in new stimulus, another idea GOP members of the exclusive panel have strongly resisted. (ABC News, “Details of Dem Proposal Leak Out of Super Committee,” GOP Silent on Next Move, 10/26/2011)

• What Democrats are doing is playing the exact same game as President Obama played with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, during the debt limit talks, when he made an offer Boehner couldn’t accept, and then leaked it to the press. In both cases, the point is to feign a willingness to offer cuts to entitlements, and then impose unacceptable conditions on Republicans in attempt to paint them as being intransigent. (Washington Examiner, “Super cmte” Dems propose tax hikes, more stimulus, 10/26/2011)

• Of course, what else would you expect from a group of lawmakers that hasn’t passed an actual budget in nearly three years? (National Review Online, “Senate Dems Propose Massive Tax Hike, More Stimulus ,” 10/26/2011)

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Just one day after the national debt hit a record-high $15 trillion, liberal Congressman Chris Murphy (D-CT) voted against balancing our federal budget, instead preferring to continue rubber-stamping President Barack Obama’s reckless spending spree in what CBS News reports is “the most rapid increase in the debt under any U.S. president.”

Notably, today’s $15 trillion national debt represents more than $48,000 in debt for every American man, woman and child — a 74 percent increase since Murphy first came to Washington in January 2007 with our national debt at $8.6 trillion.

“While families and businesses in Connecticut make hard choices to live within their means, Chris Murphy apparently thinks Washington should continue its reckless deficit spending spree and keep racking up debt at a record pace with no accountability,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond today.  “Murphy’s liberal fiscal agenda isn’t just harmful to taxpayers today, it’s dangerous for future generations who will have to pay for his irresponsible government spending in Washington.”

BACKGROUND…. 

THE NATIONAL DEBT HAS HIT THE $15 TRILLION MARK 

The National Debt Is Now $15.0 Trillion Dollars. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)

Since President Obama Took Office And Senate Democrats Rubberstamped His Spending Agenda, The National Debt Has Risen $4.4 Trillion, An Increase Of Over 41 Percent. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)·

HOW MUCH IS $15 TRILLION?

$15 Trillion Is More Than The Value Of All The Goods And Services Produced In The United States Last Year. (“Gross Domestic Product,” Bureau Of Economic Analysis, BEA.gov, Accessed 11/3/11)

In FY2010, The Bureau Of Engraving And Printing Produced $974 Million Worth Of Currency. At That Rate, It Would Take 15,400 Years To Print $15 Trillion. (“Annual Production Figures,” Bureau Of Engraving And Printing, Accessed 11/3/11)

·         It Would Take The Average Household Over 300 Million Years To Pay Off The National Debt On Their Own.(Press Release, “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010,” US Census Bureau, 9/13/11)

To Pay Off $15 Trillion In Debt, The Federal Government Would Have To Devote Every Dollar Of Revenue To Paying Off The Debt For 6.5 Years. (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/11)

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When liberal Congressman Chris Murphy first came to Washington in January 2007, the federal debt stood at $8.6 trillion – a figure which took over 200 years for our country to reach.  Yet, just five years later, and particularly over the last three years as Murphy has rubber-stamped every major spending initiative proposed by President Obama, the federal debt has now hit the once-unfathomable mark of $15 trillion – a 74 percent increase, and more than $48,000 for every American man, woman and child.

To mark the United States Treasury reaching the $15 trillion debt mark yesterday, and to highlight the massive spending by Congressman Murphy and President Obama that has led to this point, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released a new web video – “$15,000,000,000,000…Siriously”

“Each and every Connecticut family and business has to make tough choices and live within their means, yet since coming to Washington, Congressman Murphy and his fellow Democrats have treated the federal treasury like their own personal credit card,” NRSC spokesman Chris Bond said today.  “If he makes it through his contentious Democrat primary, Murphy will have a tough time explaining to voters why he rubberstamped a reckless tax- -spend-and-borrow agenda, including the failed stimulus and government health care bill, instead of focusing on creating jobs and growing our economy.”

Click Here To Watch The NRSC’s New Video

$15,000,000,000,000… Siriously

BACKGROUND…. 

THE NATIONAL DEBT HAS HIT THE $15 TRILLION MARK 

The National Debt Is Now $15.0 Trillion Dollars. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)

Since President Obama Took Office And Senate Democrats Rubberstamped His Spending Agenda, The National Debt Has Risen $4.4 Trillion, An Increase Of Over 41 Percent. (US Department Of The Treasury, TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 11/16/11)·

HOW MUCH IS $15 TRILLION?

$15 Trillion Is More Than The Value Of All The Goods And Services Produced In The United States Last Year. (“Gross Domestic Product,” Bureau Of Economic Analysis, BEA.gov, Accessed 11/3/11)

In FY2010, The Bureau Of Engraving And Printing Produced $974 Million Worth Of Currency. At That Rate, It Would Take 15,400 Years To Print $15 Trillion. (“Annual Production Figures,” Bureau Of Engraving And Printing, Accessed 11/3/11)

·         It Would Take The Average Household Over 300 Million Years To Pay Off The National Debt On Their Own.(Press Release, “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010,” US Census Bureau, 9/13/11)

To Pay Off $15 Trillion In Debt, The Federal Government Would Have To Devote Every Dollar Of Revenue To Paying Off The Debt For 6.5 Years. (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/11)

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In a speech on the Senate floor this morning – which would appear to exemplify the disconnect between some in Washington versus small businesses in the real world – Senate Democrat Leader Harry Reid explained why Democrats are seeking to pass yet another $425 billion stimulus.   According to Reid, “It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine” and that’s why Democrats are focusing on growing more government jobs with this legislation.

Remarkably, Reid’s out-of-touch statement comes on the same day a new Labor Department report was released showing that for the first time, Washington D.C. – with its plethora of government jobs – has surpassed Silicon Valley as the wealthiest metropolitan area in the entire country.

Given that liberal Congressman Chris Murphy and his primary opponent Susan Bysiewicz have come out in support of the Democrats’ new stimulus bill, and are vying to serve under Leader Reid in the Senate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) called on the Democrat primary opponents today to tell Connecticut voters whether or not they agree with Senator Reid’s statement.

“As they compete in the Democrat primary with the hope of serving under Harry Reid in the U.S. Senate, Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz ought to step forward and say whether or not they share Reid’s view that ‘private sector jobs have been doing just fine’ in the Obama economy,” NRSC spokesman Chris Bond said today.  “We believe the voters of Connecticut deserve to know why their state’s Democrat Senate hopefuls are backing yet another massive stimulus bill that focuses on growing government, instead of helping the private sector grow jobs.”

REID RHETORIC: ‘Very Clear That Private Sector Jobs Have Been Doing Just Fine’ 

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV): “It’s very clear that private sector jobs have been doing just fine, it’s the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that’s what this legislation is all about.” (“Reid Says Government Jobs Must Take Priority Over Private Sector Jobs,” The Hill, 10/19/11)

REALITY

911,000 Private Sector Jobs Lost February, 2009 – September, 2011 (U.S. Dept. Of Labor, “Employment, Hours, And Earnings,” Accessed 10/19/11)

Unemployment Rate: 9.1%. (“The Unemployment Situation – September 2011,” Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 10/7/11)

• Government Workers Unemployment Rate: 4.7%. (“The Unemployment Situation – September 2011,” Table A-14, Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 10/7/11)

‘TOP INCOME IN U.S. IS… WASH. D.C. AREA’

“The U.S. capital has swapped top spots with Silicon Valley, according to recent Census Bureau figures, with the typical household in the Washington metro area earning $84,523 last year. The national median income for 2010 was $50,046. … . The unemployment rate in the Washington metro area in August was 6.1 percent, compared with 10 percent in San Jose, according to Labor Department figures.” (“Top Income In U.S. Is…Gasp!…Wash. D.C. Area,” Bloomberg, 10/19/11)

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A major provision of the healthcare reform law designed to prevent businesses from dropping coverage for their workers could inadvertently leave families without access to subsidized health insurance. The problem is a huge headache for the Obama administration and Democrats, because it could leave families unable to buy affordable health insurance when the healthcare law requires that everyone be insured starting in 2014. Some of the administration’s closest allies on healthcare reform warn this could dramatically undercut support for the law, which is already unpopular with many voters and contributed to Democrats losing the House in the 2010 midterm elections.

Notably, Murphy’s Democrat primary opponents Susan Bysiewicz and William Tong are also enthusiastic supporters of the costly overhaul.

“Chris Murphy ignored the best interests of Connecticut when he voted to ram this costly overhaul into law, and now middle-class families are being forced to pay for his irresponsible agenda,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.  “No matter who emerges from their contentious primary, Connecticut voters know that they have Democrats like Murphy, Bysiewicz and Tong to blame for this massive health care law that raises their costs, hikes their taxes, cuts their Medicare, saddles them with mandates from Washington, and puts America even deeper in debt.”

Murphy, Bysiewicz and Tong’s fellow liberal Nancy Pelosi famously declared that we had to pass the Democrats’ health care overhaul to find out what’s in it.  Today, we find that Connecticut families will be forced – under pain of financial penalties – to buy coverage they cannot afford.

The Democrats’ health care overhaul also raises taxes by $570 billion, cuts Medicare by $500 billion in order to fund the federal government’s expansion into other areas of the health care market, imposes an onerous “individual mandate” on every American, and slams state governments like Connecticut’s with at least $118 billion in unfunded Medicaid liabilities through the first decade of full implementation (through 2023).  The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the law, known as ObamaCare, will increase federal deficits by $260 billion through 2019.

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Since liberal U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy (D-CT) helped ram his party’s $787 billion stimulus into law, America has lost nearly 1.9 million jobs and our national debt has skyrocketed to a record-high $14.3 trillion.  Now, President Obama’s own top economists estimate that the stimulus debacle cost taxpayers an average $278,000 per job.

As the Weekly Standard notes:

The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus” (which it describes as a “natural way to estimate the effects of” the legislation), the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.   In other words, the government could simply have cut a $100,000 check to everyone whose employment was allegedly made possible by the “stimulus,” and taxpayers would have come out $427 billion ahead.

Notably, Murphy’s Democratic primary opponents – Susan Bysiewicz and William Tong – are also supporters of the failed stimulus.

“No matter who emerges from this divisive Democrat primary, that candidate will have a tough time finding many Connecticut taxpayers who agree that it was a good idea to spend $787 billion to lose 1.9 million jobs or that it is reasonable to spend $278,000 in taxpayer money for each temporary stimulus job,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.  “This is yet another reminder that Connecticut families and small businesses simply cannot afford any more of the Democrats’ costly, failed economic agenda in Washington.”

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Not to be outdone, his Democrat primary opponent Susan Bysiewicz (D-CT) is echoing those talking points, also demanding that Medicare be left on its current unsustainable path as she continues to drag Murphy further to the left of mainstream Connecticut voters.

But in a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on the 2011 Medicare Trustees Report yesterday, the two public trustees of Medicare, Dr. Charles P. Blahous and Dr. Robert Reischauer, admitted that Murphy and Bysiewicz’s plan would “end Medicare as we know it,” “bankrupt” the program and lead to benefit cuts for seniors.

“Medicare’s own public trustees are warning Americans that Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz’s policies will ‘end Medicare as we know it’ by bankrupting the program and cutting benefits for seniors,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond.  “If these Democrat primary candidates are really interested in doing what’s best for Connecticut, why do they insist on putting their Washington party bosses’ narrow political concerns ahead of the best interests of Connecticut families and seniors who count on Medicare?”

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In its latest update of The Long-Term Budget Outlook, the CBO provides an overview of the looming debt crisis and projects that by the end of this year, the federal debt will reach roughly 70 percent of gross domestic product (GDP)—the highest percentage since shortly after World War II.

“Years of borrowed spending and bigger government have brought our country to the most predictable economic crisis in American history – but both Chris Murphy and Susan Bysiewicz think it’s a good idea to just increase our credit card limit by another $2 trillion without spending reforms,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) spokesman Chris Bond said today.  “It’s a remarkable failure of leadership, and it’s time for Murphy and Bysiewicz to finally be honest about the very serious challenges facing our country.”

For your background, CBO’s report includes the following key findings:

• The CBO projects that government spending as a share of the economy will increase by nearly 70 percent between now and 2035, up from its historical average of roughly 20 percent. Taxes are projected to rise to the historical average in the years ahead, yet the unprecedented growth in government spending is projected to rise much faster, driving an unsustainable explosion in debt.

• The crushing burden of debt is driven primarily by the nation’s largest entitlement programs – Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid – along with the compounding growth in interest payments on the debt.

• Our unsustainable policies are increasing the likelihood of a devastating crisis: The CBO report states that “Growing debt also would increase the probability of a sudden fiscal crisis, during which investors would lose confidence in the government’s ability to manage its budget and the government would thereby lose its ability to borrow at affordable rates.”

• According to the CBO report, the federal government’s interest payments alone are projected to consume 9 percent of our entire economy by 2035, up from about 1 percent today.

• The CBO report affirms that the massive health-care overhaul fails to address the explosion in health care costs. Mandatory federal spending on health care will increase by 86 percent from 5.6 percent of GDP today to 10.4 percent of GDP over the next 24 years.

Source: (“CBO’s 2011 Long-Term Budget Outlook,” Congressional Budget Office, 6/22/11)

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