Patty Murray: Good Democrat minion

Democrat U.S. Sen. Patty Murray is fundraising for her 2016 re-election campaign, and like any good Democrat minion, she’s getting Barrack Obama’s help to do it. The president is scheduled to address a luncheon of Murray supporters on October 9 in Seattle. At a cost of $250 per person, or $500 for priority seats (maybe closer to the door, so you can escape when necessary?).

The fact that Obama would fundraise for Murray so early in the election cycle should come as no surprise. Murray has done quite a lot to please Obama. In fact, the “mom in tennis shoes” has consistently kept those shoes in the footprints of the Obama administration.

Here are three times Murray proved she no longer represents Washington, but is nothing more than a good Democrat minion.

1. When Murray attempted to blame the Veteran Administration (VA) scandal on Republicans:

Murray cynically followed President Obama’s lead in blaming the VA scandal on people other than her own party and the leader who had been in charge of the VA for the last 5 years, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Murray, re-iterating Obama’s talking-points, said it’s not the fault of the bureaucrats she supported to run the VA that our veterans were not receiving the health care they deserve, but instead she said it’s all because some people want to see the federal government spend less than it takes from taxpayers.

Murray described the problem as a “cost-cutting culture.” She said, “In an environment where everybody is told, ‘Keep the cost down. Don’t tell me anything costs more.’ — it creates a culture out there for people to cook the books”. That’s right, the culture made her fellow Democrats ignore our veterans, not the incompetence of her party.

As the former chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Murray noticeably did not join her fellow Democrat members of Congress in calling for Shinseki’s resignation. Rather, she chose to take her cue from Obama and take an all-talk-and-no-action approach to the VA scandal.

2. When Murray threatened to shut down the federal government… for President Obama:

In June of this year, Murray threatened she would provoke a government shutdown this fall if the Republican-controlled Congress does not agree to a budget that falls in line with President Obama’s priorities.

Murray stated, “Republicans have a choice. They can either work with us early on a bipartisan budget deal that will set the topline (current high-spending) budget levels and allow the Appropriations Committee to work on bills that can be signed into law. Or, they can wait until we reach a crisis, until we approach or hit another completely unnecessary government shutdown — and work with us then.”

The National Review pointed out that Murray’s statement is “a far cry” from her statement on the government shutdown in 2013 when Republicans, then in the Senate minority, attempted to deny funding for the implementation of Obamacare. Murray said at the time, “The last thing anyone should want is a government shutdown, but the days of a small political faction holding the entire nation back from addressing the much larger challenges we face must come to an end.”

Murray’s interesting about-face on a government shutdown is, of course, the result of her steadfast compliance to President Obama’s every wish. And the fact she is now part of the minority in the Senate, the so-called “small faction”.

3. When Murray, to the surprise of no one, endorsed President Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran:

Murray became the 29th Senate Democrat to publically endorse the agreement. Relying almost verbatim on the Obama administration’s talking points, Murray warned that if Congress rejects the agreement, Iran would take a step closer to developing nuclear weapons.

Murray made quite a show of withholding her opinion on the deal. She was the last member of Senate Democrat leadership to weigh in on the Iran nuclear deal. Murray even claimed she lost “a lot of sleep” contemplating the deal.

But, she didn’t really fool anyone. That Murray would oppose the deal was not in the realm of possibilities—her support was pre-supposed by political insiders. After all, Murray does not have a track record of thinking for herself and going against the grain.

Murray was elected in 1992. Since then, she has become the number four Democrat in the Senate due entirely to the length of her tenure. The sad reality is that Murray has no real leadership credentials to speak of, or any accomplishment for that matter.