Morning Read: Gibson settles in, while Murphy muddles on

After a fierce and sometimes bitter election campaign, there appears to be some movement to the middle in the 20th congressional district, which stretches through the North Country to Lake Placid and Saranac Lake.

The Glens Falls Post Star is reporting that Republican Chris Gibson and Democrat Scott Murphy agree on the compromise tax plan which passed this week.

Gibson, who defeated Murphy handily last month, embraced the deal which Murphy — in one of his final acts in congress — voted for:

“So, I do support the compromise that’s before the Congress right now,” [Gibson] said, speaking of legislation the Senate approved on Wednesday and the House was discussing on Thursday.

Gibson said he’s hopeful that the spirit of compromise will continue in Congress after he takes office on Jan. 3.

Meanwhile, the Albany Times Union is reporting that Gibson sought and won the same committee assignments held previously by Reps. Kirsten Gillibrand and Murphy.

Rep.-elect Chris Gibson may have been elected on a promise to change the way Washington works, but in at least one way, he’s following in the footsteps of his Democratic predecessors in the House of Representatives.

Gibson, R-N.Y., nabbed seats on the House Agriculture and Armed Services committees — the same two panels on which both Rep. Scott Murphy and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand served.

As Murphy prepares to leave office, his team hit one big snag as Federal bean counters began shutting down his offices, phones, and computers weeks before the Democratic congressman’s term was over.

That decision drew this rebuke from the Post Star’s editorial board:

In a rare instance of penny-pinching by the federal government, the U.S. General Services Administration has prematurely removed communications equipment and offices from members of Congress who lost their elections in November, even though those congressman are officially in office through Jan. 5.

Residents of the 20th Congressional District learned that the hard way just before Thanksgiving when they tried to contact Congressman Scott Murphy by phone or visit one of his local offices.

A full five weeks before he leaves office, the feds have forced him to shut down all but his Saratoga Springs office and relegated his Washington, D.C., staff to a cubicle and a couple of chairs. Gone are the staff’s Blackberrys, replaced by personal computers in cafeterias and other people’s offices.

The Post Star made it clear that Murphy and his staff weren’t to blame.

They’re making do with the hand they’ve been dealt. They’re not trying to stay on too long. They’re just trying to do the job they were hired to do until they’re no longer on the taxpayers’ payroll.

Tags: election10, politics