Reason #12 To Love Philadelphia: At Least One Outgoing Congressman Knows How The Game Is Played

There’s only a few days of work left for the U.S. Representative who lost their seats in the November election. One of those congressman is Mike Fitzpatrick, the current rep from Bucks County and parts of Philly and Montco, who lost a close race to Iraq war vet Patrick Murphy.

Fitzpatrick says he’s working until the final hours of his congressional term, which is noble, considering if I lost a close race I’d probably spend my last month in office stealing everything that wasn’t nailed down. And probably about half the stuff that was. (”Hey! Where’d all the seats in the Capitol building go? And where’s President Bush’s dog?”)

And what, exactly, is Fitzpatrick working on during his final week?

Fitzpatrick said he expects a bill he introduced in May that condemns a French city for naming a street after a convicted cop killer will come to the House floor on Wednesday for debate and a vote. The bill is aimed at reversing a decision by the Paris suburb of St. Denis to name a street after Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was sentenced to death in 1982 for the shooting of 25-year-old Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. If the bill passes Wednesday, and Fitzpatrick said he believes it will easily, it will be the 10th bill that was introduced by the freshman congressman that passed the House.

Now these are the issues that affect our country. However, I think it’s pretty sly. Just wait until 2008, where a deep voice-over will be saying, “Patrick Murphy never voted for the bill condemning the French for naming a city after Mumia. He’s failed us. I’m Mike Fitzpatrick, and I approve this message.” Smooth move, Fitz. Smooth move indeed.

Congressman wraps up loose ends [Bucks County Courier Times]