Chris Murphy and the Truth

How many times over the last ten years have you "inadvertantly" missed three or more in a row of your mortgage or rent payments. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I just don't buy the idea that someone would just forget for five months to pay the mortgage or for four months to pay the rent on their home. And let's be clear, this is not a question of someone no having the funds to make the payment. This is someone who claims to have just forgotten to make the payment.

If the excuse for non-payment sounds phony, then you need to think about congressman Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democrat who is now running for the senate. Eight years ago when he was a practicing attorney and a member of the legislature, Murphy was sued by his landlord for failing to pay rent for four consecutive months. After the suit, Murphy supposedly paid the back rent and the suit was settled, although there is no statement from the landlord that says that this is what happened. Five years ago when Murphy was in Congress making $170,000 per year, he was sued for foreclosure on his home after he failed to make five consecutive mortgage payments. That suit also was settled, although the terms are unclear.

Now, I do not know the details of Murphy's disputes; he has kept them out of the media. I do know that both the landlord with the rent dispute and the bank holding the mortgage would have contacted Murphy long before they began the lawsuit. My guess is that Murphy received five or six communications telling him that the payments were not made. What that means is that Murphy's claim that he just overlooked making the payments because he forgot about them cannot be true. If he just forgot the payments, he would have brought the accounts current immediately upon getting notice.

It is important to remember that Murphy sat in Congress on the committee that oversees the banking industry. It is not a big stretch to consider whether or not Murphy got special treatment when it came time to his past due mortgage. I wonder if he even had to make the payments for which he was sued.

With all the stuff that Chris Dodd did while senator, you would think that office holders from Connecticut would understand that it is important to be honest in dealing with banks and with the people. Somebody better tell that to Chris Murphy. His actions make clear that he is not qualified to be a senator from this state.