Fitzpatrick: Doing what he can to pick up the pieces

     While our government may be in the middle of a shut down period, this does not mean that Representatives such as Mike Fitzpatrick aren't hard at work ensuring the protection of their constituents.  During the last week alone, "the House has passed the Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act [H.R. 3230] and the Honoring Our Promise to America’s Veterans Act [H.J. Res. 72], the Open Our National Parks and Museum Act [H.J. Res 70], the Provide Local Funding for the District of Columbia Act [H.J. Res. 71], and the Research for Lifesaving Cures Act [H.J. Res. 73]."  The passing of these bills, as well as others such as the National Emergency and Disaster Recovery Act [H.J. Res. 85] and the Nutrition Assistance for Low-Income Women and Children Act [H.J. Res. 75], are signs, according to Fitzpatrick, of  "a good faith effort by a bipartisan majority in the House to fund vital parts of the government while a prolonged budget discussion is under way."
     These last two bills especially are part of an effort to ensure that constituents don't become the collateral damage of the government shutdown fallout.  A noble enterprise, for sure, but a vitally essential political move as well.  Considering Fitzpatrick's Republican party is taking the brunt of the public's blame for the shutdown,  staying in the good graces of his constituents is doubly important for Fitzpatrick.  Therefore, ensuring vital services remain available to those that need them the most is a clear "damage control" measure of protecting Fitzpatrick's standing at home from the backlash of his party's politics at the national level.   
     While it is good to see Fitzpatrick taking action to address the short term needs of citizens, the ultimate goal of all policymakers is to get the government fully functional once again.  To this end, Fitzpatrick has continued to trumpet his support for bipartisan cooperation.  With this in mind, he announced his support for a bill that would cut out the medical device tax portion of the Affordable Care Act, a move that has gained early support from both sides of the aisle.  Ultimately, however, the fate of this bill will be far beyond the grasp of Fitzpatrick: until Boehner decides to move it to a vote, an action that seems unlikely at best due to his firmly entrenched position regarding Obamacare, the bill will never get a chance to be passed onto the Senate. 
     Nothing has embodied the lack of compromise that has long plagued our Congress quite to the extent of the government shut down.  With neither side willing to compromise, we are locked in an indefinite stand off.  With that said, Congressmen do not simply get to take a trip to Belize until the government magically fixes itself.  More than ever, a proactive approach by Congressmen is needed to climb out way through this impasse.  As Fitzpatrick has shown, this involves both efforts on the local level to ensure the needs of constituents are still met, while also trying to make progress on the national level and finally get the government fully functional once again.