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| Congress cowers before reigning King of Pork |
| 2009-10-08 |
| In a Congress filled with fiefdoms of special-interest spending, one man is king — Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. In 2008, Murtha earmarked $192 million for his district. Thus far this year, he’s only managed to earmark $134 million. But give him time. The jewel in Murtha’s pork crown is the airport in Johnstown, Pa. That would be the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. A Washington Post exposé revealed that Murtha has steered more than $200 million in federal funds to his namesake over the past 15 years, including more than $25 million for runways to handle heavy military planes that don’t fly there, $8 million for a radar system that isn’t used and $800,000 in stimulus funds to repave an alternate runway though the main one sees little traffic. The Murtha airport has only three daily commercial flights — all to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. About 30 people use the airport on a daily basis. According to the Post, every flight to and from Murtha receives a federal subsidy of $147 per passenger, twice the national average for the program that supports air transportation to rural communities. Rep. Don Young and former Sen. Ted Stevens, Republicans from Alaska, had funding for their Bridge to Nowhere rescinded before it was built. Murtha actually has an Airport for No One. Last month, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., introduced an amendment that would have prevented any future federal funds from flowing to the airport. “If we cannot cut the funding for this little airport in Pennsylvania, named after the congressman that helped get it $200 million,” the Post quoted him as saying, “if we cannot look at the facts in this particular case, and decide as a Congress to stop this, then there is nothing we can cut here, then there is no such thing as waste.” The amendment was defeated when 53 senators, including 51 Democrats, voted against it. A similar measure was defeated earlier in the year in the House along a party line vote, 263-154. Even in the midst of economic hardship, Congress can’t muster the courage tell one of its biggest spendthrifts, “Enough!” And that’s one of the major reasons why the public holds the institution in such low esteem. |
| Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC |
| #8 I'll never figure out how he does it, unless it's his staff who manages to pull these things off and they cluelessly take courage from him. The guy is barely qualified to drool, let alone pull this kind of stuff off. |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-10-08 17:14 |
| #7 actually, a lot of Republicans have high levels of pork barrel projects in their district and some of these are as useless and unproductive as the Murtha airport This may be what procopius meant with his 'plantation' remark (or it might not). |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-10-08 13:22 |
| #6 Murtha's district had plenty of reason to fire him in 2008 but re-elected him; I figure he'll never get voted out. Yet McCain won his district (barely), go figure. They like the pork he brings in, though, so I agree he'll continue to be reelected (35 years and counting). We need more Joe Wilson-types to call these slimeballs out. Otherwise, we'll be lucky to pick up 20 seats, much less take back the House. |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-10-08 11:28 |
| #5 Once the funding dries up people in his district might realize that he's been insulting them all along. This goes back to the comment yesterday about there are some [too many] who want to remain on the Plantation. That's an equal opportunity Plantation, membership regardless of color, race or creed. They know they're jacking everyone else and don't really care. They're not fools, but co-conspirators. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-10-08 10:31 |
| #4 The only way to get rid of Murtha is to cut the flow of funds to his district - which means a conservative majority (and not a majority of the rinos the Republican party is now). Once the funding dries up people in his district might realize that he's been insulting them all along. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-10-08 10:23 |
| #3 Murtha's district had plenty of reason to fire him in 2008 but re-elected him; I figure he'll never get voted out. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-10-08 10:15 |
| #2 Again........We will have our chance to FIRE everyone in washington. I could only hope that people are smart enough to do this. |
| Posted by: armyguy 2009-10-08 10:06 |
| #1 A pork roast in 2010, now that would be nice. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-10-08 10:03 |