Fred Fry International: Murtha Pork Theft Update

Friday, February 29

Murtha Pork Theft Update

It is so hard to have a least-favorite member of Congress, since there is such a large pool or poor-quality talent there. However, Congressman John Murtha is surely in the top three. One of the reasons why is his constant abuse of public money (our tax money) through the awarding of earmarks for his donors. As it turns out, Congressman Murtha just had a fundraising dinner for lobbyists. Thankfully, this time around, others were willing to bring this backroom business of his into the light of day:

Too many members of Congress are securing millions of tax dollars in earmarks for campaign contributors at the expense of our nation’s legitimate needs. Rep. John Murtha secured at least 40 pork-barrel earmarks in last year’s defense bill for private companies at a cost to you of over $114 million. Every single company showered with your hard-earned tax dollars has contributed to Rep. Murtha’s campaign.

Rep. Murtha’s abuse of tax dollars not only comes at a huge cost to taxpayers, but also poses a significant risk to our national defense. Decisions on how to spend tax dollars and protect our nation shouldn’t be made based on what companies contributed to whose election campaign last year. - Americans for Prosperity

They didn't just stop with an internet campaign, they actually went to protest outside the event:

I'm happy to report that last night's "Murtha Bash - Pork Crash" was a resounding success. A solid crowd of taxpayer advocates braved brutal winter winds to help expose the connections between Congressman John Murtha's campaign contributors and the taxpayer-funded pork-barrel earmarks he secures for them. - AFP

Good for them. Here is a copy of the flier they were handing out. It is a good start for targeting this guy.

In somewhat disappointing news, it seems that the only serious contender for Murtha's seat has been thrown for the ballot because his application came in about 7 signatures too short. That's fine, let Murtha go back to Congress. We just have to get the other members of Congress to control him and get the press to finally shame his activities for what they are. There is no reason that he can’t be a great asset for Republican’s to use as the poster child for what is wrong with the Democrats in Congress, but to do that, they are going to have to stop their earmarking abuse first. As a bonus, it would be interesting to see him trip up and have his donations-for-pork activities run afoul of the law. Members of Congress have been going to jail. Murtha should be the next one. (And as bad as this guy is, his constituents must either be dumber than bricks, or looking for handouts from this guy.)