|
Murtha brings shame to Pennsylvania:
pet earmark project wastes $2 million
 Rep.
John Murtha's shameless
earmarking* ways have brought shame to his home state –
specifically
Community
College of Allegheny County
(CCAC) and Carnegie Mellon University, both located in Pittsburgh.
According to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [LINK],
a two-million-dollar earmarked grant was initiated in 2003 through the
Defense Department for a program to train people how to "safeguard
America's businesses from threats to their computer systems and
databases". The program fizzled:
Documents obtained from CCAC [Community College of Allegheny
County, PA] under the federal Freedom of Information Act show the
government invested in a plan to pilot and build a program for at
least 1,000 students. The actual enrollment, about 70 over three
years, hasn't come close.
Translation: two million taxpayers' dollars were spent and there is
nothing to show for it. And that makes City College of San
Francisco program director Suzanne Korey steaming mad:
At City College of San Francisco, program director Suzanne Korey
fumes at the wasted time and taxpayer money.
Thousands of dollars of classroom computer equipment was purchased
for her school and boxes of promotional material were ready.
Faculty flew back and forth to Pittsburgh at federal expense so they
could be trained at the Community College of Allegheny County for
courses they would never teach.
Two million dollars of taxpayers' hard-earned money have been wasted.
And who earmarked this pork barrel spending? The Post-Gazette article
reports:
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, a longtime supporter of SEI
whose office was instrumental in securing the award.
Translation: pork barrel spender John Murtha, who sits as senior
ranking member of the Defense Appropriations Committee, earmarked this
$2 million to line the coffers back home.
Rep.
Murtha's own spokesperson, Cindy Abrams, offered no apology
whatsoever, as the Post Gazette article shows:
"Every once in a while, for whatever reason, a program does not
get the result that the program's sponsor had hoped for,"
she [Cindy Abrams] said.
Murtha's constituents innocently suffer the shame his wasteful
earmarks bring. And that should warrant an apology from their
Congressman -- to the citizens of Pennsylvania and the United States
taxpayers.
Rep. John Murtha is up for re-election this Nov. 7th. Let's hope the
good folks of PA District 12 send a loud and clear message to this
pork-barrel spender and vote him out of office.
Boot Murtha!
 *What
exactly are 'earmarks'?
[from
wikipedia]
In the United States
legislative budget process, Congress has the power to earmark
(designate) funds it appropriates (revenue) to be spent on specific
named projects. This differs from the normal practice where Congress
grants a lump sum to an agency to allocate entirely at its discretion,
according to the agency's internal budgeting process. Earmarks tie the
hands of agency bureaucrats, obliging them to spend a portion of the
budget on special projects chosen by politicians.
Politicians, like John Murtha, earmark large
sums of money to be spent on the specific pet projects they name in
the budget. And here's the real kicker:
The
Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes that earmarks are
often contained only in reports issued by House and Senate
Appropriations Committees before formal debate begins in the House or
the Senate, rather than appearing in the actual legislation itself.
This makes earmarking a non-transparent process that is difficult
to quantify.
So, earmarks are not included in the final
legislation for the public's viewing eyes to see. They are kept hidden
from the very eyes that pay for them.
Write
Murtha a 'Dear John' letter!
Sunday's "Washington
Whispers" column reports that Rep. John Murtha says
only 20 percent of his mail is 'negative':
Democratic Rep. John Murtha says he used to be able to shop
unnoticed in his Johnstown, Pa., Wal-Mart. But that was before he
became Congress's biggest advocate for Iraq troop withdrawal. "Very
few people come up to me and disagree," he says, adding that just 20
percent of his mail has been negative. "The public, man, they were
ahead of us. When I go anyplace, they stop me in the airports; they
stop me at Wal-Mart," he laughs. "Hell, I used to be able to go to
those places and nobody knew who the hell I was. Now, Christ Almighty,
it's a different story." About those 20 percent of critics: "The
staff, it worries them. It worries my family," he says.
So, Murtha says only 20 percent are writing him a negative letter...
maybe more folks need to write to Rep. John Murtha!
Here is Murtha's
Washington, D.C. contact info:
Rep. John Murtha
2423 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2065 (202) 225-5709 fax
Here is Murtha's
District office contact info:
Rep. John Murtha
P.O. Box 780
Johnstown, PA 15907
(814) 535-2642 (814) 539-6229 fax
12th District Toll-free: (800) 289-2642
Murtha: Unfit for Command
press release 'cuts and runs' from his website
It is clear Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is no longer qualified to lead
Congress in the area of foreign policy. Murtha has long derided all
other 'comers' in the area of foreign policy if they have not served
in the military. However, it seems Murtha's own military service is
not enough to qualify him to keep our nation out of harm's way.
 The most recent incident involves Murtha's lack of due diligence. He
stated in a recent press release that Americans should pay attention
to a review regarding the new book "Fiasco:
The American Military Adventure in Iraq," written by Thomas
Ricks. Why? Murtha stated that the review
"affirms what I have been saying about
Iraq."
Rep. Murtha has been saying that the U.S.
should withdraw troops immediately from Iraq – cut and run.
Whereas author Ricks believes the conduct of the war and methodology
for entering the war was not in America's best interests, he does
not believe as Murtha does. He does not believe we should cut and
run from Iraq. In fact, Ricks believes it would be "irresponsible" and
"shameful" to do so.
Here is an excerpt from Ricks' interview, July 23rd, on
Meet The Press:
MR. RUSSERT: But you do not think American troops should withdraw
immediately?
MR. RICKS: I think it would be
irresponsible to go in there and do what we’ve done and then
walk away from it. There’s a lot of Iraqis out there who have
committed their lives to helping the Americans do something there. And
to abandon those people, I think, would be absolutely
shameful as well.
Unfortunately the sorry fact is that Murtha previously urged President
Bill Clinton to cut and run from Somalia and then to cut and run from
Bosnia... which the U.S. did. The result of which encouraged al Qaeda
to attack on us on American soil and blow up the World Trade Center:
Osama bin Laden: "But your most disgraceful case was Somali...
However, when tens of your solders were killed in minor battles and
one American pilot was dragged in the streets of Mogadishu, you left
the area carrying disappointment, humiliation, defeat and your dead
with you... You have been disgraced by Allah and you withdrew; the
extent of your impotence and weaknesses became clear."
Not surprisingly, Murtha's verbose, non- thinking press release has
managed to 'cut-n-run' from his official congressional website.
Murtha's historical pattern of denial of reality goes beyond the
cover-up of his own blunders. It also applies to his thinking at the
highest levels of foreign policy discussion – even though cut and run
has proven to be bad for America and good for our enemies.
In their goal to become a majority, the national Democrat
Congressional Campaign Committee has slated Murtha to stump for 41
Democrat candidates across the nation. At least one of the Democrat
candidates has already requested Murtha not show up to campaign
for him [LINK].
Why? Because Murtha now represents the wack-o wing of the Democrat
Party... and reinforces Americans' opinion that it is filled with
Cindy Sheehan, Jane Fonda nutcases.
Rep. John Murtha's facade of defense strength shows he's no Harry
Truman. Murtha is unfit for command.
|
