Everything That’s Wrong In Washington
Perfectly illustrated by the dealings of one, very corrupt, Congressman. John "Unindicted ABSCAM Co-conspirator" Murtha has diverted billions of dollars of taxpayer money to his district. Defense contractors shower him with funds in return.
The powerful U.S. congressman has used his clout on Capitol Hill to create thousands of jobs and steer billions of dollars in federal spending to help his hometown in western Pennsylvania recover from devastating floods and the flight of its steelmakers.
More is on the way. In the massive 2008 military-spending bill now before Congress — which could go to a House-Senate conference as soon as Thursday — Mr. Murtha has steered more taxpayer funds to his congressional district than any other member. The Democratic lawmaker is chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, which will oversee more than $459 billion in military spending this year.
Johnstown's good fortune has come at the expense of taxpayers everywhere else. Defense contractors have found that if they open an office here and hire the right lobbyist, they can get lucrative, no-bid contracts. Over the past decade, Concurrent Technologies Corp., a defense-research firm that employs 800 here, got hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to Rep. Murtha despite poor reviews by Pentagon auditors. The National Drug Intelligence Center, with 300 workers, got $509 million, though the White House has tried for years to shut it down as wasteful and unnecessary. Another beneficiary: MTS Technologies, run by a man who got his start some 40 years ago shining shoes at Mr. Murtha's Johnstown Minute Car Wash.
A review by The Wall Street Journal of dozens of such contracts funded by Mr. Murtha's committee shows that many weren't sought by the military or federal agencies they were intended to benefit. Some were inefficient or mismanaged, according to interviews, public records and previously unpublished Pentagon audits. One Murtha-backed firm, ProLogic Inc., is under federal investigation for allegedly diverting public funds to develop commercial software, people close to the case say. The company denies wrongdoing and is in line to get millions of dollars more in the pending defense bill.
Many of the firms receiving the largess are not exactly upstanding corporate citizens. Yet Murtha keeps getting elected because of the vast amount of money he steers back home - essentially buying his votes. This is exactly what is wrong with government right now. Unless you live in Murtha's district, your tax money is being taken to ensure Murtha's continued reelection.
By FedUp, October 30, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
I am ashamed that Murtha is a Pennsylvanian! He has outlived his usefulness and is another poster child (along with Teddy, Nancy, Harry, Chuck….) for Term Limits!