Elected to Congress in 1974 from a southwestern Pennsylvania district that has been economically devastated by the decline of the nation's coal-mining and steel industries, the gruff and jowly Murtha was beloved by his constituents for tapping billions of dollars in federal money to seed new industries there.
He was revered among Democrats -- and even some Republicans -- for his skill in using the power of the federal purse to make kings and deals. A right-hand man of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), he was considered one of the most influential lawmakers on Capitol Hill and credited with her ascension.
Critics dubbed Murtha, the chairman of the powerful subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the "King of Pork" for the volume of taxpayer money he could direct to the area around his home town of Johnstown. Most of the largess came in defense and military research contracts he steered to companies based in his district or with small offices there. (Emphasis mine)
If Senator Murtha was a con-artist who traveled the country stealing from others and bringing the money back to his hometown to share with the town folk, he would be a hated as a criminal. He would even be jailed. But because he, along with other Senatorial scumbags, are able to pass their thievery off as "public service", Senator Murtha is instead viewed as a hero. With all due respect to the dead, good riddance.
1 comments:
AMEN! Murtha was a reprehensible scumball, mostly for his antics in calling military personnel "murderers", without due process. Those military personnel were later exhonerated and cleared of the frivolous charges made against them. He's the epitome of everything WRONG in DC and federal government. And people who "celebrate" him and his "accomplishments" are no better.
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