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John Murtha's Pork Barrel Spending: "Quite frankly, if he didn't do that, we wouldn't elect him"
Former Reason
Foundation intern Tyler Grimm
has a great op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal revealing
the colossal boondoggle known as the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria
County Airport:
If you hate the hubbub of crowded airports, you might want to consider flying out of Johnstown, Pa. The airport sees an average of fewer than 30 people per day, there is never a wait for security, you can park for free right outside the gate, and you are almost guaranteed a row to yourself on any flight.
You might wonder how the region ever had the air traffic demand to justify such a facility. It didn't. But it is located in the district of one of Congress's most unapologetic earmarkers: Democrat John Murtha.
In 20 years, Mr. Murtha has successfully doled out more than $150 million of federal payments to what is now being called the airport for no one. I took a trip to southwestern Pennsylvania to explore how this small town received so much money and whether the John Murtha Airport is a legitimate federal investment.
Read the rest here.
_^-^_|9.4.09 @ 3:10PM|#
It isn't welfare. It's government work. Gives the people dignity, dontcha know.
BakedPenguin|9.4.09 @ 3:19PM|#
"Quite frankly, if he didn't do that, we wouldn't elect
him"
One of the best arguments for term limits I've ever heard.
Mike M.|9.4.09 @ 3:23PM|#
I bet that if you asked that same guy what he thinks about everyone else in Congress, he'd tell you that they're pretty much all worthless scumbags who deserve to get voted out.
creech|9.4.09 @ 3:26PM|#
Drove around Johnstown recently and the article is totally
accurate. Without the tech center (in a nearby suburb) and the
defense contractors clustered around it, Johnstown would be a ghost
town as the Bethlehem Steel mill is shut down and downtown is
pretty dead.
Everyone living there ought to be sending all us taxpayers a
Christmas card at least.
Some Guy|9.4.09 @ 3:29PM|#
"Quite frankly, if he didn't do that, we wouldn't elect
him"
That sentence pretty much sums up the root of all problems in this
country.
|9.4.09 @ 3:40PM|#
I visited the Johnstown Flood Museum about 25 years ago. It was
a single floor structure about the size of a double-wide trailer,
lined with pictures, and a single topographic map in the middle of
the floor over which a ranger told the whole horrible tale of the
flood like a campfire ghost story.
I visited the Johnstown Flood Museum this past summer. It was a
massive, two story complex covering maybe half an acre, with a
several hundred seat theater playing a movie about the flood, and
various exhibits, including a life-size diorama of the famous "tree
stuck in a house" picture situated over the main staircase.
http://dnpc.blogspot.com/2009/06/johnstown-flood-city.html
History buff that I am, I was impressed, but as a display of
outrageous pork, it was even more impressive.
Though at least they didn't sink all that money into a museum at
James Buchanan's birthplace, or some other less deserving PA
monument.
db|9.4.09 @ 3:46PM|#
I can't wait to read this. I grew up just a couple of miles from that airport. Johnstown and the surrounding area might as well be renamed Murthaville. What a dirty pork-doling politician.
|9.4.09 @ 3:49PM|#
Come on, you don't REALLY believe that they're spending all that money for nothing, do you? The question is, what other sorts of "activities" is Rep. Murtha involved in, and how does having a high-tech, state of the art airport with almost no traffic further those "activities?" Mena, anyone?
Some Guy|9.4.09 @ 3:54PM|#
The Republicans are infinitely worse than Murtha.
Really.
I would agree with that for a lot of people, but Murtha is up there
with Ted Stevens.
|9.4.09 @ 4:26PM|#
"""That sentence pretty much sums up the root of all problems in
this country."""
Yeah. Put 400+ people in a room, throw a few trillion dollars at
their feet and say spend. Climbing over everyone to get as much as
you can is a normal reaction. Even Sara Palin said it was her job
to help get federal funds for her state.
LeeJoe Cruz|9.4.09 @ 4:27PM|#
How about giving an incentive plan for cutting government programs. Give a Congressman 10% of the total cost of any program they get cut. Then they can honestly loot the people(Can't believe I just said that) in a direct fashion and lower the overall cost of the looting.
|9.4.09 @ 4:42PM|#
Here's an incentive...cut the pork, balance a federal budget for
once in your long-serving presence in the Congress. Your
constituents may hate you anyway, but then it's just a more real
campaign to get elected.
I could do well too, handing out other people's money while kissing
babies and attending county fairs
_^-^_|9.4.09 @ 6:18PM|#
JB | September 4, 2009, 4:06pm | #
If there is a hell, people like Murtha will be in it.
There isn't, but it's a pleasant fantasy nonetheless.
|9.4.09 @ 6:28PM|#
Murtha's corruption aside, I think it's a really bad idea to name something after a politician until long after they're in the grave. At that point they're probably not up to anything illegal or immoral, something I don't think you can confidently say about living politicians.
hmm|9.6.09 @ 3:06PM|#
How about we lock them all in a room with the total amount of
pork projects in $1, $5, and $10 bills. Turn off the lights and
dump a few thousand gallons of cooking oil on them. Then release
the money from the roof. Shives, hammers, knives, wrenches and
other similar objects will be encouraged, but no firearms. As the
living exit with their spoils we can dump feathers on them.
How's that for a plan?
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