WSJ Crowns New King of Congressional Pork
EmailWall Street Journal readers awoke to an unusual coronation this morning: an exhaustive report that effectively crowned Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., the king of pork-barrel spending. This year alone, Murtha directed nearly $193 million to projects in his district, more than any other member, through the use of a legislative tool known as an "earmark," the paper’s John Wilke reports. As the chair and a longtime member of the House panel overseeing Pentagon spending, Murtha has his hands on the strings of an estimated $460 billion purse. Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage. Children, cover your ears for this part: Murtha directed a hefty portion of that money — indeed, a hefty portion of the estimated $2 billion he’s channeled to his district over the years — to projects the Pentagon never requested, Wilke says. Murtha told the paper that his earmarks this year were down by half from the year before. Wilke notes the congressman did not provide details to support the claim, which could not be independently verified because Congress did not release statistics on earmarking until this year. Of note to Murtha-watchers: every private entity receiving money from a Murtha earmark made contributions to Murtha’s campaign coffers, Roll Call newspaper reported in September. Those contributions helped Murtha’s groups raise $1.05 million in the first nine months of this year, the WSJ found. Do you have a tip for Brian Ross and the Investigative Team?
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Murtha is a disgusting fat pig and a LIAR.
Then they wonder why congress has a 9%
approval rating. DUH!!!!!!!!!! When it’s
time for re-election for these complete
IDIOTS, throw them out!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Doug | October 30, 2007, 3:40 pm 3:40 pm
How sad that the Pentagon must fight to get every dollar available for our deserving soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, yet this power-mad, petty “Servant of the People” wastes defense spending on projects the Pentagon doesn’t initiates, doesn’t even need, much less support! And the only benefit is to lock Johnny “I-Never-Met-A-Bill-I-Didn’t-Earmark” Murtha into his next election victory. America: The Best Politicians Money Can Buy.
Posted by: beeker77 | October 30, 2007, 4:34 pm 4:34 pm
Sick of the pork. Don’t care which party.
Posted by: Sandra | October 30, 2007, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
It is simple. Election Finance Reform. As long as powerful election contributors are paid back with our tax dollars through earmark pork, our taxes will continue to rise and our the return on investment for our tax dollars will go down. Take note of Barrack’s campaign finance strategy. NO special interest or PAC contributions.
Posted by: BooMan | October 31, 2007, 1:05 pm 1:05 pm
While I too, as a taxpayer , hold “special interest earmarks” in contempt , you might want to “consider the source” of this story. Murdoch’s new WSJ. This from the very same corrupt slimeball that helped enable the last congress to bleed our coffers dry (for generations to come) and increase the size of the Federal government by 30%.
Consider the source !!
Posted by: DMcD | November 1, 2007, 1:57 am 1:57 am
Oink Oink… this little piggy went to congress…..
Posted by: FidoNY | November 1, 2007, 11:34 pm 11:34 pm
These are our leaders? What does this say about us? How can “we the people” continue to put up with this stagnant, corrupt, inept “leadership”!! LETS VOTE THEM ALL OUT!!
Posted by: White Mountain | November 2, 2007, 2:07 am 2:07 am
Amazing, the pure numbers shows that Murtha is nothing but a corrupt slime bag yet there are people who defend his corruption by not likeing the people who report the congressman’s corruption and wrong doing. This republic is doomed.
Posted by: Bill H | November 2, 2007, 9:41 am 9:41 am
Mr. Murtha does not rule as ‘king of the pork’. It seems that too many people have forgotten about Trent Lott and his 1. The cruise ship that he had built in his territory for billions of tax payers’ dollars which was to sail under the American flag and which now sits at the bottom of a lake somewhere in Europe and
2. After the railroad had been re=aligned in his territory at the cost of millions of dollars – he successfully lobbied the Republican congress (at that time after Katrina) to have the whole thing done over at a cost of over 700 million so that the people going to the casinos in the bay would have better access and therefore contribute to the business interests of the area.
No, Mr. Murtha is NOT the king of pork.
Posted by: Edie M | November 6, 2007, 12:22 am 12:22 am
I will not treat ANYTHING from WSJ as actual un-biased news since Rupert Murdoch bought them out. They have lost all credibility as an impartial source of genuine news. Sad that a great newspaper such as the Wall Street Journal shall now just be another rag.
BTW, he also owns FOX news, nuff said.
Posted by: chris | November 7, 2007, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm
Hi, this weekend is nice for me, because this time i am reading this great informative article here at my home.
Posted by: Torri Kowalchuk | December 6, 2011, 12:55 am 12:55 am
What a stuff of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious experience regarding unexpected feelings.
Posted by: Randall Drossman | December 10, 2011, 2:53 pm 2:53 pm