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February 5, 2008, marks the 34th anniversary of Congressman John Murtha’s (D-PA), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, election to Congress. At the time, taxpayers and families across America had little idea that during his tenure, Congressman Murtha would cost them over $2 billion dollars in earmarks alone.
After all, what family in Dallas, Indianapolis, or St. Louis ever would have thought that their money would eventually help fund the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport?
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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….
…In addition to using taxpayer money to build a local defense industry, Mr. Murtha has funded by legislative fiat miles of new roads, water projects, medical facilities and federal offices for his district. He even brought a Marine attack-helicopter squadron here; it’s next to the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. Mr. Murtha has steered at least $600 million in earmarks to his district in the past four years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington group. The nonprofit group estimates he’s sent $2 billion or more to the district since joining the appropriations committee.
(Murtha Inc., Wall Street Journal, 10/30/2007)
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The $2 Billion Dollar Man
Taxpayers for Common Sense – a nonpartisan, taxpayer watchdog group – estimates that Congressman Murtha has funneled over $2 billion in federal taxpayer funds to his district.
One wonders what other uses some of the people who live in Congressman Murtha’s district might have had for $2 billion:
· Instead of Congressman Murtha’s earmarks, the government could have sent a check for $86,956 to every person living in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
· Instead of Congressman Murtha’s earmarks, the government could have bought a fully loaded Dodge Ram for every adult in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and paid for its gas for the next 31 years (on the assumption that the average Pennsylvania resident consumes 386 gallons per year and that gas would cost $3.20 cents per gallon).
· Instead of Congressman Murtha’s earmarks, the government could have bought every household in Johnstown, Pennsylvania 4 lower level season ticket seats to see the Pittsburgh Steelers for the next 11 years (if there wasn’t a waiting list).
· Instead of Congressman Murtha’s earmarks, the government could have bought a pony for every child in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and paid for its lodging & care for the next 50 years.
· Instead of Congressman Murtha’s earmarks, the government could have sent every child in Johnstown, Pennsylvania to a private Pennsylvania college and still had $1.3 billion left over to pay for their graduate education.
Happy Anniversary!
It’d be difficult for any Member of Congress to equal Representative Murtha’s fanciful spending of taxpayer dollars, including $600 million over the last four years alone. This year, after already having given 2 billion little gifts to Rep. Murtha, perhaps there is room for taxpayers to give one more.
What to get for the Congressman who has everything? Earmark reform! It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year – especially for taxpayers.
It’s time for Speaker Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat Caucus to end their silence and answer the GOP’s call for earmark reform.
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