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John Murtha Airport: Earmark Reform Poster Child
Pennsylvania Congressman John "Jack" Murtha, a Democrat and the powerful chairman of the House appropriations committee, is a creature of the Washington culture that needs to be changed. Here's another example of why:
At the behest of Rep. John P. Murtha (D), chairman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, the Pentagon has spent about $30 million equipping the little-used airport named for him so it can handle behemoth military aircraft and store combat equipment for rapid deployment to foreign battlefields....
Some locals call the Johnstown airport "Fort Murtha" because of the stream of wartime projects at the facility. Although its runway is capable of servicing the largest airplanes in North America, the airport now is used only by small commuter planes that make six trips a day back and forth to Washington Dulles International Airport.
Many of the commercial flights, which are subsidized by federal transportation dollars, carry only a handful of passengers. On a recent visit, all of the departing flights were less than half full, and one had only four passengers -- screened by seven federal airport personnel.
All told, Murtha has steered about $150 million in federal funds to the airport. This spring, it was among the first four in the country to receive stimulus money -- $800,000 for a runway-widening project.
I consider that money stolen from the American taxpayers. High time for earmark reform.
egregious
Egregious is probably the only word to describe it. I'm originally from Cambria county, where Johnstown is located, and this is sad. If all this money was spent making this airport capable of handling military traffic, then why did I have to fly out of Harrisburg when I deployed for Iraq in September? My National Guard armory is in Altoona, only about 45 minutes away rather than the the 2.5 hours to H-burg. (Yeah, I'm probably the only self- professed Socialist Democrat in the military and I'm positive the only one who reads Mother Jones.) Seems more time should have been spent forcing military planners to better use the resources at their disposal rather than dumping more money into a pet project. Of course, that never was the military's strong suit, nor does it serve Mr. Pork Barrel's area.
taking care?
Murtha likes to say he "takes care of his district." This is a sincerely asked question: how is the economy of his district? Has he in fact helped the people there, or is he moving money around to help himself and help his friends?
good question
Stunted, to the say the least. The district was primarily mines, mills, and railroads and right now the biggest industry in Cambria county anyway is Gamesa, in Ebensburg, a Spanish company that makes blades for windmills. It's primarily a service industry driven economy like a lot of America. My high school is in what is considered a poverty area and I'd have to take a ballpark, no facts to support it yet guess that median income is less than or right around $20K. He wants fed money for an economically depressed area but no one I know got hired on to build his runway or anything else his name has been attached to. It is true, however, that for a pro- labor Dem in western PA, every six years it Jack or nothing.
Murtha, again, as usual...
I grew up in western PA as well, and I remember once, as a kid, asking my loyal-Democrat mother which candidate she had just voted for in the elections. She went through a list of names, and at the end, rolling her eyes, she groaned, "Murtha."
It's a tough situation - Murtha's money-funneling is clearly not in the best interests of the country, but few Democrats are inclined to try and justify voting against a guy who manages to secure such astronomical funding for his largely underdeveloped region (even for projects that defy all logic), especially since voting against Murtha would mean voting Republican. Switching parties is not an option for the dyed-in-the-wool Dems who, like my mom, find themselves perpetuating an irritating political situation for lack of a better solution.
Term Limits
The only answer - term limits
Remember, this guy almost went to jail over Abscam
John Murtha is my
John Murtha is my representative.
First let me say that I disagree with Mr Murtha frequently and don't vote for him, but I will defend him. Murtha is (at least has been) a conservative Democrat and has always recognized the deep religious roots in his district. Before the 12th district was gerrymandered Johnstown, PA was it's population center and it is heavily Catholic. Jack votes our way on abortion, on gun control and more.
Johnstown was a steel town, in fact, it has been said by historian David McCullough that Johnstown was arguably the birthplace of the American steel industry, but that's a story for another day. In the early eighties the American steel industry collapsed. We here in Western Pennsylvania lost the coal mines to the Clean Air Act at the same time. There were no bail outs and many thousands of people here lost their jobs. In fact the news stories today continue to compare the current economic situation to that time as far as unemployment statistics go. Greater Johnstown endured double digit unemployment for a decade or more. Many folks like me were working several part time jobs just to keep shoes on their kids. John Murtha did the only thing that he could to help and used his position to secure Federal dollars that would create jobs. We now have a number of defense facilities that are here because our congressman was in a position to woo them here. Those companies have since discovered a population with an excellent work ethic and a lower cost of living than the national average. They get the job done for less and are happy here. People are working.
No one, apparently, wants to tell the story of the airport. Note that the massive hangar was built for a Marine Corps helicopter repair facility. The Marines go to work there every day. The tower and radar systems are for Air National Guard training. Military planes from other bases consistently use the airport to train. A capable airport was also hoped to be seen as an attraction for new business.
Congressman Murtha has always had his constituents in mind. Dig up the footage from the F.B.I ABSCAM investigation. You'll find that every time that he was presented with the money, Jack pushed it back and asked about jobs for his district. It now appears, however, that Mr Murtha has gotten a little arrogant, too good at what he does, and has drawn the ire of so called "watch dog groups", as well as those who hate the idea of a small town boy learning to use the system so well. What he has done over the years is no different than what is being done even as I compose this. He stimulated our local economy with Federal money to create jobs.
It is my sincere hope that Murtha has not done anything illegal, I would hate to see him go down in flames.
ok, but...
It sounds as though Murtha has not done nothing to bring jobs to his district, but given the number of years he has been in office and the amount of money that he has brought home, one would reasonably expect the district to be in far better shape than it is. Your explanation of what goes on at the airport does fill out the picture. However, there is something silly about spending so much on an airport in the hopes that it will brings jobs to a district like that one. I cannot imagine that any clear-sighted person really believed jobs would follow from the presence of the airport, nor would it appear that many have (except for the military jobs).
Disgusting
I find Mr. Murtha's actions despicable. But then there is little in politics today that heartens me. If this airport was being used HEAVILY for military training/repair/deployments I might see a tinge of value in this exorbitant spending. There is obviously no need for such an airport in this region for civilian use. Anyone heard of BRAC? It's the closing of bases we just went through. Surely if such a facility is needed, a pre-existing one could have been retrofited. It would have been more secure, and more suited to the needs of the military, vs. this mixed use white elephant in the middle of nowhere. This is theft plain and simple. Mr Murtha needs to be tried as a traitor to his county. If a couple of these criminals were executed I am thinking such behaviors might be curtailed.
To the people who live in the area and bemoan the poor economy they have endured for decades..... have you ever considered moving? Ever heard of a ghost town? Should the government have propped up the 1800's mining towns in the west that went bust when the mine dried up? No, and they didn't. Moving sucks, but sometimes it's what's in your best interests. Your choice.