:-)
Posted on 05/20/2009 9:46:22 AM PDT by jazusamo
Even as Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) faces calls for an ethics investigation into the connection between his earmarks and donations to his campaign, there is little evidence back home in southwestern Pennsylvania to signal that the controversy is affecting his standing.
Despite a seemingly endless series of unfavorable stories concerning his earmarking practices and questions surrounding his involvement with the PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm reportedly under federal investigation for funneling campaign contributions to lawmakers through bogus donors in exchange for earmarks, few think Murtha is in jeopardy of losing the seat he has held for 35 years.
“Despite a plethora of bad news,” said Terry Madonna, director of the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, Murtha “is not likely to be in much political trouble back in his district. Barring something not likely to occur — an indictment — consider him safe.”
“It would take a mammoth, mammoth turnaround” to oust Murtha, said Dave Battaglia, a Pennsylvania-based GOP activist who is considering entering the race. “He must be doing something that keeps people voting for him.”
Indeed, he is — the very thing that has enveloped him in controversy.
Murtha, who chairs the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, obtained more than $176 million in earmarks — the 13th-highest amount in the House — during fiscal year 2008, according to LegiStorm, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog website.
Within the boundaries of his congressional district, his talent for directing federal dollars into his economically struggling district is widely acknowledged to be his strongest asset as a candidate. And he isn’t shy about advertising it.
His campaign slogan last fall: “John Murtha: He delivers for us!”
“You have to recognize the man’s contributions to the public life,” explained Democratic Washington County Commissioner Bracken Burns. “People, if anything, respect someone who can bring home the bacon.”
For all the controversy that swirls around him in Washington, Murtha shows little sign of concern. He raised just $288,000 during the first quarter — about half of what he took in during the same period in the 2008 cycle — a pace that puts him well behind colleagues facing highly competitive reelection campaigns in 2010.
His earmarking legerdemain aside, Murtha gets a significant advantage from the contours of his 12th District. The Democratic-minded district was designed in 2001 with him in mind, and, since then, Murtha’s reelection percentage has dropped below 60 percent on just one occasion.
J.J. Balaban, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist, said that its gerrymandered nature “makes the 12th [District] very tough ground for a Republican.”
“It is a place ideally suited for using earmarks and stimulus monies, with few questions asked,” said Madonna.
Still, two Republicans have stepped forward to challenge the senior Democrat: Tim Burns, a local businessman, and William Russell, who never stopped campaigning after Murtha defeated him last year.
“John Murtha has been in office for 35 years now. He’s served for a long time,” said Burns. “There are a lot of questions around him now. This district needs to be thinking about the future.”
Russell held Murtha to 58 percent in 2008, the congressman’s lowest score since 1980. A retired Army lieutenant colonel, Russell recently accused a top Murtha aide of threatening to have him recalled to active duty so he could be court-martialed for allegedly engaging in politics while still serving in the armed forces in 2008.
A Murtha spokesman told POLITICO last week the charges were spurious and that no one in Murtha’s office contacted the Pentagon about Russell.
Republicans contend that Russell’s 2008 challenge proved that the Pennsylvania Democrat isn’t invincible.
In the final weeks of that race, Murtha came under fire for comments he made to a Pittsburgh newspaper that Western Pennsylvania was “a racist area.” He was forced to quickly ramp up his campaign, raising $1 million over a period of 10 days, and he brought in former President Bill Clinton to campaign for him.
Murtha’s opponents consider that late scramble evidence that support for the congressman is fading.
“He’s very vulnerable,” said Peg Luksik, a prominent conservative activist who managed Russell’s campaign last cycle. “The ongoing scandal stories are really making people look at the earmark issue.”
“People are starting to see that with these investigations going on, they need to take a closer look at Murtha,” said Diana Irey, a Republican Washington County commissioner who ran against Murtha in 2006. “When they hear about them, they are surprised, they are concerned.”
Russell has already begun airing radio advertisements and holding meet-and-greet events throughout the district.
“[People] really see the need for a change,” Russell told POLITICO last week. “People are tired of the corruption.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee, for its part, has been issuing a near-daily stream of press releases blasting Murtha and is turning up the heat on his more vulnerable Democratic House colleagues to force them into supporting a House ethics investigation into Murtha’s activities.
Even if Murtha doesn’t seem fazed by the attacks, Democrats predict that he will take additional steps to shore up his dormant political operation.
“I think he’s focused now on being certain he’s ready for 2010,” said Tony Podesta, the powerful Democratic lobbyist whom Murtha brought on to help steer his campaign last cycle. “He’ll make sure he runs a real effort.”
That's a lie, Bill Russell's former commander has said he will testify that John Hugya, Murtha's Chief of Staff talked to him about the recall of Russell for a possible courts-martial.
While Murtha and his staff may feel confident of his reelection in 2010 I would guess they aren't quite so confident on the outcome of the ongoing fed investigation. Murtha could be campaigning next year while under a federal indictment for corruption.
If its a question of ethics than John is in the clear, because he has proven over and over again that he has none!
because he has proven over and over again that he has none!
and dumb @ss people keep voting him in - not because he has ethics but because he brings home the bacon - selfish, greedy peons.
There used to be a a Congressman in a district that is a neighbor of Murtha’s. His name was/is Traficant. He kept getting reelected every time he ran. The last time he got reelected he was under indictment by a Federal Grand Jury. He is now in Federal prison. He lost his office, but not because of the voters. Murtha is in a similar district and they will never vote him out especially if he keeps the pork coming.
I wish someone with the proper authority would grow the balls to charge him with treason over his condemnation of the Haditha marines as he deserves.
This proves to me that only when we totally collapse financially can we ever get back to any type of sanity.
Good point, though Traficant was from Ohio. It’s much the same thing in that the people are taken with Murtha as they were with Traficant.
There just may be a surprise in the PA 12th come next election even if it is a long shot. More and more people in the 12th are becoming disgusted with Murtha.
Yes, Traficant was from Ohio, but his district was mostly made up of Youngstown on the OH/PA State Line adjacent to Murtha’s district which is on the opposite side of the State Line.
Thanks, I wasn’t thinking. Didn’t realize that Traficant’s district was on the east side of Ohio.
Murtha’s district is serpentine, but he is generally known as being from Johnstown. Which is not near the border.
You’re right, but the voting electorate pretty much mirrors Traficants old district.
Why can’t Murtha just have a massive medical issue and leave this world in the middle of the night? I’d never be a proponent of someone killing him, but he’s had a long life and is doing naught but harm these days. Perhaps he can simply fade away and go to the other side, where he can chat with our founding fathers and learn just what a blithering idiot he is/was.
Murtha hasn’t looked like a healthy person for the last several years and I and others suspect he has some serious medical issues, I think he’s 77 years old.
It seems he’s one of those politicians who want to be carried out of Congress on a gurney.
I think they all want to be carried out on a Gurney. Look at Byrd from WV, Specter PA, Kennedy MA, Inouye HA and you could go on and on. They have a very cushy job. Why give it up?
Indeed, and he doesn’t hesitate to use courts martial for his own political advantage, in itself an abuse of power.
NRCC Launches New Web Video: “Democrats’ Airport for No One”
Very good video! And from the NRCC no less, kinda pleasantly surprised.
Representative John Murtha (D-PA):
• Under Investigation by: The Department of Justice (DOJ).
• Under Investigation for: Rep. Murtha has been under investigation for his ties to
lobbying firm PMA Group and defense contractors.22 As chair of the House Defense
Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Murtha has steered millions in earmarks to
contractors in return for campaign contributions.23 In November 2008 and January 2009,
the FBI raided the offices of the PMA Group and Kuchera Corporation respectively; both
companies have close ties to Rep. Murtha.24 The PMA raid reportedly was part of a
widening federal probe into Rep. Murtha’s relationship with lobbying firms and defense
contractors.25
• Status of Investigation: In the first quarter of 2009, Rep. Murtha did not report paying
legal fees, but he owes $2,781 in legal fees.26 Rep. Murtha insists he’s not the subject of
the federal investigation and he has not hired a lawyer.27 DOJ has not confirmed whether
Rep. Murtha is under investigation. 28
• Link to CREW’s Most Corrupt Profile:
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/summaries/murtha.php
19
.........................................
22 Emma Schwartz and Justin Rood, FBI Raided Lobbying Firm Connected to Murtha, ABC News, February 9,
2009.
23 Id.
24 Id.
25 John Bresnahan, Firm tied to Murtha closes PAC, Politico, February 13, 2009.
26 Murtha for Congress Committee, FEC Form 3, First Quarter Report 2009, April 13, 2009.
27 David Kirkpatrick and Charlie Savage, Lawmaker Said to Surface in Lobbying Inquiry, New York Times, April 3,
2009.
28 Schwartz and Rood, ABC News, Feb. 9, 2009.
:-)
LOL! That’s one mean looking sucker.
That CREW page is a good source, never knew it existed.
Isn’t CREW are Soros organization? I was pretty certain they are Dems.
WASHINGTON - Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania is set to house in the basement of his Johnstown residence the first wave of Guantanamo detainees to be relocated under President Obama’s plan to close that prison early next year.
Murtha said he has borrowed several cots and ”cracked open up a new bar of soap” for the shower in his basement. Murtha conceded that his wife, Joyce, ”isn’t crazy about taking on known terrorists as boarders.” Murtha chuckled: “She’s worried they might slit her throat or something. I’ve told her the odds of that happening aren’t great — if she keeps the door to the basement locked.”
Murtha is working on a bill that would allow the Gitmo terrorists to assimilate into communities across America by requiring them to register on a Known Terrorism Offender Registry, akin to a sex offender registry. “Registration would help us keep tabs on them in order to minimize the beheadings and suicide car bombings,” Murtha explained.
LOL!
That’s good. Wonder if Fat Jack will help Joyce cook the meals for them. If so, he could put in for an earmark for their labors. lol
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