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The people of the United States, especially southwestern Pennsylvania, need to set aside their apathy or greed and get rid of the seditious or Marxist politician thugs like Murtha.

Murtha is a danger to our national security. Items like this are never covered outside the finanical press...

Overlooking Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in western Pennsylvania sits a research center that has received $12 million from the Defense Department since 2003 to help companies such as Alcoa Inc. and Timken Co. improve production methods.

The man behind the center is Congressman John Murtha, a local Democrat who founded and allocated the money for it. Trouble is, the Defense Department never asked for it.

The U.S. military's budget is increasingly being diverted to fund the pet projects of lawmakers, often for purposes that stretch the meaning of national defense. The funds are sometimes taken from training and spare parts -- a "dangerous" practice at a time when the Army is spread thin in Iraq and facing threats in Iran and North Korea, says John Shalikashvili, a retired general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"It's gotten completely out of hand," Shalikashvili, 70, said in an interview. "This is the time that we need to put the Army in full readiness, and we cannot even afford to do that."

And in other news, Murtha recently announced from Johnstown a $30 million contract that the Marine Corps Systems Command was awarding to Concurrent Technologies Corporation. Wonder if the Corps wants what Big Daddy is buying them?

"CTC is very pleased to have been selected for the critical task of supporting our nation’s special operations warriors in maintaining a technological edge on the battlefield,” said Daniel R. DeVos, President & CEO of CTC. “Work performed under this contract falls under CTC’s Force Readiness core capability area.”

DeVos is President & CEO of Ameriserve Financial (stock ASRV);

AmeriServ Financial, Inc. (the Company) is a bank holding company, organized under the Pennsylvania Business Corporation Law. The Company became a holding company upon acquiring all of the outstanding shares of AmeriServ Financial Bank (the Bank) on January 5, 1983. The Company's other wholly owned subsidiaries include AmeriServ Trust and Financial Services Company (the Trust Company) formed in October 1992, AmeriServ Life Insurance Company (AmeriServ Life) formed in October 1987, and AmeriServ Associates, Inc. (AmeriServ Associates), formed in January 1997.

He's in the financial business, not military hardware research.

I am curious for the reason for CTC. The DOD already has SBIR/STTR.