Rep. Murtha pressured to attend town hall

Susan Crabtree, The Hill: Tim Burns, the Republican [sic, One of the Repubicans] challenging longtime Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), has invited the incumbent to attend a healthcare town hall meeting on Thursday in Murtha’s district. The move is aimed at highlighting Murtha’s decision not to host a town hall where Burns said constituents would be able to express their views on the healthcare debate directly to the lawmaker.

Murtha has held several telephone conference calls with constituents on healthcare, and plans to host another in September. But so far he has not held a town hall meeting where he would have more direct interaction with constituents. Town halls across the country have erupted into shouting matches over healthcare reform, and many Democrats have found themselves facing hostile crowds. . . .

Murtha is the co-sponsor of a healthcare overhaul bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) that contains a single-payer provision, which is controversial with Republicans. . . . “There’s been four weeks of recess and [Murtha’s] had no face-to-face meetings with his constituents to discuss healthcare at a critical juncture for our country,” said Burns’s spokesman, Kent Gates. . . .

In addition to his support for a single-payer component of any changes to the healthcare system, Murtha voted for the controversial cap-and-trade climate change legislation, which passed the House by a slim margin in late June.

Murtha has recently attracted headlines for the hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarked projects he has secured for the district — several of which are now under FBI investigation. Burns has seized on the negative publicity, calling on voters to restore ethical credibility to the district by electing him. [Full Story]