Murtha at the Center of Big Ethics Probe

The Los Angeles Times is reporting a headline: "Ethics probe so big lawmakers have to take a number -- half the Pentagon spending committee caught in net." The LA Times writes:

We already knew that Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel was under investigation for failing to report some of his real estate holdings and rental income, and a few other goodies, on his financial disclosure forms. And that the Ethics Committee was studying Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha's ties to defense contractors. Now it turns out that those two were just the tip of the iceberg.

Turns out that nearly half the members of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which Murtha chairs, are under investigation for funneling millions in federal funds to clients of a lobbyist who used to work on the Hill. The charge: They put earmarks worth $300 million in the  2008 Defense appropriation bill to benefit clients of the PMA Group, a now-defunct .... [Full Story]

The NY Daily News also reported "Congressional defense appropriations subcommittee rocked by ethics probe . . ." The NY Dailey writes:

Nearly half the members of a House panel in control of Pentagon spending are facing a probe by Congressional ethics investigators, the Washington Post reported. . . . Two House ethics offices are probing whether Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, and six other lawmakers funneled millions in federal funds to clients of an influential lobbying firm in exchange for campaign contributions, the paper reported. . . . [Full Story]

End this Murtha earmark racket

Post and Courier: The House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee dispensed $636 billion this year to the Pentagon. Its members must look on the $103 million they earmarked for favored projects as mere crumbs from the table. Outside the defense budget, however, $100 million a year is a tidy sum, and getting a piece of the action is a regular part of Washington's political culture. At the center is a mutually beneficial connection between members of Congress, their former staff members turned lobbyists, and corporations or non-profits seeking federal money -- what some social scientists call "relationship circles." . . .

Control of who succeeds in getting earmarks enacted equals political power in the House. No one has been as aggressive in promoting earmarks for himself and other members in his favor as Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. In the past 10 years he has helped his district obtain more than $400 million in federal funds, including a mostly unused airport named for him. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried and failed to make him House majority leader, but he still helps her discipline the Democratic majority, and he helps himself, plenty.

Last year the FBI lunched an investigation into allegations that a lobbying group led by former Murtha staffers was illegally promising campaign contributions in exchange for earmarks. The investigation continues, but it does not seem to have had any chastening effect on Mr. Murtha or members of his subcommittee. . . .

Getting campaign funds from earmark beneficiaries ought to be outlawed. Until it is, the Murtha racket will continue bleeding the public purse for political gain.

Corruption, Inc.

by Leo Pusateri, Murtha Must Go!: In yet anther instance of quid pro quo and pay-to-play politics, Boss John "Jihad Jack" Murtha pours millions of taxpayer dollars to buy even more votes! (emphases added)

Working with two of the most powerful members of a House subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the company also hired lobbying firms that employed former top aides of both the Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Murtha's brother. Company executives and their lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to the two congressmen.

Soon, money flowed the other way. Between 2003 and 2009, Mr. Murtha and Mr. Moran helped deliver $12 million to MobilVox in earmarks — money that is set aside by lawmakers for pet projects in the government's annual spending bills. The latest House defense spending bill introduced and pushed through by Mr. Murtha includes an additional $2 million earmark for MobilVox requested by Mr. Moran. The bill is currently pending in conference committee.

Hey PA-12-- do you feel like taking a shower yet?

Murtha, Moran steer millions to software firm using earmarks

by Chuck Neubauer, The Washington Times: When software firm MobilVox wanted to break into the lucrative world of defense contracting, it pursued an unmistakable strategy: It expanded operations from its Northern Virginia base in Rep. James P. Moran's congressional district to the southwestern Pennsylvania district of Rep. John P. Murtha.

Working with two of the most powerful members of a House subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the company also hired lobbying firms that employed former top aides of both the Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Murtha's brother. Company executives and their lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to the two congressmen.

Soon, money flowed the other way. Between 2003 and 2009, Mr. Murtha and Mr. Moran helped deliver $12 million to MobilVox in earmarks — money that is set aside by lawmakers for pet projects in the government's annual spending bills. The latest House defense spending bill introduced and pushed through by Mr. Murtha includes an additional $2 million earmark for MobilVox requested by Mr. Moran. The bill is currently pending in conference committee. . . .

But MobilVox's success fits a pattern of doing business in Washington that ethics watchdogs deride as a "pay-to-play" system . . . Mr. Moran's and Mr. Murtha's relationship with MobilVox "raises red flags. . . . [Full Story]

Earmark Probe

The Washington Post is reporting on an earmark probe related to\ a former top aide to Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.). The story addresses that "Investigators have gathered evidence that Charles E. Brimmer, Visclosky's former longtime chief of staff, suggested to some lobbyists that companies seeking Visclosky's help in getting Pentagon funds would need to commit to a program of donations to the member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee." The reason for the probe is identifies, "The federal probe has swirled for 18 months around the Appropriations defense subcommittee and zeroed in on its most controversial practice -- the earmarking of Pentagon funds by members of Congress for favored companies. Earmarks are added to the budget by committee members and do not go through the competitive or approval processes required for most government contracts."

Then the Post links Visclosky and Murtha: "Visclosky's earmarks were among $299 million in defense appropriations that PMA secured for its clients in 2008. PMA was founded by Paul Magliochetti, a friend of the defense subcommittee's chairman, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), and company officials and their relatives became major campaign contributors to subcommittee members. They gave their largest volume of donations over the past 10 years to two lawmakers: Murtha ($2.4 million) and Visclosky ($1.4 million)."

Pelosi's swamp of corruption

The Snooper Report: Pelosi's swamp of corruption - Check this cess pool out:
1. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) Caught Swearing at Republicans on the Us House Floor!
2. From the Augusta Chronicle: Pelosi's swamp of corruption: During the recent congressional campaigns, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised as speaker to "drain the swamp" of Republican corruption if her party won control of the House.

What she didn't say is that she'd fill the swamp up with a type of Democratic sludge that, if not corrupt, has an awful stench about it - enough of a stench to draw fire from some good-government watchdog groups that generally favor Democrats.

Her support of Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., for majority leader was particularly distressing. He's popular with the anti-war crowd, but not the anti-corruption crowd.

"Pelosi's endorsement (of Murtha) suggests ... she was interested in (cleaning up) the culture of corruption only as a campaign issue and has no real interest in true reform," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

As a longtime senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Murtha has been accused of directing federal money to defense lobbyists who contribute to his campaigns, after which he uses his clout to block ethics investigations into his activities. Then there's Murtha's fishy involvement in the 1980 Abscam bribery scandal. He didn't take the bribe, but he didn't report it either - and even left the door ajar to accepting it down the road. [...] . . .

3. . . . [Full Story]

Reagan responds to Obama and his supporters like Jack Murtha

From the archives: worth viewing again and again!

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ARRA News Service