House Heavyweight Feels Threat to Power

Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania, with Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, has long wielded considerable clout. Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — So powerful was Representative John P. Murtha at one time that he used to put up billboards in his Western Pennsylvania district declaring that “the P is for Power.” Few in Congress dared disagree: he doled out or withheld billions in federal money each year for lawmakers’ pet projects, better known as earmarks.

Now, however, a string of federal criminal investigations of contractors or lobbyists close to Mr. Murtha, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations subcommittee, are threatening to undermine his backroom clout.

In the weeks since the news that prosecutors had raided the offices of the PMA Group — a lobbying firm founded by a former Murtha associate that became a gateway to his office and his biggest source of campaign money — about two dozen rank-and-file Democrats have risked his wrath by calling for a House ethics investigation of the matter. One Democrat has even foresworn seeking earmarks for the military contractors in his district because of ethical concerns about the process.

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Is Keith Ellison The Chris Dodd of Minnesota?

Rep. Keith Ellison

From Hot Air:

My friend Eric Ostermeier at the University of Minnesota takes a look under the hood of Rep. Keith Ellison’s re-election campaign, and notices that most of the fuel comes from outside of Minnesota. The two-term Congressman from MN-05 has raised most of his money from outside the state, let alone his district. In fact, his out-of-state rate of financing is eleven times that of someo of his colleagues in the Minnesota delegation:

A new Smart Politics analysis of the FEC data reveals another eye-opening fact – DFLer Keith Ellison (MN-05) received more than 80 percent of his itemized individual campaign contributions from those living outside of the Gopher State. In fact, Ellison received 11 times a greater percentage of funds from out-of-state than DFL Representative Tim Walz (7.2 percent) and Republican Representative Erik Paulsen (7.6 percent) and more than four times that of Congresswoman Bachmann (18.7 percent). …

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Another Dodd Donor Debacle: ICE And Oil Speculators

The Next Right:

The hits keep on coming on Chris Dodd's flaky first quarter finance report.

We learned he raised $44,000 from usurious payday lenders. So, could he find some donors even more anti-consumer than that bunch?

Answer: Yes.

Dodd raised $18,400 from executives at the Intercontinental Exchange. "one of the nation’s leading exchanges trading credit default swaps and other risky financial instruments."

Actually, what the Intercontinental Exchange (a/k/a "ICE") did in 2008 is far more problematic.

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Government Watchdogs Warn Of Lack Of Oversight For Trillions in President's New Spending Programs

From ABC News:

The Government Accountability Office today issued a report on the $787 billion stimulus bill called "RECOVERY ACT: As Initial Implementation Unfolds in States and Localities, Continued Attention to Accountability Issues Is Essential."

The GAO study asserts that officials from most of the states surveyed "expressed concerns regarding the lack of Recovery Act funding provided for accountability and oversight. Due to fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff -- limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds."

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My Comment: Lack of oversight?!?!?! I am just praying that there will be at least some minimum oversight .... instead of none.

Welcome To The Airport For Nobody

On average, just 20 people a day flew out of the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport last year. But, the airport was just allocated $800,000 in stimulus funds to repave an alternate runway. (Jonathan Karl /ABC News)

From ABC News:

Rep. John Murtha Steered $150 Million in Taxpayer Funds to Airport Over Last Decade

You've heard of the Bridge to Nowhere. You might call this the Airport for Nobody.

The John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has an impressive $18 million runway made of reinforced concrete that's big enough to land any airplane in North America. The airport also has a $7 million air traffic control tower, a $14 million hanger and $8 million radar. Most of the time, the only thing the airport doesn't have is airplanes.

An average of just 20 people a day flew out of the Murtha Airport last year. But, the airport was just awarded more federal money -- $800,000 in stimulus funds to repave an alternate runway.

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Poll: 60% Say Government Has Too Much Power, Too Much Money

From Ramussen Reports:

Sixty percent (60%) of Americans say the federal government has too much power and too much money, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Just nine percent (9%) say the government has too little power and money. Twenty-four percent (24%) believe the government has about the right amount of both.

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Bonuses To New York Times Execs Under Fire

From the Huffington Post:

At a time when New York Times managers are forcing all employees to take a five percent pay cut, and demanding even larger sacrifices from the NYT-owned Boston Globe, top executives of the beleaguered newspaper received substantial bonus and fringe benefit payments over and above their salaries, according to a proxy statement released on March 11.

These bonuses and benefits to top Times company executives have provoked growing resentment among Times staffers, and frank anger from Globe reporters who have been warned by Times executives that their paper will be folded if they do not come up with $20 million in pay cuts and layoffs.

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My Comment: I have been reading the New York Times for about 25 years. It is a shame to see how much it has gone downhill since then. Lets face it .... management has screwed up .... but to now loot the company and to position themselves for financial help from the Government .... sigh .... these blood suckers have no shame or self respect.