Murtha

Disgusting:

Mr. Murtha, a gruff, combat-decorated former Marine, was thrust into the national spotlight last year by his opposition to the Iraq war. Yet he has long been known in Washington, where he wields power like an old-fashioned political boss and has become a lightning rod for Republican attacks. With years of strong support for the military, he's also been an important voice for Democrats in battles over war funding and troop withdrawal.

But for his 33 years in Congress, his overriding focus has been the revival of his hard-luck hometown. In addition to using taxpayer money to build a local defense industry, Mr. Murtha has funded by legislative fiat miles of new roads, water projects, medical facilities and federal offices for his district. He even brought a Marine attack-helicopter squadron here; it's next to the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport. Mr. Murtha has steered at least $600 million in earmarks to his district in the past four years, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan Washington group. The nonprofit group estimates he's sent $2 billion or more to the district since joining the appropriations committee.

...He's particularly proud of the military contractors that have flocked to his district. "They do their work on time and at a competitive price," he said in an interview, saying earmarks have helped spur economic development. "I'm not going to apologize for that."

Mr. Murtha underscored this point at a breakfast fund-raiser held for him this summer. "This is about jobs," he told hundreds of military contractors and lobbyists at the Johnstown Convention Center downtown. Sponsored this year by defense giant General Dynamics Corp., the event drew more than 800 people, who paid $25 a head for scrambled eggs and a chance to meet the powerful lawmaker. Working the crowd, he tells a visitor that bringing federal dollars here "is the whole goddamn reason I went to Washington."

He didn't go to Washington to do what's best for the country, he went to raid the federal treasury. But as the article notes, we knew this about Murtha a long time ago:

Mr. Murtha's devotion to his district became clear 26 years ago, in an infamous encounter that would foreshadow the young congressman's long career. He told an FBI agent -- posing as a lawyer for a rich Arab sheik -- that he was reluctant to take the $50,000 in cash the agent placed on a desk, supposedly in exchange for help getting the sheik a U.S. visa.

"After we've done some business, I might change my mind," Mr. Murtha said on the grainy black-and-white video shot as part of the FBI's Abscam sting in 1980. The key, he told the undercover FBI agent, was investing in his district. "I think with a tie to the district, there's no problem at all getting this taken care of," he said, referring to helping the sheik enter the country. Mr. Murtha wasn't charged in the case. He cooperated with the government, testifying against two congressmen who were eventually charged and convicted for accepting cash in different meetings.

Seated with the FBI agent, Mr. Murtha also explained why he needed to be more careful than other lawmakers, including the two he later testified against. "I expect to be in the f-ing leadership of the House," he told the agent. "I'm delighted to do business with you. S-, I do business like this all the time to get companies into the area."

Simply outrageous.