NYT: Trading Votes for Pork Across the House Aisle (Murtha?!!!)

[DeepModem Mom]

Trading Votes for Pork Across the House Aisle
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: October 2, 2006

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — For more than a decade, Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania has operated a political trading post in a back corner of the House of Representatives.

A gang of about two dozen Democrats mill around his seat. A procession of others walk back to request pet spending projects, known as earmarks. And Republicans come by, asking him to enlist some of those Democrats to join them on close votes. “Whether they get what they want in the bill or they get the votes they are looking for, nobody ever leaves completely disappointed,” said Representative Paul E. Kanjorski, a Pennsylvania Democrat often found in what is known as the Murtha corner.

Outside Washington, Mr. Murtha, a Vietnam veteran and longtime hawk, may be best known for his break with the president over the Iraq war last fall. But inside the Capitol, he is best known for turning earmarks into power. As the top Democrat on the House military spending subcommittee, he often delivers Democratic votes to Republican leaders in a tacit exchange for earmarks for himself and his allies.

In the last year, Democratic and Republican floor watchers say, Mr. Murtha has helped Republicans round up enough Democratic votes to narrowly block a host of Democratic proposals: to investigate federal contracting fraud in Iraq, to reform lobbying laws, to increase financing for flood control, to add $150 million for veterans’ health care and job training, and to exempt middle-class families from the alternative minimum tax.

In one case that particularly irked Democratic partisans, Mr. Murtha led three others in voting against a politically vulnerable Louisiana Democrat’s proposal to divert money intended to be spent on base closings to research prosthetic limbs for veterans. It failed by one vote....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/02murtha.html?ei=5094&en=acb3a090783cd83d&hp=&ex=1159761600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all

[fooj]

1. We KNEW this was coming.

[msongs]

2. and if it's true, why keep it secret? sounds like something ALL congress

persons do, possibly to their discredit in some instances more than others.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Journeyman]

3. Wow. Murtha's a politician who works for the possible. . .

who'da thunk it?

[spotbird]

14. They are attempting to divide the Democratic base.

But this isn't even news, much less cause to question Murtha's war stand.

Someone also ought to let them know that only ignorant Freeper types still believe the NYT is a 'librl paper. The rest of us know it's Faux news with big words, and stories planted there aren't any more persuasive than Faux stories.

[TacticalPeek]

4. David Kirkpatrick is a pipe in the Mighty Wurlitzer.

He gets his cue when the Dems need to be 'concerned' about a policy or person.

He can go blow his own pipe.

[Straight Shooter]

5. More evidence for the argument to impose term limits.

Someone who gains a lot of clout and influence can do as much damage as he or she can do good.

[spotbird]

15. Term limits ,

limit voters freedoms and haven't helped anywhere. There isn't a single example of where they have benefited a state.

[FourScore]

6. There's a word for this...

it's called politics.

[madrchsod]

7. that is politics

i`ll reserve my judgement untill more facts come out on this. the bush thugs really want him to go away....

[kestrel91316]

8. I thought this was what politicians DID for a living - negotiate

deals with each other.

Silly me.

[Judi Lynn]

9. May God save us from any marauding "gang of Democrats!"

Apparently the only one spotted so far is simply "milling" around Murtha's seat. I can't tell you how frightening this sounds. Lucky for us, the administration can read their e-mails and listen to their phones without notifying them.



Not as scary as a gang of Democrats, to the New York Times!

[WilliamPitt]

10. Psssst...this is how congress works.

[Joe Bacon]

11. More propaganda from the SCREW YORK TIMES

I see Ad Nags isn't the only one who loves to kiss Bush Ass!

[Catchawave]

12. Politics 101....

I hope everybody takes the time to read the whole article :hi:

[Toots]

13. So Murtha's slimy past is coming out

Is anyone surprised? Just because he is like most veterans who have actually been in Combat, against war, does not mean he is a loyal Democrat. It is because he has been such a loyal enabler for the Republicans that he has made such a ruckus by his his sudden turn around. Just because Murtha is on the Democrats side in this one case does not mean he won't stab the Democrats in the back on every other issue just as he has doen for years and years.

[spotbird]

16. LOL

Today the only issue is the war and the corruption that surrounds it (including the destruction of the constitution).


I don't give a shit if every homeowner in his district gets an in-ground pool at federal expense, so long as Halliburton doesn't get the contract.

[DinahMoeHum]

17. Politics, yes. It's also known as "horse-trading"

Nothing new here, no new ground broken here, let's move along.

[Boo Boo]

18. Oh boy, what a big surprise...

Considering his position on the military spending subcommittee, and the fact that the Pentagon loves the guy, I always figured I'd have to hold my nose over the Military-Industrial Pork. But, that's not the thing that really bugs me most about Murtha. What bugs me most about Murtha is his big fat zero (percent) NARAL rating, and the fact that he voted for the IWR.

OTOH, this NY Times piece seems like a bit of hatchet job. It's not like you couldn't say this kind of stuff (and a lot more) about other members of Congress.

[Bucky]

19. Murtha has always been a porkcutter. But DeLay was the pork master

If he's elected majority leader, we'll have to keep an eye on Murtha. That should be true of every Congressional leader. I'm sure he threw his hat in the ring early in the ML contest specifically to sit closer to the till. Perhaps in his quiet hours, he even realizes that if Pelosi becomes speaker, the fundies and neocons will start gunning for her as bad as they did for Clinton--which would leave him as the top candidate for Speaker should she be toppled.

But that's politics as usual. And I'd say Murtha, with his past, is at as much risk of being toppled by scandal as Pelosi is--perhaps moreso. But even given that, he's a useful poster child for Democratic strength and patriotism and he will undoubtedly be better constrained by public opinion than any Republican would be.

Let's talk about something useful.

[classysassy]

20. "The shrimpboats are coming"

back in the 1950's there was a hit tune,"The shrimpboats are coming",in 2005,its the shrimpboater(aka rethugs),and they are trying to get your votes,don't be fooled by these lying,greedy,clowns.

[fujiyama]

21. They're trying to be "fair and balanced"

You see, Speaker Hastert is the biggest porker of them all, but the Times won't cover that at all. The next thing I expect is for the media to make this Foley thing a "bipartisan" scandal like they did with Abramoff.

What bothers me isn't the fact that this is reported, but the timing is very peculiar. I mean, pork is nothing new and both parties try to deliver as much as possible to their districts, but in all reality, there is little comparison between the way the minority party does it and how this repuke majority especially has operated.