The Dark Side of the Moon

Share this post

A Thousand to One Return for Congressional Porksters

www.dark-side-of-the-moon.com

A Thousand to One Return for Congressional Porksters

Jim Freeman
Jan 15, 2008
∙ Paid
Share this post

A Thousand to One Return for Congressional Porksters

www.dark-side-of-the-moon.com
Share

January 14, 2008

Editorial

The Pork King Keeps His Crown

The new earmark disclosure rules put into effect by Congress confirm the pre-eminence of Representative John Murtha at procuring eye-popping chunks of pork for contractors he helped put in business in Johnstown, Pa. The Pennsylvania Democrat, a power player on defense appropriations, exudes pride, not embarrassment, for delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in largesse to district beneficiaries. They, in turn, requite with hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations.

Mr. Murtha led all House members this year, securing $162 million in district favors, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. In all, eager members in both houses enacted 11,144 earmarks, worth $15 billion. Taxpayers may be inured to $113,000 for rodent control in Alaska or a million for Idaho’s weed management. Mr. Murtha’s universe is a far more complicated and costly creation of interlocking contractors who continue to feed at t…

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2023 Jim Freeman
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing