Democrats Move to Shut Down GOP Earmark Reform Site as Murtha Is Named "Porker of the Year"
Washington,
Feb 22, 2008 -
House Democrats took steps to shut down a Republican-launched earmark reform website (http://earmarkreform.house.gov/) yesterday, just as Senior Democratic House Member John Murtha (D-PA) won the title of 2007’s “Porker of the Year.” Last August, the office of the U.S. House of Representatives' Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Daniel Beard, approved House Republican Leader John Boehner’s (R-OH) request to create the site, and since its launch earlier this month, it has been visited by thousands of online visitors and garnered subsequent media attention. Beard’s office has now ordered the site be removed, however, prompting Leader Boehner to protest the decision in a letter sent to the CAO yesterday afternoon:
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“I am writing today to register my protest over this belated change, and to request a detailed explanation of the events that led your office to make this dramatic reversal,” wrote Boehner. “Changing its address now will inevitably hamper the effectiveness of the new website, much to the convenience of the majority that runs the House.”
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Coincidentally, the move comes just as Rep. Murtha, a close ally of Speaker Pelosi, won the title of 2007’s “Porker of the Year.” Murtha, a well-known champion of wasteful earmarks, won the award from the non-partisan government spending watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). According to a press release from CAGW:
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“Rep. Jack Murtha has long been known inside the Beltway for using threats, power plays, and backroom deals to control spending decisions. There is an area of the House floor known as ‘Murtha’s Corner,’ where the legendary appropriator dispenses earmarks. The overwhelming vote for Porker of the Year vote shows that his shameful behavior is attracting attention throughout the country. The congressman inserts pork whenever he can to serve himself and his district. In fiscal year 2008, he brought home 72 pork projects worth $149.2 million.”
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And “Porker of the Year” isn’t the only “honor” that Murtha has received. Last year a CNBC report referred to him as Washington’s “most powerful porker” and just last month he was labeled by the New York Times as the “The Pork King” in an editorial that detailed Murtha’s questionable earmarking practices.
More recently, a Pennsylvania news station reported on one of Murtha’s most controversial local projects that has received millions of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars. The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) has been deemed duplicative, ineffective, and a waste of taxpayer dollars, but Congressman Murtha has fought tooth and nail against any attempts to stop funding for this $40 million dollar boondoggle. According to the report from Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV:
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“A Team 4 investigation found millions of your tax dollars going to a local government agency that many in Washington, including President George W. Bush, believe is a waste. But a powerful local congressman has kept the money flowing... Team 4's Paul Van Osdol talked to a former top administrator at the federal Drug Enforcement Agency who helped create the intelligence center in the early 1990s. He had serious concerns about its effectiveness back then, and he said nothing has changed. 'There's no question that all the senior people in federal law enforcement saw, really, no reason for it,' said former DEA deputy Jim Milford.”
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And continuing his practice of thumbing his nose at American taxpayers, next week Murtha will host an “annual payback dinner by defense contractors who benefit from earmarks,” according to columnist Robert Novak. In other words, his addiction to pork isn’t slowing down.
Leader Boehner launched http://earmarkreform.house.gov/ to aid the efforts by House GOP members to reform the earmark system so Rep. Murtha and others like him are held more accountable for their behavior. The website is part of a larger Republican effort that includes a proposed earmark moratorium and the appointment of a bipartisan committee to identify ways in which to end wasteful Washington spending.
Democrats have flat-out rejected calls to join the effort and even voted against a GOP proposed earmark freeze. Perhaps that’s because, according to a February 14, 2008 article in The Hill, “Democratic leaders have sent tens of millions of dollars to freshman lawmakers’ districts in hope of protecting the party’s newfound majority come November.” In other words, they have no interest in changing the way Washington spends taxpayer dollars.
House Democrats need to look no further than within their own caucus to see why an immediate overhaul of the earmark process is essential. Instead of pushing to silence GOP reform efforts, they should join Republicans to ensure that Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars don’t go to waste.
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