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April 23rd, 2009
11:15 AM ET
Air-pork?
What do you think? Is this wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars? Or is Rep. Murtha just doing his job?
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I am outraged at the wasteful spending and at my expense. I work so hard for my money and I can't even buy a car. I saw this and could not believe it how much money goes to these pet projects and the wasteful spending of the government. There are so many people out there who need help and can't evem get it. I have lost faith in my government and I am willing to bet there are many others who feel the same way.
I am sick and tired of my tax dollars being spent on such crap! Something has got to be done.
Strange, Sadden Supporter I cannot remember when you or one of your cohort of Liberal Left Leaning Progressive Democrat raised an objection when your Press referred to President George W Bush as “BUSH”.
When is the American public going to learn? The only way to end this type of corruption (and it IS corruption) is to implement a "one and done" term limit for all elected offices.
Our government has been bought and paid for by lobbyists and special interests....Ray Charles could see that....why do you think the lobbyists so violently oppose term limits? Too bad this country is full of apathetic "sheep" who continue to vote for people like this because they happen to belong to their political party..........oops, I better shut up now lest I be labeled a right wing extremist and possibly silenced for the good of the rest of you sheep.
The only way to stop the insanity in Washington is to throw all of these self-serving morons out.
http://timeforpitchforksandtorches.blogspot.com/
All of this needs to come out right before election time. Then people might remeber and throw all of the bums out of congress and replace them with term limits people. We need to rise up amd take our country back. Stop the great pension plans.
We have a similar situation in Palmyra Wisconsin. TOur Town board has voted to expand the local airport. When everything is said an done we taxpayers will have dumped about three million dollars into this airport! Two local electd officials will sell their property to expand the airport. They will make out like fat rats! Is the airport expansion needed, no way. As a matter of fact if they expand the airport there are businesses that will leave the area, people will lose their jobs but no matter, the community will have an expanded airport. I shutter to think that there are many situations like this across the country. If we stopped spending so foolishly maybe we would have enough resources to pull our country out of our current situation. I have contacted several elected officials up and down the food chain, as you might suspect I get the "we like to hear from our constituents but...." letters. It seems no elected official wants to risk doing the right thing
Greed and corruption are everywhere. I live in a small town where the same thing is going on. It's a small grass strip runway, a hobby airport that sees little use. It sickens me that all this money is being wasted instead of being put where it could really be used i.e. police depts, fire depts., schools, roads, etc. My little town has board members voting on property that will greatly inflate the value of their property which they are conveniently going to have to sell to the airport for the addition of a crosswind runway. I don't understand for what, they hardly use the one they have. All contact with legislators all the way to the Governors office have yielded the same comment "not our problem". It is their problem, it's federal money being used. It's our tax dollars. I wish CNN would come to Palmyra WI.
Hope everybody has enjoyed their freedom, cause it's on its way out! And, lets all thank John and all his "very good friends" in congress that won't say anything bad against there own. What a country!
Murtha thinks he is doing his constituants a favor by getting this money but in fact he is hurting them...and the rest of the country by wasting our income. Obama asked his congress to save 100 million...well here in one spot is 200 million in savings. We the people need to vote out these life long money wasting congressmen out of office.Take take take, they think we are stupid, Murtha is stealing as noted in other posts. Thank you CNN for following this.
Murtha has wasted the money of every taxpayer in this country. The airport with his name on it should be re-named "Porky Pig Murtha."
Just think of how much money Congress wastes Nationwide. They can't manage anything well financially speaking. Now people want a national health care system as well? They cant manage Welfare, Medicaid or Medicare, Social Security, etc, etc. They cant do anything except screw things up further. This is a good example of this. All politicians know how to do is spend money. Its what happens when Congressmen are allowed to hold office an unlimited number of times, allowed to vote on their own pay raises and benefits, allowed to add earmarks, etc. If they tried to get the bill passed by itself it would never get passed because everyone would know its a waste of money. Murtha should be ashamed of himself and step down or be fired..
I find it disheartening to see CNN going the route of Fox Nes sensationalism...Yes, only 2% of Murtha traffic is COMMERCIAL, but that means there are another 98% of flights!!
Fed Ex Airline is the largest airline in the World, but doesn't fly a single COMMERCIAL flight. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe these non commercial flights are still relevent..
Murtha airport averaged 170 flights a day in 2007 and is host to 3 National Guard units.
As for the Commercial portion, I am sure they followed the same principle we follow in many instances, build it and they will come.
I BELIEVE THE POLITICIANS ARE LIKE BLOOD SUCKING LEECHES THAT TAKES FROM ITS VICTIMS AND OFFERS LITTLE RELIEF IN RETURN.
Just like Congress made those who received excessive bonuses pay it back, the Congressman who the air port is named after should be made to pay this money out of his own pocket. I still say this type of spending (all pork barrel spending) and the pay of Congress be voted on by ALL the American People !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John Murtha should go to jail for taking taxpayer money to pay for this monument to his ego!! Something is seriously wrong when our money can be spent in this way without any restrictions.
This is just another example of corruption that permiates Washington on both sides of the aisle in congress and the senate. From Harry Reids real estate deals under the table, deals to Feinsteins husband, Polosi Franks, Dodd and Harmon just to name a few including the President of the United States. He has broken every promise he made during the campaign and all in the first 100 days. Transparency, ethical no lobbist's his administration would be approve reproach, the word of the day was change! I am afraid the old adage holds true here (the more things change the more they stay the same. What we have is a group that are tax cheats liars and in the case of homeland security's Napolitano we have to fear returning vets more than Muslim extremist's and people like myself who are both Christian and did not vote for Obama. Eric Holder who is attorney General is overseeing the law of the land when he gave known terrorist's a pardon and a man who at that time had commited a massive fraud and money laundering, and he did it for purely political reasons to help Hillary Clinton. In my opinion before it is over this will become one of the most ethically challenged administrations in the history of this country. The only thing worse is a press that is more corrupt than this gang that is running the country.
If Murtha wanted to build an airport to bring economy to the area, that's fine, BUT...it should be open to all commercial airlines that fly all over the country, not just to DC. This will create hundreds of jobs in the airport alone and thousands in the community to support the employees. They will need housing, retail stores, supermarkets, schools, etc. If he wants to use community ecomomics as a cover, he needs to do a better job.
Guys like Murtha, Stevens, Rostenkowski, & Randy Cunningham are some examples what happens when Power & Greed overcome common sense. TERM LIMITS are one way to go. Another is shifiting chairperson duties so no one gets too carried away. The alternative is jail.
I am so disgusted by the waist of American Tax Dollars by this "one" Congressman Murtha. Fat Cats just orgasmic about getting money and "Spending It".
And, this is only one Congressman and one Pet Project. To think of all the Fat Cats and all the Pet Projects. WOW!
Now, to think of throwing $800 Billion Dollars at them through this Stimulus Plan truly scares me. The Loss from Corruption, and "Pat On The Back Politics will be enormous. We all know that. And we will "all" be kept in the dark. However, let's just focus on Bo.
The pork continues because everybody keeps getting theirs, even if the government has to mortgage our children's futures. Maybe it would help if the media stopped referring to it as "stimulus" or "grants" or things like that and referred to it all as "your tax dollars" that would help. Or if stories like this made the $800,000 or the $2 million more real by saying that it represents all the personal income taxes paid in 2008 by the citizens of some particular small town in America.
This congressman was videotaped discussing a bribe, he accused our Marines of being murderers (they have been found innocent), he called his own constituents racist and redneck but the people in his district still voted to re-elect this man recently. We do have "term limits" per say, they are called ELECTIONS but if ignorant voters keep voting for the same those congressmen spend a lifetime wasting OUR money and then having the gall to name their projects after themselves! We need REAL CHANGE!
This is ridiculous and an outrage. Her we are on the brink of economic collapse and we continue to waste money. Can anyone not see that the current business model is unsuccessful. Years of these mind boggling earmarks. 20 million here, 33 million there, 200 million over here. Send me mine, I will invest then divide it amongst all my family and generations will be taken care of. Can you say that that is how the current plan has retriculated. Didn't think so. The rich are killing the backbone (MIDDLE CLASS) of this country and when we are gone who is going to pay taxes then? Our government officials should be ashamed of themselves. Take any politician we have today and compare them to representatives of old. There is no comparison, thus we have the problems we do today.
This is an outrage. Throughout the US folks are homeless, broke and in need and this is a wasteful use of funds. Why do we allow old political, ego inflated officials like Murtha to continue to get away with these useless spending practices. Who approved this money to go to Murtha? And why?
How many jobs could be created with these funds...like repairing our highways, bridges and tearing down Tea Pot Museums? (Other earmark projects)
Why do folks continue to vote for these people? We can only blame ourselves as these are elected officials. Please people rethink your values when you vote. Old does not mean wise...that is an earned title.
Mr. Murtha needs a reality check! He's been a Washington puppet for WAY too long and needs to be gotten out of office ASAP! How dare he spend taxpayers' dollars on building his own airport!! What an ego! Better yet, who is giving him the money? Now more than ever we need absolute transparency in our government and a careful eye on where our money goes, and then a committee to make certain it gets to that project and not in someone's pocket!
It would seem that these elected officials have one thing in mind. That being self. It is disgraceful. I am a republican in my beliefs. but i believe a democrat said these words "ask not what your country can do for you, but what can you do for your country." John F. Kennedy. I believe we should throw them all out and start over, democrat and republican. Here is a novel idea, why don't we make all our decisions based on the constitution, instead of the interpretations of a few Supreme court justices, who have their own agenda. John Murtha should be removed, but if the people keep electing him in Pennsylvania, I guess they deserve him.
I suppose I am an idealist.
I like the idea that the States send those that they can trust to Congress NOT to provide a job for the Congress-person and not really for the individual states themselves but for the good of the Nation, USA.
Murtha by all accounts is in Congress only to take or receive bribes to ensure his reelection and not for the good of the nation. His porkish earmarks are bribes taken and made and nothing else. They are not for the nation's good or health as his website avers.
Shame on him.
No wonder people are calling for term limits!
Just imagine how great it would be if some one in D.C. actually cared about the nation!
I feel sick.... So many of us are trying to get by with what we got. Big bucks are sent to build bridges to nowhere and airports that's not even a big hub to any airline. It sounds good to call it his job to get money to his district, but the reality is that he and big ear mark lovers are probably trading favors or contributions from contractors and whatever... We need poor politicians. I bet none of them would look guilt-free if we can track their income against their salary and investments. cash for ear mark makes me really sick.
It seems pork is the new buzzword for showing political savvyness. Personally, I strongly feel that my congressman and/or senator should bring more dollars to my district. That's why I voted for them. I didn't vote for them to take money elsewhere. Of course there should be oversight by law to determine that money is not wasted. But, if all the elected officials try to help their electorate, the entire country will be benefitted.
These are the type of individuals that are running our country to the ground. Self lotheness, and self indulgance does not appeal to the mass. How sad that after observing, and confirming the wrong doing of abuse in power....we are not able to do anything about it. In my district they are fighting to maintian a civil and appropriate public schooling with limited stimulus grants provided. Yet we have this old guard, old mentally, worthless individual abusing the system.
How sad!!!!!!
I think Congress does a horrible job of spending our money. I would love to throw out every rep and Senator and start over with fresh, ethical people with good ideas. Not selfish people such as we see with Murtha. and many others, but people who would put the country FIRST, not their pet projects for their area, such as this ridiculous airport. How can he get away with this? Where are the other reps and senators? Let's get rid of them all and give President Obama some fresh people to work with. This guy would be one of the first to go! This country has not money for anything good, only war and pork.
Geeez, does anybody in Washington see that this Murtha airport deal is just stealing. I wonder who is really working at that airport and doing the repairs. Any family members??
I am a PA resident and I don't need Pork Fat Mouth Senators and Congressmen wasting my federal tax dollars on local pet projects. When are our elected officials going to realize that we elected them to (hopefully) spend the money on things that would actually HELP us. Sure, bring tax dollars back home, but for REAL projects. It seems like they all have the "what's in it for me" attitude and can't see the big picture here. Maybe he needed more money to put up more pictures of his fat pig mouth?
I wonder how much Federal Money would have been directed by Mr. Murtha if it was named the "Barney Fife International Airport"? Talk about a monument to one's ego.....sheesh.
I do not understand why cnn commentators referrer to President Obama as Mr. Obama. Last I checked he won the election granting him a new type of respect.