John Murtha's Post Mortem Bilking of The Federal Treasury

John Murtha died over seven months ago but public funds are still being earmarked in his name.  The long term Congressman whose legacy is the false accusations he made about American heroes actions in Haditha  (Iraq) made just to further his political, career and his track record of wasting tax payer funds through earmarks, vanity projects and corruption is still taking money from the public. That's right, the man who gave you the John Murtha Airport serving a total of three flights a day, has one more vanity project coming his way. Its almost as if you can still hear him say, “If I’m a little corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district”

According to Wired magazine, the successor to Murtha, Rep. Mark Critz slipped a $10 million earmark into the House version of next year’s defense funding bill to fund construction of a John P. Murtha Center for Public Service at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. If the earmark survives the final voting process (and it probably will)  Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has pledged to match the cash with state money.

 Critz’s explanation of the project is quite unique. He says the 30,000 square-foot Center will primarily serve as a scholarly debating forum for policy issues and a repository for Murtha’s papers.

But wait, you ask. How does the Murtha Center relate to the Department of Defense? Oh, it’ll inspire “students and the general public to become active in our communities, the military, and in public service.” See? Military applicability.

But Laura Peterson, a national-security budget analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense, still isn’t having it. “We don’t see it as a military expenditure,” Peterson says. “The Department of Defense has an ample budget for recruitment. We don’t need to be sponsoring a multimillion institution in Pennsylvania. Is it because Pennsylvanians need an extra push to join the military?”

Back in April, the Navy named a transport ship the U.S.S. John P. Murtha over-riding the objection of many Americans who felt that his false charges against the  heroes protecting our country should eliminate him from receiving such an honor.  Sadly, it’s unlikely to be the last thing the government names after the late corruptocrat.