The Porkers Fight Back
"Yesterday, I was interviewed by Ward Carroll, editor of Military.com for a podcast. We discussed the congressional actions on the Defense Department's authorization and appropriations bills, focusing on the atrocious way porkers like Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., use readiness money to pay for their hardware ad-ons—in this case the F-22 Raptor. We also talked about the porkers' resurgence in the House version of the DoD appropriations bill. While giving way in the face of serious opposition on the F-22, Congressman John Murtha, D-Pa., slathered up the bill big time with several hundred earmarks and more C-17s, F-18s, VH-71s, and a missile defense program with a Johnstown, Pa. connection. (See Taxpayers for Common Sense on this story.)
Murtha has become such a symbol of everything that is wrong with how Congress exploits the defense budget for selfish and corrupt purposes that we should perhaps call these practices ""Murtha-ism.""
