Yet Even MORE Corruption?

We alerted you here and here regarding Murtha's dealings with the Kuchera Industries, a local PA-12 beneficiary of Murtha's largesse, as well as a heavyweight donor to Murtha's campaign coffers.

Well, get ready for yet another corrupt company with Jihad Jack Murtha's greasy-grimy fingerprints all over it (emphases mine):

Possible Shakeup At Firm Tied

To John Murtha

Washington-Based PMA Group Has Close, Controversial Ties To Congressman

Scott MacFarlane

Thursday, January 29, 2009 – updated: 4:47 pm EST January 29, 2009

WASHINGTON -- WJACTV.com has learned a Washington lobbying powerhouse with close connections to Johnstown Rep. John Murtha is undergoing a shakeup.Its founder, a longtime Murtha aide whose business dealings with the Congressman have attracted scrutiny, could be on his way out.

The PMA Group, founded by former Murtha staffer Paul Magliocchetti, might soon part ways with Magliocchetti. Patrick Dorton, a PMA Group spokesman, told WJACTV.com, "There are ongoing discussions inside the firm about its future business structure."Multiple sources told WJACTV.com PMA and Magliocchetti could soon part ways.Several government watchdog groups have criticized the connection between PMA Group's campaign donations and lucrative earmarks secured by Murtha. According to Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, PMA Group and its clients contributed $381,000 to Murtha's campaign and political action committee between 2005 and 2008. During the same period of time, reports show PMA secured at least $95 million in federal earmark money.

It would appear that Kuchera and PMA may be merely the tip of the iceberg:

A Jan. 24 edition of Politico newspaper reports, "According to two sources, in recent months FBI agents have begun looking into Murtha's earmarks and his relationship with lobbying firms and contractors that get those earmarks."

A spokeswoman for the United States Attorney's office for Western Pennsylvania confirms federal agents raided the Kuchera properties last week. But she would neither confirm nor deny whether Murtha and the PMA Group are also under investigation.

And of course, as with anytime Jihad Jack Murtha is asked to be held accountable for anything, the response is the same:

Murtha's office did not respond to requests for comment.

How much longer, PA-12??? How much longer?

***UPDATE****

It appears that PMA Group has its own PAC, with employees, big-wigs and possibly spouses as main contributors.

Be Still My Heart!!!

While browsing the net today, I came upon this headline:

Murtha to Step Down

"Gads!" I thought, "could it really be? Could it be that the most corrupt politician to come down the pike since Huey Long has finally had his comeuppance?" So I clicks on the headline, and finds this:

BRATTLEBORO -- After nearly 14 years serving on bench, U.S. District Court Judge J. Garvan Murtha will move to senior status this July.

Murtha, approaching 68, said Tuesday that he has fulfilled all the requirements in the full-time position and decided to step down in order to give someone else the opportunity to be a federal judge.

Curses. I certainly look forward to that day when such a headline will be attributed to the target of this blog.

Murtha and Kuchera Industries: Follow the Money

As I posted yesterday, the FBI raided a Pennsylvania defense contractor with strong ties to our very own Jihad Jack Murtha.  What I didn't know was just how entwined our porcine earmark king was with the bigwigs at Kuchera Defense Systems:

Over the last several years, Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has helped steer more than $100 million in contracts to Kuchera, a government contractor founded in 1985 by Bill Kuchera. The company and its employees have donated more than $65,000 dollars to Murtha’s re-election campaign and leadership PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records.

How many more times are the folks in PA-12 going to send this slime-laden, corrupt bloated dinosaur of a politician back to what should be a position of trust in Washington? How many times must he be caught with his fat, greasy fingers in the cookie jar before PA-12 voters finally get sufficiently disgusted to say, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH?!?"

Boss Murtha: Yet More Corruption?

Why does Corruption follow Jihad Jack Murtha like flies follow garbage?

Agents Raid Defense Firm with

Murtha Ties

By Paul Singer

January 22, 2009, 5:58 p.m.

Media outlets in Pennsylvania are reporting that federal agents have raided the offices of a defense contractor with close ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat reported Thursday afternoon that Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service agents raided the offices of Kuchera Defense Systems and Kuchera Industries in Windber, Pa.

Murtha has provided millions of dollars worth of earmarks for the company, and company employees have provided tens of thousands of dollars for his campaign.

Surprise? I think not.

It's no accident that Murtha made the top of CREW's list for most corrupt congressman.

As a matter of fact, when it comes to corruption, it seems that nobody tops him.

If there was a superhero of corrupt congressman, there is no doubt in my mind that Jihad Jack Murtha would be its model.

John Murtha Sides with Terrorists. AGAIN.

About closing Club Gitmo, allowing terrorists to be housed within the borders of the U.S., and eliminating military tribunals for terrorists?  Hell--The ever-tone-deaf Jihad Jack Murtha's all over that, even to the point of housing your friendly terrorist right in PA-12's own neighborhood, just a stone's throw away from Shanksville.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, killing all 44 people aboard.

"Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards."

"There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners."

9/11 survivor families are outraged, as they (and every other American) should be:

"To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again."

So tell me, PA-12; is the pork that Jihad Jack Murtha brings home really worth it?

Murtha won't let military directly lobby for their needs

It has long been known that Jack Murtha has been living high off the hog with regard to earmarks that have been given to his military contracting buddies. As a matter of fact, he's making such good money from his beneficiaries that he wants to streamline the earmark process: He plans to bypass advice by members of the military altogether:

The House’s top defense appropriator has pledged to help strengthen the role of the Pentagon’s comptroller in an effort to curb lobbying by the military services for their controversial programs.

Why should he listen to the military, as the military itself doesn't provide Jack with campaign contributions.

As I've stated before, Jack Murtha does nothing without there being something in it for Jack Murtha. To Jack Murtha, the military is merely a tool he uses to keep his fat backside in power, or to advance his political career, a/la his slanderous declaration of guilt toward the Haditha Marines.

I don't know; perhaps I'm a bit too cynical. I'm absolutely positive that there is no lobbying going on when Concurrent Technologies receives a taxpayer-funded porkbarrel contract to the tune of $200 million dollars... or is there?

Yet, the Murtha situation is very troubling when you look at CTC’s Form 990. With the exception of three individuals listed on the schedule of officers and directors, all have contributed to Murtha’s congressional campaigns since 2002.

[SNIP]

The Times also notes that CTC has paid somewhere around $500,000 to a lobbying firm. The lobbying firm's executives and clients have contributed over $1.2 million to Murtha in campaign contributions (the Times refers to these as donations) since 1999, according to the Times.

So we have a congressman who was a driving force behind the creation of this tax-exempt entity. That same congressman is earmarking significant amounts of money to that organization. Those who are in control of the organization (several of whom receive significant salaries from CTC) contribute large amounts of money to the congressman’s campaign. We can only wonder how the entity distributes the federal grant money within the local community.

I mean, with sweetheart deals like that, why should Murtha even bother to take the time listen to those pesky military folks who actually know what they need?

I mean, there's gold in them there earmarks, right, Jihad Jack?