Sunday, June 18, 2006

Murtha: The eternal opportunist?

Murtha--an "I'll grease your palm and you grease mine" politician?

Mondo Washington
The War on Murtha
Congressman's theatrics about Iraq spark a new fracas out in the lobby

by James Ridgeway
December 6th, 2005 11:35 AM

Being called a coward could turn out to be the least of Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha's problems. As the GOP fires up a counterattack against the ranking Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee, Murtha's ties to his brother's lobbying firm are once again coming under scrutiny. Some 10 companies with ties to KSA Consulting, a lobbying firm where Murtha's brother Robert is a senior partner, got $20.8 million in defense contracts. The Los Angeles Times in June reported that the funding was passed as part of the Pentagon's overall $417 billion spending bill.
But wait--it gets even more interesting:

Roll Call recently reported Murtha leaning on Navy officials to transfer the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard to San Francisco on land whose rights were at one time held by a company whose top execs included Laurence Pelosi, a relative of Nancy Pelosi's. Murtha is widely credited with being a prime figure in getting Pelosi the Democratic minority leader job in the House. Pelosi's office said the suggestion Pelosi was involved in any impropriety was "absolutely ludicrous."
Ludicrous, eh? It does seem that Ms. Pelosi and Congressman Murtha have been a little more than chummy nowadays, doesn't it? Yes, I know that Pelosi has called for Murtha to cool his jets for now regarding seeking the House Majority Leader position should the dems regain control of the House, but don't think for a minute that Pelosi would stand in the way of Murtha's leadership ambitions should that scenario actually occur.

Murtha & Pelosi--in a culture of corruption?