John Murtha, King of Pork

If it wasn't for the federal indictment of Congressman William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who allegedly hid $90,000 in bribe money in his freezer, Pennsylvania's John Murtha could walk away with the title of the biggest embarassment in Congress.

Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, recently named Murtha its Porker of the Month. Murtha is also a member of the group's Porker Hall of Fame.

Murtha, a Democrat known for his eagerness to surrender in the Iraq War, was bestowed the dubious distinction for throwing a temper tantrum and threatening his colleagues over a challenge to a $23 million pet project in the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008, according to CAGW.

From a press release issued by CAGW:

Murtha became infuriated by Rep. Mike Rogers' motion to challenge his earmark for the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) in Johnstown, Pa.

According to The Politico, Rep. Murtha, who is not on the Intelligence Committee but does chair the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, confronted Rep. Rogers on the floor of the House and threatened to remove both any of his earmark requests in the defense appropriations bill and any other earmark "now and forever." Rep. Rogers responded, "This is not the way we do things here and is that supposed to make me afraid of you?" To which Rep. Murtha arrogantly replied, "That's the way I do it!"

Murtha also assailed Rep. Todd Tiahrt for voting with Rep. Rogers against the NDIC during the Intelligence Committee markup of the bill. Rep. Murtha threatened a Boeing project in Rep. Tiahrt's district.

Rep. Rogers submitted a resolution charging that Rep. Murtha violated a House rule which forbids members from blocking earmarks based on how a colleague votes. The resolution seeks a formal reprimand from the House. Rep. Rogers said, "This is exactly why Americans are disgusted with out of control federal spending. In order to restore the faith of the American people in Congress, we must do better. We can't allow members to be threatened and intimidated when they stand up for hard-working taxpayers’ money."

Nancy Pelosi's lockstep Democrats voted down the Murtha reprimand resolution, proving once again that Democrats are hypocrites when it comes to ethics. So much for draining the swamp of corruption in D.C. I guess that only counts when we have a Republican in trouble. (By the way, the Jefferson indictment alleges he took $500,000 in bribes.)

From the CAGW press release:

Rep. Murtha sees Congress as a place where threats and power plays control spending decisions. While pushing the pork-filled 2006 defense appropriations bill through the House last year, Rep. Murtha unleashed his money-hungry wrath upon his colleagues, "If you vote against this bill, you won't have any input at all the next time." The congressman barrels through legislation while inserting whatever he can to serve himself and his district.

Since 2005, Rep. Murtha has obtained a total of $26,877,250 in pork, according to the citizens' group.