Murtha & Pelosi Getting Dirtier At The Trough (Update: Add Republicans Too)

More news is coming out that sheds a harsh light on Murtha's antics in the House in regards to the proposed 23 million in pork he wants to keep the National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) alive in his district. This is the same earmark over which Murtha threatened Congressman Mike Rogers. See here. And it throws an equally harsh light on the descent of Pelosi's Congress into the muck and mire that she promised to clean up.

The House Intelligence Committee notified all members of a March 23 deadline date for submitting ear mark certification letters proposing additions to the House Intelligence budget request. By House rules, a copy of the certification letter was to be provided both to the Committee Chairman and to the ranking Republican on the Committee, Rep. Pete Hoeksra.

Murtha submitted his earmark certification letter for the NDIC five weeks late on the day prior to Committee hearings on the budget. He failed to provide a copy to the ranking Republican on the Committee. Not surprisingly, these acts of Murtha, coupled with, among other things, Murtha's threats to Rep. Rogers over challenges to this pork barrel project and Pelosi's threat to overturn House rules near two centuries old in order to marginalize the Republican minority, have led the Republicans to call foul. Not only has Pelosi failed to run "the most ethical House in history," as she promised in the 06 campaign, but things have taken a turn for the worse. Earmarks have only become less transparent and accountable, and on top of that, "there is a growing pattern of abuses on the part of Democrats" of the House rules. Its just not getting any print in the MSM.

As to Rep. Rogers and his complaint against threats by Murtha over the NDIC earmark:

[Rogers] introduced a privileged resolution Monday night reprimanding Murtha for the threat, but Democrats postponed a vote on the measure. Democrats have a 48-hour window to decide whether the resolution’s claims are valid, which in turn would allow an hour of debate and a vote. One Democratic source said that a vote could come Tuesday.

Read the entire story here.

Update: While the criticism of Murtha and Pelosi stand, it is also true that Republicans have not given up at the trough either. The Hill is reporting that 8 billion in earmarks have been approved as part of Murtha's Defense Appropriations bill, and that a full 40% of that is going to fund pet pork of Republican legislatiors. Eight billion would fund a lot of boots on the ground in Iraq, alleviating the strain we are putting on our soldiers. It would fund a lot of health care for soldiers missing limbs and suffering brain injuries from concussive force. Not a dime of this 8 billion is being spent appropriately, and beyond that, some of it is clearly being misspent to fund projects that our military does not want:

One of Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-Calif.) favorite requests, the Sea-Fighter project (also known as X-Craft), built by L3 Communications Titan Group, made it into the bill. Hunter, the committee’s ranking member, requested $22 million for the project. Last year, Hunter added $25.7 million despite the Navy’s reluctance to spend money on the project, according to a Congress Daily report.

Read the entire sordid story here.