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FBI Raids Defense Contractor Linked To Murtha
Local media in western Pennsylvania is reporting that FBI agents have raided the offices of a defense contractor in the area, which has received millions of dollars in earmarks at the request of earmark king Rep. John Murtha (D-PA).
According to The Hill, picking up on the local reports, Murtha engineered $8.2 million in federal defense earmarks last year on behalf of the company, Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems.
A local TV station adds that the IRS was also involved in the raid, and that Bill Kuchera's home and "game preserve," a 161,00 acre property, were raided as well.
The report also notes, intriguingly, that signs on the property call it a "U.S. government test facility."
In recent years the politically active company has given Murtha more than $56,000 in contributions, according to The Hill. And CEO Bill Kuchera served on the board of a non-profit founded by a former Murtha aide.
The paper adds:
Kuchera has several Pentagon contracts that could be worth more than $100 million over a decade, including parts used in air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, and robots used in dangerous war zones to patrol vehicles for booby traps and bombs.
Murtha's career was nearly derailed in the 1980's after he was caught on tape telling an undercover FBI agent he might want money for his district in exchange for legislative favors -- and he regularly appears on good-government groups' lists of the most corrupt members of Congress.
Josh
Zachary
Murtha is going to go the way of Ted Stevens sooner or later. I actually hoped he would have lost his re-election bid this past November.
January 22, 2009 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Murtha gave away over $100,000,000 taxpayer dollars in return for $56,000 in bribes (campaign contributions).
That is a very poor return for the taxpayer.
Would it be possible for TPM Muckraker to start a feature that tracks the value of earmarks as compared to the bribes (campaign contributions) those earmarkers in congress are getting in return?
January 23, 2009 9:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
He and Blunt should be expelled from congress for all the corrupt activities they have been involved in for years...but no...we have to wait till enough funds are available and there is enough motivation to really investigate to justfy the effort.
Well, I'm glad the powers that be have decided to devote some more time and attention to this goober to find ways of proving what they already know. Murtha has never been convinced that he is doing anything wrong by making a few supporters extremely wealthy by his favoritism. It's just part of the game...political favors for cash right. But if no one uses the missiles then they're out of business so must get the product used is also part of the game you blind bastard...and we have to pay for it all...that's how they get paid.
I hope they finally get enough to drive Murtha out of power this time. It should be a rule that if you keep ending up on the most corrupt lists then your activities should be closely monitored...consider it a probation period by your employer...us.
January 22, 2009 7:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was hoping he and Rangel would be kicked out of office. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The next thing that should be done, if the dems want to win and not be labeled as corrupt would be to demote them from all current chairmanships.
Secondly, as a side note, Reid with his horrible fav/unfav ratings needs to step down as Majority Leader for the good of the party. He's not going to win re-election. Heck, he might not win in the primary against him.
January 22, 2009 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
A pox on all pay to play politicians !
Book'em Dano !
January 22, 2009 8:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's certainly a host of folks under the Dome who really have to go (to jail). There are so many clamoring to reach the depths of depravity it's nearly impossible to rate them in order of egregiousness.
It's too bad that more so-called Democratic members of Congress don't identify themselves as Progressive or Independent or, even, "NA" (no affiliation.) Or all three: PINA! Anything to better delineate their actual politics from this dysfunctional, mythological two-party bullshit.
I want something more Parliamentary — a bunch of loudmouths that scream at each other! And tell the truth, sort of.
(And I'm not the only one. Remember: W once said he'd welcome having Brit-style Prime Ministers Questions sessions. But did we get it? "No-oooo." Which proves definitively that Shrub is an asshole; denying us that modicum of pure, unabashed entertainment.)
Actually, what I'd really like to see is a clean break from the past. ... How about the Science and Logic party? Ooh, the S&L. I'll rethink that and report back.
January 22, 2009 9:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting that this comes AFTER w leaves, but must have been in the pipeline a very long time. Glad, however, that it comes so far from the next election. Where is the Pennsylvania Governor in all of this? Is this a favor to him or a reminder to him that he is not President?
January 23, 2009 12:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
We're talking quid pro quo here - one thing in return of another. (In Murtha's case an earmark for a campaign contribution. In the case of Kuchera a campaign contribution for an earmark.)
But isn't that the way it's set up to work? - the elected representative is supposed to do the bidding of his constituents? (Got to argue the entire structure of our government on that one.)
The argument arises, apparently, when the rep gets a campaign contribution in return, implying that the earmark was intended to elicit a monetary contribution.
Frankly, I can't see the whole transaction as any more than contracting to do a job and then getting paid for doing it. (Of course eliminating the pay part would go a long way, is the logical way to eliminate earmarks.)
January 23, 2009 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink