Anyone who has been reading this blog for any period of time knows that I believe John Murtha to be one of the most despicable pieces of festering shit on this planet.  I don’t know what it is about Pennsylvanians, but they keep voting for these pernicious assbags and putting them into office, where they proceed to bend the rest of us over and give us a reaming that’s equivalent to a hot tar and broken glass enema.  For example: Murtha’s “Airport for No one.”

Congressman John Murtha has directed your tax money to build an airport
in Pennsylvania that an average of 20 people use each day. Not only
that, but every ticket in and out of the airport includes approximately
$100 in taxpayer-funded subsidies. Meaning, you are already paying for
people to use this $150 million boondoggle so why not experience it
for yourself?

Luckily, we have at least a few decent Congresscritters on the Hill… just a few!  Because guess what just got read on the House floor!

MOTION TO RECOMMIT WITH INSTRUCTIONS
The bill H.R. 915 to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with instructions to report the same back to the
House forthwith with the following amendment:

[...]

 In order to address concern that communities with lower traffic levels would lose service entirely, Congress created a program where, as needed, the Department of Transportation pays a subsidy to an air carrier to ensure that the specified level of service is provided.

Most of the small communities eligible for the program do not require subsidized service.

As of April 1, 2009, the Department of Transportation was subsidizing service at 108 communities in the contiguous 48 States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico and 45 communities in Alaska.

Air service to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, is subsidized by the United States taxpayer. Each week, 6 commercial flights take off from or land at the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport to or from Washington Dulles International Airport.

Service to John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport is subsidized at a rate of $1,394,000 a year through June 30, 2010.

Since 1990, the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has undergone $160,000,000 in improvements that include airport improvement program, military, commercial, and infrastructure projects.

The total Federal investment in airport projects at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport has been approximately $150,000,000.

[...]

‘‘(4) PROHIBITION ON FUNDING FOR OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE PLACE. —Notwithstanding any other provision in law, no amounts authorized under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be used for the provision of subsidized air service to an otherwise eligible place if the eligible place has a public airport located 3 miles northeast of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that offers scheduled commercial air carrier service and general aviation service and has a joint military control tower.’’.

What does that mean?  It means some Republicans got the balls to bring to the floor a proposal that would send this waste of taxpayer money straight to hell.

Granted the vote failed, but at least it was read on the House floor, and 11 Democrats joined 143 Republicans in the effort to send the FAA Reauthorization Act back to committee with instructions not to fund the “Airport for No One.”

Take note of the so-called “Republican” Nays.

  1. Aderholt
  2. Alexander
  3. Bartlett
  4. Bonner
  5. Brown (SC)
  6. Cao
  7. Crenshaw
  8. Dent
  9. Emerson
  10. Frelinghuysen
  11. Hall (TX)
  12. Jones
  13. LaTourette
  14. Lewis (CA)
  15. LoBiondo
  16. Murphy, Tim
  17. Paul
  18. Platts
  19. Rehberg
  20. Rogers (KY)
  21. Shuster
  22. Simpson
  23. Smith (NJ)
  24. Thompson (PA)
  25. Tiahrt
  26. Whitfield
  27. Young (AK)
  28. Young (FL)

I note with disgust that Ron Paul joined these socialist fucksacks in the continued fleecing of the taxpayer, so Murtha can keep his name on the airport paid for by taxpayer labor.  Although, I’m not surprised, as I’ve blogged about Dr. Paul’s pork habit before. And it’s no wonder that Murtha has his name on that airport.  Wanna know how much money that Murtha Fucker sucks from the taxpayers to pay for an airport that’s practically deserted?

$800,000 for a grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5) to rehabilitate a runway;  a runway that is hardly used, I might add.

$20,000,000 for a runway extension project; for an airport that has hardly any flights.

$750,000 for a 99-year lease of adjoining airport land;

$6,000,000 for a state-of-the-art digital radar surveillance system;

$5,000,000 for a new air traffic control tower;

$14,000,000 for Marine Corps helicopter hangar and reserve training center;  at Murtha’s airport?  After he falsely maligned our Marines and refused to apologize?  If I were the Marines, I’d tell him to shove that hangar up his ass, along with a helicopter, a rabid hedgehog and a cactus.

$1,200,000 in 2007 for airport improvement projects;

$2,760,000 in 2006 for airport improvement projects;

$1,000,000 in 2005 for airport improvement projects;

$1,600,000 in 2004 for airport improvement projects; and

$739,452 in 2003 for airport improvement projects.

Boy, that’s a lot of improvement for an airport that is hardly used by anyone.  Your tax dollars at work, ladies and gentlemen.

At least some Congressleeches had the balls to vote to remove this travesty.