John "Porky Pig" Murtha at it again

[Mantooth]

Stimulus dollars at work. (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/23/murtha.airport/?iref=mpstoryview)

Watch the accompanying video if you have time.

I would like to see him force fed a nice greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ashtray. This is why we need term limits and to do something about earmarks. So Congressmen aren't able to funnel millions of dollars to useless vanity projects that are nothing more than monuments to themselves.

[baz]

That is pretty mental. Representing your district at the expense of your country.

[Johan]

Representing your district at the expense of your country.

You just defined the purpose for Congress' existence.

[shnastybiznastic]

How is the airport a bad thing?

I mean, it's named after him, but do we really need to destroy aspects of our national infrastructure because they bear the names of bourgeois oppressors?

[baz]

How is the airport a bad thing?

I mean, it's named after him, but do we really need to destroy aspects of our national infrastructure because they bear the names of bourgeois oppressors?

Because it's a black hole of money and doesn't generate income or jobs proportional to the investment.

[shnastybiznastic]

Because it's a black hole of money and doesn't generate income or jobs proportional to the investment.

Welp, it doesn't directly make money, better shitcan it.

Come on, really?

[baz]

Welp, it doesn't directly make money, better shitcan it.

Come on, really?

Or jobs, or services worth the cost. Listen, I'm pretty left-wing, but I hate the inefficiencies that can creep into government and I think we need to fight them.

There is only a certain amount of money that the government has, and a host of vital services that it has to provide. Crap like this is bad for several reasons:

It funnels money away from more worthwhile things
It makes people mistrust the government and makes them think they shouldn't run anything


The second point is particularly important. Huge public wastes of money stop the public from believing in the role of government.

There are lots of things I think the government should provide: health, education, policing, environmental regulation/protection, public transport...

In terms of job creation per dollar, or for services provided per dollar, there are so many better things to spend the money on than a inefficiently used airport. Is that hard to understand?

[xcalibur]

Is that hard to understand?

You do realize who are you asking this question, right?

The Washington Post, not exactly a bastion of conservative thinking, even derides the airport in this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/18/AR2009041802128.html) which goes into more detail about how ridiculous of a waste of money this is.

Murtha is the definition of why every government office should have term limits.


-X

[shnastybiznastic]

I guess it's pretty "bridge to nowhere" on all faces. I mean, looking at the articles and planning documents, the airport seems like it would do a lot for some nearby rural communities, and due to the logistics of shipping to some of those places, I wouldn't discount the airport due to its' remoteness, but it also seems like poor planning and maintenance have turned it into a giant problem.

Also, the airport mostly serves military craft, so I imagine any spending on it is probably to prop up the helicopter battalion stationed there as opposed to help deliver packages to the upper tip of Appalachia.

I guess I look at putting money toward fixing a good idea gone awry (which the latest cash injection seems to be) positively, but acknowledge that this is probably defense spending in disguise.

Murtha is pretty socially conservative though, so don't take this to mean I'm defending him.