NY Times on Murtha...

[k_jerome]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/02/washington/02murtha.html?ei=5090&en=0f6ac767e3885818&ex=1317441600&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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In one case that particularly irked Democratic partisans, Mr. Murtha led three others in voting against a politically vulnerable Louisiana Democrat’s proposal to divert money intended to be spent on base closings to research prosthetic limbs for veterans. It failed by one vote.

For their “nays” on that and other matters, all four Democrats were rewarded. In the weeks after the vote, they claimed credit for a total of more than $250 million in earmarks in the 2006 appropriations bills. Mr. Murtha alone brought home about $80 million for his district and $120 million for his state, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan group that tracks such projects.

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he consistently opposes ethics reform or disclosure requirements,

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He has sided with Republicans 169 times on close votes since 1994, more often than all but three of the most conservative Democrats.

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Dick Armey, a former Republican majority leader, said his party’s strategists would often tell him, “Murtha will get us some votes.”

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No thanks.