Coming Out of the Woodwork in Johnstown PA!

February 22, 2010 – News report stated that Joyce Murtha, widow of Congressman John Murtha, has announced that she will not seek to fill the unexpired term of her late husband, thus ending much speculation that she run for the position in the special election to be held in the future.

Yes, it is happening according to an old familiar expression – they are indeed coming out of the woodwork! And who might that be? Didn’t you know? A bunch of individuals want to occupy the seat in the House of Representatives which had been held for many years by the late congressman, John P. Murtha. The geographical territory involved is the 12th Congressional District in south central PA in which the city of Johnstown is located. Johnstown was Murtha’s hometown and could be considered as having been his major base of operations outside of Washington DC during his congressional career. The evidence of that is clear from observing his name prominently displayed everywhere in the area!

Before John Murtha was placed in the ground, speculation, with a lot of help from the local media, was running at a white hot pitch regarding Mrs. Joyce Murtha seeking the congressional seat once held by her late husband. The way some of the local talking heads were handling the issue, Mrs. Murtha was already occupying the office!

Then came announcement after announcement by persons in both political parties of their intention to seek the office. One, former Lt. Gov. Mark Singel , expressed his desire to run but qualified it by saying if Mrs. Murtha decided to run, he would drop out and support her.

Then came the statement as given by Mrs. Murtha that she would not seek the position. This was sort of like opening the floodgates and now it is almost as though just about everyone and his brother are throwing their hats in the ring!

As noted in an earlier post, no matter who wins the election on this, Johnstown will not be the recipient of millions of dollars, especially defense related, as was the case with John Murtha over the years. But there is one thing that is rather certain – whoever gets the coveted seat of the 12th District will in time be transformed into a typical politician. There may be a lot of rhetoric during campaigning that seems to sound so good, but in Washington DC the priority is to march in lockstep to the philosophy, “To get along, go along!”

There are two things that indicate that the U.S. Congress is in desperate need of a major overhaul. First, what the members have over time “voted” for themselves in terms of salary, perks, health and retirement benefits. You’ll never find anything comparable in the private sector.

Second, because of the way special interest groups are organized and the influence they have, the curse of lobbying has grown like a cancer over the years. Highly paid lobbyists (some are former members of the U.S. Congress) are able to bring pressure to bear upon elected officials that we private citizens will never be able to do.

With Congress’ approval rating extremely low so far as citizens are concerned, the best solution would be to totally outlaw all organized lobbying and vote ALL incumbents out of office for a few years. Along with that, have the citizens vote on what the salaries will be along with all the other benefits. The intent here would be to have those salaries and “perks” reflect more closely the average of salaries and benefits earned by the constituents these officials claim to represent at the federal level!

So, in a matter of weeks someone new from the 12th Congressional District in Pennsylvania will enter the halls of the U. S. Congress and in time will be just one of the “good old” boys’ and girls’ club in D.C! The glaring difference will be that the rookie will not be able to get hold of the millions of dollars that “Big John” Murtha did – at least for a few years anyway!

O LORD, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? even cry out to You, "Violence!" And You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds…….Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity! --- Habakkuk 1:2-4; 2:12

Why Hammer McCain? They're All Being Held Hostage!

"...Mr. McCain helped found a nonprofit group to promote his personal battle for tighter campaign finance rules. But he later resigned as its chairman after news reports disclosed that the group was tapping the same kinds of unlimited corporate contributions he opposed, including those from companies seeking his favor. He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office..." --- as published at the New York Times web site on Feb. 21, 2008

At times the media are as happy and contented as fat sows playing in the mud on a hot summer day! One of those times is now -- this juicy bit about John McCain and an alleged relationship with a rather attractive lobbyist.

In an election year the media people will do about anything and pay just about any price to dig up some kind of "dirt" on an aspiring candidate for political office -- and especially if that office is the presidency of the United States! Didn't you know? A "scoop" of that kind sells more papers, gets higher ratings for the network, and brings in more advertising revenue -- this means more money in the pockets of the people involved who have done the "scoop" thing!

But back to the McCain "scandal" and his alleged connection to a lobbyist -- why single him out -- the whole bunch is being held hostage and has been for a long, long time. Ever since someone in the past got an idea to pay money to people to put great pressure on political office holders to pass legislation that will favor certain groups or corporations.

Part of the strategy here is that by contributing generously to one's election in ways that are "above board" or "under the table" then the office holder is now under obligation to grant certain "favors" and "special consideration" to supporters. Again, as always -- greed being the unscrupulous commodity in our culture that it is, money is the dominant player in the game!

It means that the average citizen is no longer of primary concern -- it is now the groups -- the "special interest" crowd whether an organized group of old gray headed men and women, a powerful union group, a school teachers group with high handed political clout that is national in scope, an oil company, a mining outfit, or a bunch of little kids that wants to put a bed of daisies in the middle of a town somewhere!

What makes this thing even more vicious is the fact that a number of retired politicians and/or members of their families get into this lobbying game -- it's a big money thing and the pay off cannot be measured in terms of the benefits for the highly favored ones for whom the political "hostage" has gone to bat!

ALL lobbying at federal and state levels in particular should be outlawed -- totally -- no exceptions and contributions to the election of a candidate for political office should be limited to at least $50 per person per candidate! Corporate and special group contributions would be illegal -- violations would result in mandatory prison terms for persons involved!

The only acceptable lobbying (and legal) would be individual -- that you and I as private citizens could personally one-on-one appeal to our senators or representatives about issues over which we are concerned and that would be it!

Will it ever change? Not really. Things will continue as they are when it comes to the corrupting influence of lobbying -- private citizens will be thrown a few tid-bit morsels from time to time -- but the "special interest groups" and their paid professional lobbyists will get the lions' share of benefits out of the government "trough" as they continue to hold elected officials "hostage."

Come to think of it -- perhaps the above reference to the wallowing hogs in the slime is also an accurate picture of that lobbyist crowd and their "hostages!"

But hang on folks -- there's good news concerning the future -- it's not always going to be like that -- for a real picker-upper today, just go to Good News! A Day Coming in Which All Politicians Will Be Removed from Office! A link at the bottom of that area will bring you back to this place.

Of course, you realize, do you not, that this also means the absolute end of lobbying and all lobbyists will also be out of a job? Let's hope and pray that the day will come very soon!

Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, to the oppressing city! She has not obeyed His voice, she has not received correction; she has not trusted in the LORD, she has not drawn near to her God. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves that leave not a bone till morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people; her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. --- Zephaniah 3:1-4