John Murtha, a Pennsylvania congressman going on 36 years, may be today’s uncrowned “king of pork.” Recently, he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “If I’m corrupt, it’s because I take care of my district.”

Murtha was responding to questions about the FBI, which is now looking into his “pattern of steering millions in earmarks to defense contractors who give to his campaign and hire his allies as lobbyists.”

In taking care of his district, Murtha takes care of himself, too. For instance, he has his own airport: the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport.

The airport has received over $200 million in federal tax money, most of it earmarked by Murtha. In addition to a big portrait of the congressman, the airport also has free parking and boasts “easy check-in.”

Of course, the airport hosts only three flights a day — all going to Washington, DC. A recent Washington Post report mentioned that there were seven TSA personnel screening the four passengers boarding with their six pieces of luggage.

Federal taxpayers also provided the airport an $8-million radar system back in 2004 — a system that has never been used.

In addition to Murtha’s numerous earmarks, the Murtha airport just got $800,000 in federal stimulus funds. Seems it was “shovel-ready.”

Yes, one needs a shovel for all the . . . well, you know.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Politicians in Washington constantly tell us we’re in a serious crisis. But if it’s as serious as our solons say, surely it’s affected their own behavior, right?

Many CEOs of bailed out companies have sacrificed their normal salaries, accepting pay of only $1 for this year.

Members of Congress? They gave themselves a pay raise.

CEOs have been attacked for using their corporate jets. Heads of Detroit automakers were so browbeaten that they actually drove to Washington to plead for bailouts. On the other hand, after obtaining and reviewing emails between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Air Force, Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton says that “Speaker Pelosi treats the Air Force like her personal airline.”

But what about substance? Faced with tough times ahead and with taxpayers on the hook to pick up trillions in new spending, Congress might stop larding on extra pork, right?

Well, how important to our nation’s survival is a million dollars to study swine odor; $800,000 for oyster rehab; $200,000 for tattoo removal; $4 million to improve a street in Hattiesburg, Mississippi?

Leaders are supposed to lead. But, even in times of crisis, our so-called leaders can only follow their oldest habit: spend.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

I have a prediction.

Even though President Obama insists that all of the trillions in so-called “stimulus” spending will be expertly managed and masterfully allocated — of course, to only the most deserving and stimulating beneficiaries — lots of the hastily cobbled new spending will end up being wasted.

I’m afraid I cheated with this prediction. I already have an example in hand. The town of Union, New York, is slated to receive almost $600,000 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Why? To combat homelessness.

Problem? There isn’t one — that is, there isn’t a homeless problem in Union. Which is why the town does not have any programs for dealing with the homeless and it has no means of administering the money that’s been flung at it. Nor did the town request the funds. Town supervisor John Bernardo says, “We were surprised. We’ve never been a recipient before.”

A less honest man would have trucked in some homeless guys and warbled, “Thank goodness we’re finally getting these funds.” But what Union lacks, Washington provides: A HUD spokesman says the new grant recipients should employ “creative strategies” in figuring out how to spend the money.

So that more than half-million dollars will find a home somewhere — anywhere but the wallets it came from.

You see why I shake my head and say, “I could have predicted this.” This isn’t change. It’s more — way more — of the same.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Do you miss the late Senator William Proxmire and his yearly “Golden Fleece Awards”?

Well, if wasteful spending is something you just can’t get enough of, then it’s high time to turn to Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. His report on the “Worst Waste of 2008” came out in early December, and it’s quite a read.
Just skimming the report can keep you fuming for weeks. Here it is, a new year, and I’m still fuming. Over what? Well . . .

• $3.2 million on a blimp the Pentagon does not want.
• $300,000 on specialty potatoes for frou-frou restaurants.
• $2.4 million for a retractable shade canopy at a park in West Virginia.

But it’s not as if you cannot mount a defense for some of this. It’s not as if Congress isn’t thinking ahead. Congress has already allocated $24.6 million to the National Park Service for the institution’s centennial, and the centennial is eight years away!

Well, I didn’t say you could mount a good defense.

Americans already know that Congress lacks common sense. But what we need to learn, Coburn says, is that “[u]ntil Congress abandons the short-term parochialism that gives us LobsterCams and inflatable alligators, we will never get a handle on the major economic challenges facing this country.”

Coburn’s report is gold. It proves that, yes, we’ve been fleeced.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Senator Ted Stevens is an unrepentant porkster whose close relations and special deals with an Alaska business recently led to a conviction on seven felony counts. But he’s not giving in, and has appealed his conviction. He also ran for a seventh Senate term, and it looks like he’s won it . . . or no . . . late vote counts gave the nod to his competitor.

I have argued many times that Senator Stevens is a living, walking, snarling advertisement for term limits. In a Townhall column years ago, I emphasized that his indecent playing of interest upon interest has led to an obvious, big-as-the-nose-on-his-face “appearance of corruption.”

I also argued that, no matter what his below-the-table shenanigans may have been — may continue to be — his above-board porkmeistering is itself a form of corruption, one that our republic should repudiate.

And his party should repudiate.

And his constituents should repudiate.

During the campaign, John McCain and Sarah Palin, asked that Stevens resign. Lots of people have demanded it. Utterly defiant, Stevens insists on representing Alaska while his lawyers “pursue the appeals to clear” his name.

Yet if as many as five or six — or even all seven — of the counts against him are not upheld, his name will still appear dirty in my book, dirty from all the porkbarelling. Senator Ted Stevens is a horrifying example of much that is wrong in government.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.