Published: December 28, 2006 03:41 pm            

For Murtha, more scrutiny

Post story focuses on tax dollars, aide

John Murtha knows about scrutiny. Since his stunning call in November 2005 for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, the congressman has been under a microscope, his every move and his candidacy for re-election drawing national attention.

The elections are over; the scrutiny is not. One reason is that come January, Murtha will be chairman of the powerful defense appropriations subcommittee, which controls nearly a half-trillion federal dollars a year.

The latest report to draw attention to Murtha is a Washington Post story whose findings were detailed in an Associated Press story appearing on our front page on Tuesday.

It focused on longtime Murtha aide Carmen Scialabba’s Pennsylvania Association for Individuals with Disabilities (PAID), begun in 2001.

The piece raises concerns about conflicts in the distribution of millions of taxpayer dollars. But at least for now, nothing illegal apparently has taken place.

“Carmen Scialabba didn’t need my help,” Murtha said Thursday in responding to the story. “Here’s a man that lost his first wife at a young age, raised his four children on his own, so he knows something about perseverence.

“Now he is trying to do something for the handicapped. I don’t see how you can find something wrong with that.”

We agree there were no real surprises in the story by The Post’s Jonathan Weisman. The reporter’s data were drawn from official and open government documents.

“It’s a real tangled web between the congressman, the nonprofit, the defense contractors and the lobbyists,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

It certainly is. But Murtha is one of biggest players in Congress when it comes to doling out tax dollars. Many of those dollars come to the 12th district; that’s one reason he is so popular and we continue to re-elect him.

He wheels and deals all the time with other members of Congress, lobbyists and contractors – with money, promises and votes. He once told our editorial board, “That’s how it works.”

In essence, the story detailed Murtha’s channeling of large sums of federal money to Scialabba’s group and of PAID’s receiving large donations from contractors aided by Murtha.

PAID’s board of directors includes five government contractors that have received millions of dollars through appropriations measures obtained by Murtha. Its advisory council includes two lobbyists from KSA Consulting, which employs Scialabba and employed Murtha’s brother, Kit. Its honorary board members include still more defense contractors.

The Post report went on: “PAID has become a gathering point for defense contractors and lobbyists with business before Murtha’s defense appropriations subcommittee and Pennsylvania businesses and universities that have thrived on federal money obtained by Murtha.”

Mentioned were Johnstown-area businesses such as Kuchera Industries, MTS Technologies, Concurrent Technologies Corp. and Windber Medical Center, all of which have received significant help from Murtha. In return, Murtha has received campaign contributions from the companies and their employees.

Scialabba, who is confined to a wheelchair because of polio, was highly critical of the report, telling The Post: “Everyone’s trying to make this a political thing, and it makes me very mad. Would you rather have tax dollars spent on some disabled guy sitting at home? We’re not looking for handouts, damn it.”

But for Murtha, a guy who has battled the past several months with the Bush administration and who has been highly criticized by several veterans groups for his stand on Iraq, 2007 will bring more political power, a subcommittee chairmanship – and even more scrutiny.

And come January, Demo-crats have promised to begin work on an ethics package demanding more transparency in the doling out of federal funds to home-district projects and a required pledge that no earmarks benefit a member of Congress personally.

We agree with The Post report that this could put an uncomfortable spotlight on lawmakers such as Murtha.

        

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