Re#144 so said the Prowler yesterday. See #40 above...
From Murtha's Wikipedia entry:
"Murtha is a Democrat with a relatively populist economic outlook, and is generally much more socially conservative than most other House Democrats. He opposes abortion, consistently receiving a 0% rating from NARAL; however, he supports stem-cell research. Murtha was also one of the few Democrats in Congress to vote against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. However, he is strongly pro-labor, and opposes both NAFTA and CAFTA. Like other Democrats, he opposes Bush's tax plan and Social Security privatization, and he also opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment. Unlike other Democrats, he generally opposes gun control, earning an A from the National Rifle Association He supports conscription and is generally more hawkish than other Democrats currently holding office.
In 2001, Murtha was a co-author (with Congressman Duke Cunningham, R-CA) of the Flag Desecration Amendment, which passed the House of Representatives, but not the Senate.
In late 2005, he led the effort of House Democrats to offer a motion to endorse language in a military spending bill, written by Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona and a fellow Vietnam veteran, that would prohibit abusive treatment of terror suspects.