Posted on 12/15/2006 5:31:29 AM PST by RedRover
U.S. Rep.-elect Chris Carney won’t get the powerful House Appropriations Committee seat he was promised, which would have put him in a strong position to steer federal money to the area.
But he’s pleased with his appointment to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, his second choice, he said.
“I think getting T and I was a huge coup and great for the district,” Mr. Carney, D-Dimock Township, said.
An Appropriations Committee appointment means a spot on a coveted panel with the largest say in the spending of federal tax dollars.
Former U.S. Rep. Joseph McDade, when he represented the region, was able to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and grants to a wide variety of projects.
During an August campaign appearance for Mr. Carney in South Abington Township, Rep. John Murtha, D-Westmont, the second-ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, pledged to put Mr. Carney on the committee if he defeated U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock Township.
At the time, Mr. Murtha’s press secretary, Megan Grote, downplayed the possibility.
“He ( Murtha) cannot snap his fingers and make it happen,” she said.
Mr. Carney frequently brought up Mr. Murtha’s promise when Mr. Sherwood, who was a member of the committee, said that was a reason voters should re-elect him.
Mr. Carney said he didn’t feel he misled voters. Through discussions with House leaders, he’s now sure he’ll get the Appropriations Committee’s next opening, he said. He did not name the leaders.
“The seat will come to the 10th (Congressional) District when the next slot opens up,” he said. “The leadership really wanted freshmen Democrats on committees that would help them benefit their districts.”
Mr. Sherwood, who lost to Mr. Carney in the election last month, secured a spot on the committee in his second term. When he ran for his first term, House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised him an Appropriations slot, but that fell through when Mr. Gingrich decided to leave Congress first.
After the November election, Mr. Murtha lost his bid to become majority leader, lessening Mr. Carney’s chance of getting what would have been a choice assignment for a freshman congressman.
On the Transportation committee, Mr. Carney said, he will be able to fight for money for road and bridge repairs and for the passenger train service between Scranton and Hoboken, N.J.
Mr. Carney said he is also expecting to be named to either the Armed Services or Homeland Security committees.
A spot on Armed Services would allow him to help the Tobyhanna Army Depot and other local defense plants. On the Homeland Security Committee, he could ensure emergency preparedness funding for local police and fire departments.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com
PJ O'Rourke's A Parliament of Whores is more timely than ever.
Let jazusamo or me know if you want on the Murtha Watch Ping List.
a huge coup ???
Happy as a pig in shite, as my Irish cousins would say. Unbelievable.
No freshmen got Appropriations seats this time. Carney is a dead man walking in 2008 given the district he represents, so not even that would save him.
At least one of those is a post left vacant by the loss of Curt Weldon. I know he sat on the Homeland Security Committee.
What I know about Weldon makes me think we lost a good man in D.C.--not just a Republican.
Byrd wants to reform earmarks? Is this more Friday Funnies?
Article from The Columbian yesterday.
Excerpt
Congressional Democrats will strip all pet-project "earmarks" from the 2007 federal budget early next year to help pay for the war in Iraq, says U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
But that move will have a downside for Clark County, she said Wednesday. Murray's address to the Vancouver Rotary Club delivered a stiff dose of fiscal reality.
The county won't get the $2 million Murray hoped to deliver for the next phase of improvements to the $120 million Salmon Creek-Interstate 5 interchange, an appropriation that would have made the federal government a partner in the project for the first time.
So that's the new spin. "Santa the Congressman won't be stopping at your house this Christmas because of the war!"
See here: Former 'Porker of the Month' Now Praised for Earmark Moratorium
Welcome newcomers! You may also enjoy: The Murtha File. And if you work for Murtha, the Big Man might like it, too.
I shall join you in wearing a doubt-it hat.
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