Not too long ago, the controversy over John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport about two hours East of Pittsburgh flared up when it was one of the first airports in the country to receive "stimulus" funding: $800,000 to repave a backup runway.
Sen. Jim DeMint is now taking on what is one of the most well-known earmarks, and has dropped an amendment to the THUD appropriations bill that would strike funding for the King-of-Pork Airport that sees a full three (!) commercial flights a day carrying no more than twenty passengers. And just so nobody can say this would be unsafe to do, funding for air traffic control operations is excluded – but what would end is the "monument-to-me" shenanigans.
Says Sen. DeMint:
This is a test to see how serious we are about stopping wasteful spending. If we can’t stop this ridiculous abuse of taxpayer funds for a deserted airport, we can’t stop anything,” said Senator DeMint. “Hundreds of thousands of Americans just marched on Washington to protest out-of-control spending and debt. Millions of Americans are speaking out, but are we listening? This airport — where the staff and taxpayer-funded buildings outnumber the passengers — is a national embarrassment.
CFA agrees, and we will be rating a vote for the amendment, which may occur as early as this afternoon, in our annual Congressionl ratings. For our vote alert, click here.
Photo credit: Morag Casey