1,461 Days - The Story of the Obama Administration

Congressman John Murtha passed away peacefully with his family at his side this afternoon at 1:18 Pm. He was in the VA Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia recovering from gallbladder surgery last month.

Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.


Murtha was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1974. He spent the majority of his life in service of his country through his service in the Marines and in Congress. He was the first Vietnam War combat Veteran to be elected to the US. Congress.

This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania’s longest serving Member of Congress.

A bio on Congressman Murtha is available on his official website.

He was revered by Republicans and Democrats alike for his skill and ability to maintain his position in Congress for 19 terms. He was Nancy Pelosi's right hand-man and was considered one of the most influential people still standing on Capitol Hill. Some say he was the architect behind Pelosi's rise through the Democratic ranks.

Congressman Murtha was also known as the "King of Pork". Political cartoons characterized him in hoggish fashion wielding huge military contracts here and there with a swipe of his pen. He had been on the Hill long enough to know how to control the political machine enough to give him the upper hand in many dealings. He was a mentor to many and an idol to others. He was not liked by everyone, but he had respect from many on both sides of the isles of the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives.

Congressman Murtha’s countless honors include the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award; the National Breast Cancer Coalition Leadership Award; Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry's Government Leader of the Year; Pittsburgh's Riverperson of the Year; the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's National Patriots Award; and Pennsylvania's two highest honors, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.

President Obama released the following statement on the White House web site:

Michelle and I were deeply saddened today to hear about the passing of Congressman John Murtha. Jack was a devoted husband, a loving father and a steadfast advocate for the people of Pennsylvania for nearly 40 years. His passion for service was born during his decorated career in the United States Marine Corps, and he went on to earn the distinction of being the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress. Jack's tough-as-nails reputation carried over to Congress, where he became a respected voice on issues of national security. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife of nearly 55 years, Joyce, their three children, and the entire Murtha family.

The Presidents post can be read here.



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A true bipartisan congress.


Democrats and Republicans working together in harmony for a better America.

Think it will happen?

No chance in hell..


This congress is to bitter. The Republicans have lost too many seats and are poised to loose more still. If Franken is seated this is a definite NO from the Party of No.

Think about it, if the Republicans start to work with the Democrats and moving forward in a bipartisan way then President Barack Obama will suddenly become a highly effective President and a shoe in for a reelection along with many of the Democrats in the Senate and Congress. If they however remain the Party of No they can make the President ineffectual and the American Bipolar voting machine could actually swing very quickly to the Republicans in hopes of getting something done.

The 2010 election cycle is already on it's way. The Democrats might have 4 seats in play, and again only need to pick up one seat to hit 60 if Franken does end up getting seated in the next few weeks.

The Republicans have about 12 seats in play this time around.

The No party is taking a big risk by playing this tactic, if they drop just half of the seats that are going to be in play they may never get back what they have lost.

What do you think, will we ever see a real bipartisan Congress this go round?
Will it work?

It's Sunday and the end of a pretty important week in American history, no matter where you stand on the stimulus bill.

In unprecedented time, President Obama got passed the largest reinvestment and recovery bill in US history. A bill so large that the numbers are staggering.

To put everything in perspective, no one knows if this thing is going to work.

With that as the context of the week ahead, this week has the potential to be an even bigger week because while we ran up a huge bill of goods last week, this week we are getting the bill for years and years of largess and poor accounting, for false budgets and failed policy. This week President Obama is going to lay out how he is going to cut the deficit in half in four years and also set forth a budget for the next few years that will account for the wars, disasters and everything that we pay for as taxpayers.

To say that this is going to be a huge eye opening experience is an understatement.

Things that we need to be looking for this week are:

What is the exact plan to cut the deficit in four years? The reports that say ending the war in Iraq and allowing the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% are going to help close that gap a lot, are a good start, but I am pretty certain that it isn't going to be enough to cut such a large amount in half.

What will the reaction of Congressional Republicans be like at the State of the Union? While I don't know how relevant most members of the GOP are right now, it is still interesting to see how they will react to President Obama during his State of the Union address.

What tone will the President set this week? We know without a doubt that he is going to hammer the American people with the real facts about how dire our economic reality is right now. But, like Bill Clinton said in a recent interview, President Obama can't just be a downer all the time, part of being the President is you have to be Cheerleader in Chief too. So how will President Obama walk that line this week?

Finally, how will the American people react? I went shopping yesterday, nothing big really, looked for a new pair of running shoes, a new Mets hat and maybe a book, but I hadn't been out shopping in a while...I mean shopping in the way that I am looking at things that aren't the bare essentials, and I didn't seem to be the only person out doing such a thing....in fact, it was almost crazy how many people were out yesterday. I'm hoping that this was a reaction to the signing of the stimulus bill, which, if nothing else, was a sign of hope that things will start getting better in the coming months. And, if we react in a way that things are tough, but they can get better, I think we will be alright.

Of course, we could hunker down even more after hearing President Obama's news this week....

I'm not sure which though.