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Citing lobbyist ties, Coburn unsuccessfully seeks to strip Ohio earmark out of spending bill
Earmark hawk Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma Wednesday unsuccessfully sought to strip 14 earmarks affiliated with troubled lobbyist PMA out of a $410 billion omnibus appropriations bill. One of those earmarks was pushed by Sens. George Voinovich and Sherrod Brown, who are among the very long list of Capitol Hill lawmakers whose campaigns have received money from PMA.
Their earmark, pushed in the House by fellow PMA campaign contribution recipient Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, would provide more than $1 million million to Xunlight, a Toledo company that creates flexible solar glass panels. Voinovich, approached Wednesday on Capitol Hill, was very familiar with the earmark. But not so much with PMA.
“TMA?” he replied, when asked about the company, which has given his campaign $9,000 throughout his career. After a reporter described the lobbying firm, Voinovich seemed no less befuddled. “I don’t even know who PMA is,” he said.
But he was all too familiar with the earmark itself, describing at length the company’s plans to expand the program and create more jobs. He said the company aims to hire displaced automotive workers.
As for PMA: the FBI reportedly raided their offices in November. It was the second lobbying firm with ties to U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pennsylvania, that the feds have raided in the last year. Murtha is the chairman of a House subcommittee that doles out Defense dollars.
In Ohioans, almost half of the state’s congressmen’s campaign committees have received PMA contributions. Among the leading recipients are Kaptur, D-Toledo, and Tim Ryan, D-Niles, another Appropriations committee member. Also on the list: U.S. Reps. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, Mike Turner, R-Centerville, John Boccieri, D-Alliance, Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus John Boehner, R-West Chester and Charlie Wilson, D-Bridgeport.
U.S. Rep. David Hobson, who retired from Congress at the end of last year, meanwhile, received $88,000 from PMA throughout his career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Brown, meanwhile, received $1,500, according to the Center.
PMA and its representatives have not been charged with any crime, and watchdogs as well as published reports say any federal investigation seems most likely focused on Murtha.
As for Voinovich, he said he opposed the idea of stripping federal dollars from the Toledo company, saying it’s doing the kind of work that will help create jobs in a struggling economy.
“The real issue is the quality of the project,” he said. “And that’s the whole thing about earmarks. Some earmarks are good and some earmarks are not good.”
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