Republicans are the party of corruption, right?

Isn't that the rhetoric that we were assailed with by Democrats for months leading up to the election?

Isn't that what helped propel Democrats to the majority in the U.S. House and Senate?

Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat from California, is poised to make history in January. She will be the first female U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, the highest level of elective office ever achieved by a woman in the U.S.

She already made history when, a few years back, she became the first woman to lead a party caucus.

She's a smart lady.

She said Democrats "intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history."

So the first thing she does is nominate John Murtha for majority leader.

You may remember Murtha, of Pennsylvania, as the unindicted co-conspirator in Abscam - short for Arab Scam - an FBI sting operation in 1980.

You may remember the grainy FBI video of Murtha turning down a $50,000 bribe.

FBI agents, pretending to represent Arab sheiks seeking investment opportunities in America, approached Murtha and several other lawmakers and offered them bribes.

On the video, Murtha says, "I'm not interested," hesitates and qualifies it with, "at this point."

Later on the tape he says, "You know, we do business for a while, maybe I'll be interested, maybe I won't."

And, "After we've done some business, then I might change my mind. But right now, that's all I'm interested in. Period. And I'm going to tell you this. If anybody can do it, and I'm not bull (expletive deleted) you fellows, I can get it done my way."

As a result of the investigation, 31 state and federal officials were targeted. One senator and five members of the House were convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges.

Murtha was never indicted, but he came within one vote on the House Ethics panel of being dealt a severe blow to his political career.

Murtha says he was only interested in getting these sheiks to invest in his district.

I'd say that's probably true because Murtha has long been accused of steering federal defense contracts to his district and to companies that have given him campaign contributions.

In 1992, according to an April 17 USA Today article, Murtha was responsible for 10 bounced checks in the House banking scandal.

In 1997, according to the Congressional Accountability Project, Murtha "spearheaded two measures - one to prohibit members of Congress from filing complaints with the House Ethics Committee, and another to reimburse members and regular citizens for legal fees if they are ultimately cleared in a Justice Department probe."

Congressional Accountability project director Gary Ruskin: "When it comes to institutional policing of corruption in Congress, John Murtha is a one-man wrecking crew."

That's old news, so let's get current.

In 2005, according to an L.A. Times report, the defense appropriations bill Murtha helped write, "reportedly contained millions of dollars in federal funding for at least 10 companies represented by KSA Consulting - a lobbying firm that includes the congressman's brother (Robert Murtha). Clients of the lobbying firm KSA Consulting - whose top officials also include former congressional aide Carmen V. Scialabba, who worked for (Murtha) for 27 years - received a total of $20.8 million from the bill ... One of the clients, a small Arkansas maker of military vehicles, received $1.7 million, tripled its total sales for 2004."

Several other KSA clients got funds that represented more than half of their annual sales from last year.

KSA directly lobbied the congressman's office on behalf of seven companies that received money from the bill.

And a defense contractor based in Pennsylvania said he hired KSA on the recommendation of a Murtha top aide, the L.A. Times reported.

The Washington Times, quoting a 2004 Roll Call article, notes that Murtha reportedly leaned on U.S. Navy officials to sign a contract to transfer the Hunters Point Shipyard to the city of San Francisco."

Roll Call notes that Laurence Pelosi, nephew of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, was an executive of the company which owned the rights to the land.

The same article also reported how Murtha has been behind millions of dollars worth of earmarks in defense appropriations bills that went to companies owned by the children of fellow Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Paul Kanjorski.

Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, told the Washington Times: "If there is a potential pattern where Congressman Murtha has helped other Democrats secure appropriations that also benefited relatives of those members, I believe this would be something that merits further review by the ethics committee."

Murtha made quite a name for himself in November 2005 when he called for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Pelosi credits Murtha's Iraq stance as a turning point in the Demos' efforts to take back the majority in Congress.

(Apparently, she also credits him with getting her nephew a sweet shipyard deal.)

So, as an expression of her undying gratitude, she nominated Murtha for majority leader.

"Most honest, most open, most ethical Congress ever," eh, Nancy?

You go, girl.

The good news is that the rest of the Democrats were ahead of Pelosi on this issue.

Going against Pelosi's wishes, Democrats Thursday chose Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer to be House majority leader.

The vote was 149-86. [[In-content Ad]]