One of my father’s favorite jokes goes like this:

A guy walks up to a starlet in a bar and says “Will you sleep with me for a million dollars?”

She says “but of course, darling”

Then he asks if she’ll sleep with him for a dollar. She replies- “What kind of woman do you think I am?”

And he says “we’ve already determined that, now we’re just haggling over the price.”

And so we have Congressman Mike Turner who was a star when getting earmarks for one of his prime supporters, through their PAC, NCR- and had just got them another $2.9K- but, now, he has taken it back and suggested they buy a Congressman in Georgia instead:

Earlier this year, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner happily requested $2.9 million in federal money for NCR. Then came the bombshell earlier this month: NCR was pulling out of Dayton and moving its world headquarters to Atlanta, Ga.

Turner, like other lawmakers from the state, got mad, sending out the obligatory press release expressing surprise and disappointment about the decision.

Then he got even.

Turner, R-Centerville, last week took the unusual step of rescinding the very earmark he’d requested in the House Defense Authorization bill, pulling the earmark out of the bill just as it was about to pass the House of Representatives.

The earmark, which would have allowed the House to spend $2.9 million, would have helped NCR evaluate new low-cost sensors and near field communication technologies that could be used across the Air Force supply chain management system. It was recommended by the Dayton Development Coalition and passed out of the House Armed Services Committee last week. When Turner, a member of that committee, realized it had passed, he took action.

“I’m not going to support NCR pulling jobs out of Dayton, Ohio and championing them getting more federal funds,” he said.

He said over the past five years, he and retired U.S. Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield, worked together to get $5 million in earmarks for the redevelopment and cleanup of old NCR properties. No more.

He said the $2.9 million was aimed at encouraging an NCR-Wright-Patterson relationship.

“Obviously, if they want federal funds, they’re going to have to go to a congressman in Georgia now,” he said.

via Mike Turner giveth to NCR, Mike Turner taketh away.

If this doesn’t prove how corrupt our system is, I’m not sure what does. Either NCR was the right company to help our military track its inventory, or it was just another sweetheart deal to keep Bill Nuti fat and happy on his $2K an hour salary. It’s time our tax dollars were managed a little more professionally. We’ve already seen how Turners wife and her aptley named “Turner Effect” overcharged the Dayton Development Coalition for the laughable “Get Midwest” campaign on her no-bid contract, and how she has done work for the Home Depot PAC and the Army Corps of Engineers with her GSA schedule. Is being a Congressman just an excuse to be paid off for favors? If you are Mike Turner- it sure seems like it.