Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall delves into the connections between Rep. Don Young (R-AK) and Jack Abramoff. Marshall posts an email from Young to Abramoff’s deputy asking to use a skybox for an Orioles-Yankees game and a Caps-Penguins game. Marshall writes, “So Young asked Abramoff’s deputy to ask Abramoff if he could use Jack’s skyboxes to hold his fundraisers. But Young doesn’t know Jack Abramoff from Adam.” … Also at TPM, Paul Kiel has some questions about the Russian-Abramoff-DeLay connection. Kiel determines that Naftasib executives Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky spent $3,617,238 on three different Republican lobbying firms from 1997 to 2004. “So what were Nevskaya and Koulakovsky looking to buy?” … Mike Tomasky at TAPPED continues the story of Sen. Rick Santorum’s (R-PA) shady mortgage first reported by Will Bunch in the American Prospect and the Philadelphia Daily News.  … Brad Smith, of Redstate.org, lets Campaign for Competitive Politics’ Steve Hoersting attack Democracy 21 for proposing an independent Office of Public Integrity. Hoersting spends most of his time throwing harpoons at Larry Noble for his “independent” work at the FEC before declaring, “Installing an independent Office of Public Integrity in the halls of Congress has all of the foresight and feasibility of bringing a pet alligator into your home.” … At local Oklahoma blog Okie Funk the ethics problems of Rep. Ernie Istook (R-OK), from his use of Abramoff’s skybox to a possible FEC investigation, are discussed. … David Sirota links to a Business Week article to help explain “why sunlight was necessary to improve national security” after the revelation that Duke Cunningham could have placed earmarks into the top-secret intelligence budget. … Tapscott’s Copy Desk links to a Pork Buster’s comparison of paperwork required for earmarks versus paperwork for things that don’t cost millions of dollars. Guess which application required the smallest amount of paperwork: food stamps, signing up to be a boy scout, or getting an earmark from Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski?