March saw the second-lowest amount of money spent of private travel since 2000 with members taking 29 trips paid for by private groups totaling $25,147. Follow the link to find out which members accepted private travel, what that travel was for, and how much it cost.
Continue readingConflicts of Interest:
For those of you who haven't been following the debate over "net neutrality" and the COPE bill you should hop over to the Editor's Blog at the new Congresspedia. Conor Kenny has provided a quick and accurate summary of the issue. Essentially, the telephone and cable companies want to be able to create a tiered system in the Internet where they control the content. The industry has spent hundreds of thousands lobbying on the issue and recently defeated an effort by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) to ensure the freedom of internet by establishing "net neutrality". Markey's amendment failed in a subcommittee vote 34-22. The COPE bill is cosponsored by four congressmen Reps. Joe Barton (R-TX), Chip Pickering (R-MS), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Bobby Rush (D-IL). As usual these congressmen acting in the interest of the telecommunications industry have some explaining to do. Last week we found out about the $1 million grant that SBC/AT&T gave to a community center founded by Bobby Rush. It just so happens to turn out that Barton and Upton both own dividends in the companies that would benefit from the legislation. Barton owns between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends of SBC, one of the principle players in the COPE bill. Upton owns between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends in SBC, AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon. In a trust that Upton does not control he owns between $15,000-$50,000 of dividends in SBC and between $1,000-$15,000 in dividends of Verizon. Well, I guess that Barton, Upton, and the cable and telecom companies are set to make some money off of this bill. Everybody wins ... except for Internet users.
Continue readingCommon Cause Files a Criminal Complaint Against Katherine Harris:
Common Cause believes that Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) broke the law (via Raw Story):
The description of the conversation between Wade and Rep. Harris, as it is described in the Statement of Offense, suggests that Harris took official action to obtain funding and approval for this military project in exchange for the offer of MZM's holding a fundraiser for Rep. Harris. The official action taken by Rep. Harris to insert a funding request for a counterintelligence project that appears similar to a program which Wade and Rep. Harris discussed in the same conversation as the fundraiser, as it is described in the Statement of Offense, suggests that Rep. Harris violated U.S. Code 18§201, which states: (b) Whoever - (2) being a public official or person selected to be a public official, directly or indirectly, corruptly demands, seeks, receives, accepts, or agrees to receive or accept anything of value personally or for any other person or entity, in return for: (A) being influenced in the performance of any official act; shall be fined under this title or not more than three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater, or imprisoned for not more than fifteen years, or both, and may be disqualified from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States. Based on publicly available documents, we believe there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Rep. Harris has violated U.S. Code 18§201. We request that the Public Integrity Division investigate whether Rep. Harris violated U.S. Code 18§201.Continue reading
Reform Loophole:
Just saw this in the afternoon chat with Washington Post correspondent Jeff Birnbaum:
Hyattsville, Md.: Good afternoon. I've been following the latest ethics reform bills, and one thing has struck me.Although the proposal bans registered lobbyists from picking up law makers tabs, it allows corporations to do so. This seems like a loophole big enough to drive an 18 wheeler through. What would stop a corporation from just giving a lobbyist a credit card, instead of having the lobbyist bill after the fact? To me it seems that it's just another case of congress pretending to make major reforms, when actually doing nothing. Jeffrey Birnbaum: You've caught one of many loopholes. Labor union or corporate execs could still pick up the tabs even if the Senate passed version of the ethics bills is enacted. The ethics legislation is more notable, in fact, for what it does not include than for what it does include. Lawmakers are not hearing from the constituents that a sweeping overhaul is needed and, as a result, lawmakers are not planning to provide them with one.Continue reading
Names:
I was asked in the comments of a couple of posts regarding the oil and gas industry to provide names of those who received money from the industry. There is a place where you can go to find out that information rather easily: www.opensecrets.org. Here is their list of top recipients of oil and gas industry money for the current 2006 election cycle:
- Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) $140,911
- DeLay, Tom (R-TX) $112,490
- Santorum, Rick (R-PA) $110,050
- Barton, Joe (R-TX) $109,450
- Burns, Conrad (R-MT) $101,575
- Allen, George (R-VA) $92,500
- Hastert, Dennis (R-IL) $92,000
- Cornyn, John (R-TX) $86,000
- Pombo, Richard (R-CA) $66,200
- Bode, Denise (R-OK) $63,700 (not currently in the House)
- Talent, James (R-MO) $63,150
- Sullivan, John (R-OK) $62,500
- Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) $60,850
- Cole, Tom (R-OK) $52,796
- Sessions, Pete (R-TX) $50,300
- Thomas, Craig (R-WY) $49,000
- Inhofe, James (R-OK) $48,200
- Pearce, Steve (R-NM) $44,700
- Tiahrt, Todd (R-KS) $43,650
- Thomas, Bill (R-CA) $41,500
As you can see there is quite a trend here. So far this election cycle 84% of all oil and gas contributions have gone to Republicans. To be fair the Democrat who has received the most oil and gas money during the current cycle is Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) with $40,700.
If you want to learn more about Open Secrets and how to use it my colleague Larry Makinson has made a couple of online tutorials that show the viewer how to search for information on this great research resource.
Continue readingMatson: Shooting Gallery:
Book Discussion:
Over at TPM Cafe David Sirota is discussing his new book Hostile Takeover. The book is about a "hostile takeover" of government by "Big Money interests", according to Sirota. Go join the conversation.
Continue readingWide Probe of Ney:
At the end of last week the statute of limitations expired for prosecutors to bring charges in Florida against Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) for his alleged exchange of favorable language inserted into the Congressional Record for gifts from Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan. The Washington Post explained this weekend that federal prosecutors are looking at a wider investigation of the congressman:
Federal prosecutors signaled this week that they have decided to pursue a wide range of allegations about dealings between Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, rather than bringing a narrowly focused bribery case against the congressman. ... Ney's lawyer, Mark Tuohey, said he has been in talks with Justice Department officials and expects to know within a month or two whether Ney will face criminal charges. He said the department asked for another extension of the statute of limitations in recent days, but this time Ney declined. ... Court papers filed in recent months show that prosecutors have lined up at least four cooperating witnesses against the Ohio congressman: Abramoff, former congressional aides Michael Scanlon and Tony C. Rudy, and businessman Adam Kidan. All have pleaded guilty to various conspiracy, fraud or public corruption charges. The court filings that accompanied the plea agreements of Abramoff, Scanlon and Rudy accused Ney of accepting "a stream of things of value" in exchange for official actions.Ney's lawyer was touting the expiration of the statute of limitations in Florida as a win for the congressman. This report shows that Ney has a long way to go before he has a chance to clear his name. Continue reading
Weekend Wrap:
- The Washington Post covered the "play-for-pay" allegations that have surfaced in the corruption scandal of jailed former Rep. Duke Cunningham.
- According to the Associated Press, the FBI has opened an investigation into the administration of Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (R), the son of House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO).
- A grand jury has opened an investigation into the former head of the FDA Lester Crawford for selling "more than $50,000 in shares in a company regulated by the agency" before he resigned. Continue reading
Influencing Congress Conference:
So, I went to the Influencing Congress Conference today and found a lot to bring back here to you, the readers. One of the more fascinating panelists was Andrew Stark, a law professor at the University of Toronto and the author of the book The Conflict of Interest in American Life. He had a lot to say about lobbyists and their relationships with legislators - much of the views he stated I had not heard before. Continue below the fold to read about it.
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