Gallup released a new poll today on what the public thinks about ethics and lobbying "reform" that -- despite their headline -- actually reflects our bipartisan polling that showed that voters nationwide believe that too little has been done to reform lobbying and disclosure laws. We found the Gallup analysis of their own poll rather odd because it downplays their own results. Their headline: "Americans Dubious Congress Can Curb Corruption: But less than half think it's a very serious problem" doesn't actually reflect their findings.
Continue readingBusinesses whose Business is Government
It was rather sobering to read about blank check buying of government contracting firms in this morning's Washington Post. One of the issues we don't hear about from either party (except for the occasional, ritualistic invocation of the specter of Halliburton) is the extent to which government has become dependent upon and even defers various responsibilities to the private sector. The recent prescription drug plan is a case in point -- while the Secretary of Health and Human Services may not be permitted to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to get discounts in drug prices, those private companies that offer the myriad plans are allowed to negotiate discounts to their hearts' content. Indeed, all those prescription drug benefit plans are a species of government contract: The federal government pays private companies money to administer a program (the Medicare Part D benefit).
Continue readingNey Aide to Plead Guilty:
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), already implicated in three guilty pleas in the Jack Abramoff scandal, is about to be fingered as a bribe taker in four guilty pleas. According to Reuters, Ney's former chief of staff Neil Volz is set to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and to violating the one-year ban on lobbying after leaving work on Capitol Hill. UPDATE: Josh Marshall has the plea agreement here.
Continue readingWeekend Wrap:
- Florida Today asks Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL) why he won't "disclose his funding requests for the coming year". Weldon has been criticized for his earmarking of funds to a company, Map Roi, with ties to a Tom DeLay crony and Jack Abramoff associate Ed Buckham.
- According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) is losing support among Democrats after he was implicated in a second guilty plea in a federal bribery investigation. Both House Democratic leaders, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Steny Hoyer (D-MD), called for an ethics investigation of the embattled lawmaker.
- The Boston Globe reports on limiting donations to political charities, which can often serve as another way for lobbyists or favor-seekers to curry favor with lawmakers. Continue reading
Danger, Danger Tom DeLay:
The Associated Press reports that Tom DeLay's (R-TX) office knew that Jack Abramoff, and not the National Center for Public Policy Research, was behind the funding and coordination of a controversial 2000 trip to Scotland:
Prosecutors have e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay's office knew lobbyist Jack Abramoff had arranged the financing for the GOP leader's controversial European golfing trip in 2000 and was concerned "if someone starts asking questions." House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting free trips from lobbyists. DeLay, R-Texas, reported to Congress that a Republican advocacy group had paid for the spring 2000 trip that DeLay, his wife and top aides took to Scotland and England. The e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show DeLay's staff asked Abramoff -- not the advocacy group -- to account for the costs that had to be legally disclosed on congressional travel forms. DeLay's office was worried the group being cited as paying the costs might not even know about them, the e-mails state.Federal investigators are looking into whether "DeLay filed false public reports to disguise the source and size of political donations, travel and other gifts he received from special interests." Both Tony Rudy and Jack Abramoff have already pled guilty and have agreed to cooperate. Kent Cooper, the former chief of public disclosure for the Federal Election Commission says, "It clearly shows some members live in a dream world of high-class living and fictional accounting. DeLay's office was part of the public deception." Continue reading
Saturday Thread:
What do you think about the news this week? Porter Goss, Patrick Kennedy, the Watergate prostitute scandal. Tell me in the comments section.
- At Daily Kos dengre posts a full letter from Jack Abramoff to then-Marianas Islands Governor Tenorio explaining how Abramoff's lobbying protected the Islands' sweatshops.
- Josh Marshall has the goods on Porter Goss and his number three: the Wall Street Journal reports that K. Dusty Foggo - handpicked by Goss to be the CIA's Executive Director - is under federal investigation in connection to the Cunningham-Wilkes bribery (hooker) scandal. Laura Rozen is a must read for a full explanation. Meanwhile, court jester at Daily Kos speculates as to whether the hookers involved are more Jeff Gannon and less Heidi Fleiss, if you know what I mean. However, the head of Shirlington Limousine has categatorically denied providing prostitutes to congressmen and defense and CIA officials, according to the Washington Post.
- Glenn Reynolds posts responses to constituent concerns regarding earmarking and the emergency supplemental from Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Patty Murray (D-WA).
- POGO Blog tells us that "it's a small world after all." Has anybody called Rep. Jerry Lewis' (R-CA) office about this?
Goss Backstory:
Josh Marshall provides the backstory for the Goss resignation. TPM Muckraker has Goss' statement on his resignation. (It looks like everything anyone is hearing is pointing to the Wilkes-Cunningham-Foggo axis.) UPDATE: More from Laura Rozen on Goss, Foggo, and Negroponte. And questions abound from Huffington Post report on possible Pentagon under secretary resigning in the wake of Cunningham scandal.
Continue readingSpeaking Too Soon:
What a crazy news day! Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) just announced that he is checking himself into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for treatment due to a prescription drug addiction. Kennedy had previously been in drug treatment in his late teens. Personally, I hate it when people demagogue on issues like this so I hope that no one does. Addiction is a serious problem, and a mental health one at that. Hopefully, he can recover quickly and hire a driver so this doesn't have to happen again. UPDATE: I'm glad that Sullivan agrees Continue reading
Goss Fall-Out Slowly Trickling In:
So, the unexpected Porter Goss resignation is making it's way across the news and blogs. Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr became the first TV pundit to connect Goss to the Cunningham scandal, according to TPM Muckraker. Laura Rozen at War and Piece writes, "CIA public affairs just told me they will be releasing a statement this afternoon." She also writes in another post: "We heard about photos. But I seriously wonder, if someone showed the Agency the evidence that they had the photos of Goss being at parties his spokesperson denied he ever attended. Maybe the reporting wasn't so "wildly irresponsible" after all, hm? And the thing is, there are apparently a couple other currently serving congressmen in one of the photos described to me. Not doing anything salacious mind you. Just there. The point is, Goss's spokesperson went on the record on Goss's behalf last week to say he was never at any of those parties." Meanwhile Think Progress informs us that Goss' resignation comes as a total shock to the administration. They quote CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre:
The Defense Department has representatives there and, according to sources, none of the people at that meeting had any advance word that Porter Goss was going to be tendering his resignation. So it indicates the sudden nature that this took place, and again it just fuels the speculation of what the real backstory is here.Although we don't know enough yet, all signs point to Goss' involvement (whether with prostitutes or not) in the Cunningham-Wilkes Watergate parties/corruption. And you thought today was going to be all about "sleeping-while-driving" Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Continue reading
Legislative Sleuths
There are really a surprising number of Websites that track legislative activity, most of them the result of enterprising individuals. Probably the database with the biggest reach is the one maintained by the Washington Post. Project Vote Smart's probably has the longest history. TechPolitics (which houses and mashes census data and other government information along with voting records and provides bill tracking) focuses on House votes and is headed by the very accomplished Ken Colburn. GovTrac, founded and run by linguistics's graduate student Joshua Tauberer,has an automated system to track bills, issue-by-issue, Congress-wide.
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