- The Denver Post reports on the all-out ethics war in Colorado.
- Campaign contributors have become a point of attack in Maryland, according to the Balitmore Sun.
- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is being investigated by the state ethics commission for possible illegal solicitation of campaign contributions from lobbyists. Continue reading
Peeling Back the Secrets
Ironies abounded in Indianapolis last Friday, when the 2006 Freedom of Information Summit got underway just as Vice President Dick Cheney – perhaps the most secretive vice president in American history – was addressing a GOP fundraiser a couple of buildings away. Cheney’s motorcade had blocked downtown streets and the freeway to the airport, and those at the FOI conference would also argue he has blocked access to a lot more than roadways in the years he’s been a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Continue readingRISDY Damaged in Hurricane Katrina?
Why is the Rhode Island School of Design getting federal dollars from an emergency spending bill aimed at repairing damage in the Hurricane Katrina ravaged Gulf Coast? The Washington Times looks at the issue:
A supplemental spending bill for the war in Iraq and hurricane recovery passed the House of Representatives last month calling for $92 billion in federal spending. The Senate added $14 billion for hurricane relief, and another $10 billion in unrelated spending in amendments to be debated when Congress returns this week. Because of the differences in the two spending packages, the bill then will go to a conference committee before final votes in both chambers.Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) are two lawmakers that are outraged by the unrelated spending. Flake provides his interpretation: ""Unfortunately, too many members of Congress have gotten into the practice of responding to a disaster not by asking 'What can I do to help?' but instead asking 'What's in it for me?'?" Meanwhile, Think Progress has the story on one of these unnecessary earmarks added by Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran (R). Continue reading
House Just Says No to Reform:
The House has amended the lobbying and ethics reform bill currently under consideration and in the process turned it into a hollow shell. According to USA Today, the bill will not change gift giving policies, it will not change enforcement methods, it will not extend the lobbying ban by former members, and it only bans private travel until after the midterm elections. The Jack Abramoff scandal and the Duke Cunningham scandal have exposed serious flaws in the political/lobbying system in Washington and the House believes that they can do nothing about it. The bills supposed positive aspect is more disclosure however the House "dropped requirements that lobbyists specify which lawmakers and aides they have contacted; disclose their sponsorship of lavish parties for lawmakers at political conventions; and report their fundraising for candidates for federal office." The Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) says that the bill will "rebuild the trust between Congress and the American public," although I can't see how.
Continue readingNew York Times Editorial:
The New York Times has joined the chorus decrying Trent Lott's Magic Railroad:
Invoked in the name of public safety, the project is actually a transparent attempt to tap already scarce hurricane reconstruction funds so the rail bed can be replaced by a touristy "beach boulevard" long sought by Mississippi to aid the casino industry and coastal developers. The railroad relocation dwarfs the $223 million "bridge to nowhere" proposed for the Alaska outback, the giveaway that brought all the vows for reform from Congress. Even worse, Senator Lott and his fellow Mississippi Republican, Thad Cochran, are attaching this frivolous add-on to a bill that is supposed to be used to pay for emergencies — specifically the war in Iraq and hurricane reconstruction. Senator Lott angrily resents any description of his pet project as a right of way to the slot machines. He insists the rail line needs higher ground and his constituents better protection. But it seems clear the twin traumas of Iraq and Katrina are being used as cover. Economic development is a fine goal for the Gulf Coast, but it deserves careful consideration, not a devious rush to the pork barrel.Sounds about right to me. Continue reading
Kudos Are Due!
In the rush to our launch this coming Wednesday – stay tuned for how to call in to our telephonic press conference – I want to just take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary amount of strategic thinking and planning and real work product that has been undertaken in the 4 months since the Sunlight Foundation was incorporated. What we will be announcing on Wednesday – the awarding of grants to create new databases and our discussions about how to mash information together to make it even more robust, the launching of a Congresspedia, establishing three new blogs, our initial efforts in distributive journalism and on-line tutorials – is work that might have taken another organization a year to put together! Kudos to all of us.
Continue readingMollohan Steps Down from Ethics Post:
Hotline Blog picks it up via Roll Call:
"Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), under fire from Repulicans and watchdog group over his personal financial dealings, will step aside, at least temporarily, as ranking member of the House ethics committee, according to Democratic insiders."Continue reading
Big Trouble in Little Ohio:
Raw Story has a scoop on Bob Ney (R-OH) that, if true, poses serious problems for his future in Congress:
A pre-trial motion filed by federal prosecutors in the case of indicted former Bush Administration official David Safavian contends that his share of the costs in a trip to play golf in Scotland and England arranged by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff should have been nearly five times more than what he paid, RAW STORY has found. Perhaps more significantly, however, it also provides the first formal evidence that powerful Ohio Republican Bob Ney – then chairman of the House Administration Committee – provided false figures for the cost of his own trip to Scotland. (emphasis added) Ney has been under fire for his role in allegedly helping Abramoff aid his clients in violation of House ethics rules and possibly federal laws.Apparently Ney should have reported the trip as costing $15,000 rather than the $3,200 that he did report. Looks like the Abramoff Express could be running through another congressman. Continue reading
Trent and the Magic Railroad:
The anti-porkers are ganging up on Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) like he's Don Young. There's now a website solely devoted to the "railroad to nowhere", or as my colleague Bill Allison has called it, the "reoriented express". Tim Chapman at Townhall.com and Porkbusters is hammering away at Lott and congressional Republicans:
The latest example, which you have heard of by now, puts Don Young’s (R-AK) Bridge to Nowhere to shame. This pork project, secured by Mississippi Republican Senators Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, is more than double the cost of the bridge. Weighing in at $700 million, the funding secured to scrap a coastal rail line in Mississippi and move it inland (thereby making room for coastal developers) is by far the largest congressional earmark ever secured. Not only is the project exorbitantly expensive, it would appear to be unnecessary. The Mississippi senators tucked the project away in the massive “emergency” supplemental bill slated to be considered by the Senate next week. The funding for the CSX rail line was designated as “emergency” funding in the document, which reads, “As a result of Hurricane Katrina, the rail line was out of commission for 143 days and has since reopened only on a temporary basis.”For full coverage of "Trent and the Magic Railroad" go to the Heritage Policy Blogs (h/t Instapundit) or go down the hall to Allison's Under the Influence. Continue reading
Please Contribute to My Wife…Er, Campaign:
The Washington Post wags their finger at Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and his wife for her shady job as his campaign fundraiser:
Imagine that every time members of Congress received a $1,000 campaign contribution, they could skim $150 off the top and put it straight into their personal bank accounts. Sound shady? That is, in effect, how Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and his wife, Julie, operate. According to our review of campaign finance records, Mrs. Doolittle has received at least $215,000 from Mr. Doolittle's various campaign committees since 2001. This doesn't include $6,800 in payments to another of Mrs. Doolittle's companies, Events Plus, before she started doing his fundraising work. She's taken in nearly $100,000 during the 2006 campaign alone.This is an unbelievably questionable arrangement that I have written about here before. Yesterday the Sacramento Bee reported that the head of the Association of Fundraising Professionals denounced Mrs. Doolittle's percentage-based fees as "absolutely not the standard in the industry" and declared that the ethics code of Fundraising Professionals "explicitly prohibits percentage-based compensation". Mrs. Doolittle, and congressmen as well, will easily eclipse Congressman Doolittle's annual congressional salary if their fundraising continues at this pace. One would imagine that an operational House Ethics Committee would hold hearings on such a suspect fundraising arrangement. Continue reading
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