A former aide to Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) “renewed a complaint to the House's ethics committee alleging that the congressman compelled his staff to work in election campaigns and to do personal errands for him,” according to the Washington Post.
McCain Missing from Lobbying Reform, Courts K Street:
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in his quest for the 2008 GOP Presidential nod, has been courting the big donors and fundraisers in the Washington lobbying world and, at the same time, has left the lobbying reform leadership to others in the Senate. According to The Hill, McCain’s outreach to the lobbying community is causing reform advocates to criticize his lack of leadership in the current push for lobbying reform. One reform advocate stated, “I wish he’d been more publicly vocal in speaking out and had been a stronger supporter of the more significant reforms.” And a lobbyist and a major Bush fundraiser said, “In fundraising he’s getting down to reaching out to K Street … knowing full well that reaching down to K Street players downtown translates into corporate support outside D.C.”
Continue readingEarmark Reform Expanding:
When earmark reform first came to the table it aimed at reigning in earmarks in appropriations bills, but now lawmakers are seeking to limit earmarks in authorization measures as well. According to Roll Call, Appropriations Committee members are trying to insure that they are not the sole target of the reform legislation. Appropriations member Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) pointed out in a “Dear Colleague” letter that the notorious “Bridge to Nowhere” appeared in an authorization measure and not in an appropriations bill.
Continue readingIn Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a lobbyist hired by Gov. Sonny Perdue is taking heat for his ties to Jack Abramoff. … Lobbying reform, passed last year by the Florida Legislature, is already having an effect, and lawmakers are unhappy. The Miami Herald reports that lawmakers must now shell out $28 to go a big annual party thrown by the biggest lobbying group in Florida. Some lawmakers are challenging the legislation in court claiming that it bans lobbyists from making campaign contributions, a violation of the First Amendment. … New York legislator and union leader Brian McLaughlin’s offices were raided last Thursday as “part of a joint city and federal probe into an alleged bid-rigging scam,” according to the Village Voice. … REVOLVING DOOR ALERT: Bob Brooks, the chief of staff to Rep. Jim McCrery (R-FL), who is in line to be the next Ways of Means Chairman, will soon be lobbying on issues that come before his boss’ committee. Roll Call reports that Brooks has left Capitol Hill to work as a lobbyist at the Alpine Group where he will work on tax and financial services legislation. … According to the Washington Post, Maryland legislative leaders are calling for an investigation into government officials’ ties to Comcast. … The Hill reports that Democrats are indecisive in how they should treat their K Street affiliates. Should they court them? Should they avoid them? Should they avoid them before they court them? … Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is being targeted by the Dem affiliated Senate Majority Project for his son’s work as a lobbyist, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Blogging Corruption:
The Drudge Report posts a section of the soon to be released Abramoff interview where the ex-lobbyist claims that he is surprised that “Senator McCain has joined the chorus of amnesiacs.” … Max Blumenthal, at The Huffington Post, writes about the split in the religious right that is being caused by Abramoff and Ralph Reed’s involvement in stopping a casino in Louisiana. … Senate Majority Project takes aim at Sen. Gordon Smith’s cozy relationship with offshore tax shelters. According to the Project’s director Mike Gehrke, “Gordon Smith took a trip down to the Virgin Islands, and came back with $47,000 and a new position on off-shore tax havens.” … John Byrne of Raw Story writes that the National Center for Public Policy Research, an Abramoff-led non-profit, produced articles and material that was highly favorable to Abramoff’s clients. … TPM Muckraker Paul Kiel presents emails that show staffers from Sen. Lincoln Chaffee’s office asking Abramoff’s assistant Susan Ralston for tickets to MCI Center events.
Continue readingContractor Used ‘Straw’ Donors to Contribute to Lawmakers:
A defense contractor’s use of ‘straw’ donors for political contributions has “raised new questions” about two lawmakers, Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Rep. Katharine Harris (R-FL), and “the tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he steered to the two GOP lawmakers.” According to Roll Call, Mitchell Wade, guilty of bribing former Rep. Duke Cunningham and violating federal election laws, “funneled $78,000 in illegal campaign donations from 2003 to 2005 to Goode and Harris through 39 “straw” donors, all of whom were MZM employees or their spouses.” The Justice Department document states that neither Harris nor Goode knew that the contributions were illegal and both have denied wrongdoing. However, Goode, a recipient of $90,000 from Wade and MZM, wrote an earmark that secured “$3.6 million in federal defense funds that went to MZM for a facility in Martinsville, Va., and he was also instrumental in securing $500,000 in state grants to purchase the site.”
Continue readingLogging Study Casts Doubt on Industry-favored Legislation:
A new study on a Bush Administration policy that lets loggers move in and clear out trees in the wake of a forest fire demonstrates that the policy “has harmed forest recovery and increased fire risk,” according to the Washington Post. The study, “consistent with research findings from around the world,” was printed in Science magazine and has come under direct fire by the Administration – the Bureau of Land Management, which paid for the study, temporarily cut-off the final year of a $300,000 three-year grant to the scientists – and from Congressmen with industry-friendly legislation under consideration. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), a top recipient of logging industry money, called the scientists to testify on their criticism of his “bill pending in Congress that would ease procedures for post-fire logging in federal forests.”
Continue readingCitizens Angry at Insurer-Lawmaker Coziness in Wake of Fires:
Survivors of the devastating California forest fires of 2003 are looking to impose new rules to govern insurance companies after a series of bad experiences attempting to claim their losses in the fires. These citizens have run up against a powerful force that is derailing their efforts: the cozy relationship between the insurance industry and California lawmakers. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the most far-reaching efforts were derailed by a panel of state lawmakers that is closely aligned with the insurance industry”. Since 2003 the insurance industry has spent $25 million on “lobbyists, campaign contributions and perks for lawmakers” just in California.
Continue readingContractor Wastes Money, Gets Slap on Wrist:
The Army will reimburse a subsidiary of the oil and gas giant Halliburton for close to the entirety of its $2.41 billion dollar contract, “even though the Pentagon's own auditors had identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive or unjustified.” A spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers stated that, “the contractor is not required to perform perfectly to be entitled to reimbursement.” The Pentagon will withhold $10.1 million from the contract, just 3.8 percent of the total questionable charges. This low amount is far outside the norm according to the New York Times, “In 2003, the agency's figures show, the military withheld an average of 66.4 percent of what the auditors had recommended, while in 2004 the figure was 75.2 percent and in 2005 it was 56.4 percent.”
Continue readingBlogging Corruption:
Kentucky’s Bluegrass Report announces that they have filed a judicial ethics complaint after the embattled Gov. Ernie Fletcher appointed two campaign contributors as Special Justices to state Supreme Court to hear one case: an appeal by Gov. Fletcher over an investigation into his violation of the state Merit System. … RedHedd at FireDogLake looks at the Mitchell Wade plea agreement and asks who else is “straddling the corruption stallion?” … Hotline On Call says that the two representatives named in the Wade agreement are Virgil Goode (R-VA) and Katharine Harris (R-FL). On Call takes a look at the contributions made by Wade to Goode, Harris, and other members of Congress. … Earmarks limit the flexibility of government agencies to appropriate money towards the best programs, according to Govexec.com. Sandy Baruah, the Commerce Department's assistant secretary for economic development and the head of the Economic Development Administration, says, “The more that we are constrained by specific report language or legislative needs, the more difficult it is for us to address the sudden and severe and ongoing needs across the country.”
Continue reading
59063
