The most interesting story on Alaska Gov. and Republican nominee for Vice President Sarah Palin is the Washington Post's report that, as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin "employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents." Our friends at Taxpayers for Common Sense provided the earmark analysis. Note who Palin hired:
As mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Alaska's most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July ...Continue reading
Under the hood of the DNC and RNC convention sites
I took a few minutes this morning to look at the technology that powers the DNC and RNC convention web sites. It is always interesting to see what technological decisions different organizations take when they are trying to accomplish similar goals.
Continue readingThe Parties Go On
Last week, finger food and Kanye; this week, finger food and Tom DeLay. The convention parties have already kicked off... View Article
Continue readingDue diligence in the Biden family lawsuit
In a comment to this post pointing to some resources for getting acquainted with the Republican vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, I noted this Washington Post story on a lawsuit involving Robert Hunter Biden, the son of the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, James Biden, the Senator's brother, and plaintiff Anthony Lotito, who is the former business partner of the two non-elected Bidens in a deal that didn't work out. Both sides charge one another with cheating; hence the lawsuit. It turns out the New York State Supreme Court (where the case ...
Continue readingAre the parties over?
Republican presidential nominee John McCain has apparently cancelled all but the most essential official convention activities due Hurricane Gustav's menacing approach toward the Gulf Coast. That means Monday will have none of the normal convention hullabaloo -- the customary succession of speeches (President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney had already cancelled their appearances) will be foregone.
That leaves me with two questions: 1) Will the unofficial parties -- those events sponsored by private interests that occur outside the arena -- still go on as planned? And 2) will curtailing a lot of the rhetoric, including the endless parade of ...
Continue readingTracking Gov. Palin
Apparently, Republican presidential nominee John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. For those looking for more information, her 2007 state personal financial disclosure form is online here (via the Center for Public Integrity). Via the excellent National Institute on Money in State Politics, here's campaign finance information from her unsuccessful 2002 race for Lieutenant Governor, her 2006 primary campaign for governor, and her 2006 general election campaign for governor. I'll update with more links as I come across them. I'm not going to dig into these myself today, but others should ...
Continue readingOpen Source South Africa
Last fall, the government of South Africa announced that it was adopting Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Open... View Article
Continue readingCampaign ATM’s: The Political Donor Class
There’s nothing really new in this new study, but it reconfirms what we’ve known (and updates the figures for Congressional... View Article
Continue readingWashington Post: Biden’s Son Lobbied Obama’s Staff for Earmarks
The Washington Post reports that Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for President, requested $3.4 million in congressional earmarks for clients of the lobbying firm that employs the son of running mate Joe Biden. Hunter Biden, who's a registered lobbyist (see here and here for his clients), apparently lobbied Obama's Senate office directly:
Campaign spokesman David Wade also said Hunter Biden never appealed directly to Obama."Hunter Biden met with the Obama Senate office, not with Senator Obama," Wade said.
Read the whole thing. An aside: Nice to see the Washington Post use information from both Taxpayers for ...
Continue readingJustifying a 72 Hour Rule
(this message is from a post I sent to the Open House Project google group, part of an exchange you... View Article
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