Judy Sarasohn of The Washington Post reports that Chester Lott Jr., the son of Sen. Trent "I've been around here long enough to know how to bury it" Lott, has some new lobbying clients. Lott fils has been a registered lobbyist since April 15, 2001, first with the firm of Lott & Hopkins LLC, then with Lott & Associates.
Continue readingHow the Senate Really Works
Via Neoperspectives comes this fascinating "rest of the story" (as Paul Harvey might say) from Roll Call on the Outed Secret Holder, Sen. Ted Stevens. Stevens, of course, is the answer to the question, "Who has put a secret hold to prevent a vote on the bill proprosed by Sen. Tom Coburn and Sen. Barack Obama to create on online, searchable database tracking some $2.5 trillion worth of government spending, whether it's via congressional earmark, government contract, grant or aid?" Back on June 23, 2005, Roll Call noted a different member of the Senate was using secret holds to quash legislation:
Senators, take heed: Sen. Continue reading
Personal Foul. Holding.
UPDATE: Stevens unmasks himself!
Looks like there will be no surprises in the search for the "secret hold" Senator. A consensus is forming that the chief suspect, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), is blocking the "Google for government contracts" bill out of revenge for Sen. Tom Coburn's (R-Okla.) successful campaign to defeat the "Bridge to Nowhere". The guys at TPM Muckraker, and a helpful reader, have pulled up a Fort Smith (Ark.) Times Record article from Aug. 18th which labels Stevens as the holder. Coburn also accuses Stevens of being the holder. Over at Redstate diarist Erick writes, "Last week, I called every senator's office," except for the five chief cosponsors, and "only one would not give me a definitive "no."" That office was Sen. Stevens' office.
FEC Holds the Line on Interest Group Spending
Yesterday’s decision by the Federal Election Commission to hold the line on spending rules for interest groups – essentially a vote not to open a new loophole allowing the kinds of unrestricted ad budgets we’ve seen in the past – was revealing in a couple of different ways.
First I should define the word “decision” in this case. Like so many FEC rulings, it was really a non-decision – the result of a 3-3 split between Democrats and Republicans on the six-member commission.
Continue readingRangel Sponsored One Earmark for Congressional Glaucoma Foundation
John Sheiner, legislative director for Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., says his boss was responsible for one of the three earmarks in H.R. 5386, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, directed to the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Foundation, about which see more here and here.
Continue readingTransparency Issue Unites Right and Left Blogs
Final Four Update: So a combination of Porkbusters and Muckraker tallies has the search for the "secret hold" Senator down to the Final Four. Is it Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), or Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)? The money is pick is Stevens who's had it out for Coburn ever since the Oklahoma Senator killed the "Bridge to Nowhere". (Frist calls on all Senators to "honestly and transparently" answer whether they are the "secret Senator" when contacted by "the blog community".)
Citizen Journalist Digs Deeper
The prolific Mrs. Panstreppon, who last week drew attention to three earmarks for a foundation run by a lobbyist and employing a Charlie Rangel legislative consultant, is at it again, once again pointing to a trio of earmarks going to a politically connected nonprofit:
Meet Robin D. Hubbard, president and founder of the Readnet Foundation. Ms. Hubbard is also the founder and a trustee of the failed Readnet Bronx Charter School at the Metropolitan College of New York and president of Smart Learning Systems, LLC (formerly Readnet Systems, LLC).... Continue reading
Earmarking Money for Pennsylvania Abstinence Programs
Over the weekend, I noticed that Thomas has posted the Senate conference report for S. 3708, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill, which is the companion measure to the House bill that several groups have launched an online effort to investigate. I took a quick spin through the Senate conference report, and found these earmarks, all from Pennsylvania, to be of passing interest:
Continue readingGod and the GOP
A poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press offers the latest glimpse into the intersection in American life between religion and politics. The poll got headlines for its finding that fewer people than before feel the Republican Party is “friendly to religion.”
Among the findings cited in the Pew poll:
The Democratic Party continues to face a serious "God problem," with just 26% saying the party is friendly to religion. However, the proportion of Americans who say the Republican Party is friendly to religion, while much larger, has fallen from 55% to 47% in the past year, with a particularly sharp decline coming among white evangelical Protestants (14 percentage points).
As I read the explanations behind the numbers, I kept hearing echoes of the people I’d talked with along US Route 50 last year, when I spent 50 days on the road trying to find out what Americans thought about politics.
Continue readingBridges to Nowhere Update
Yes, they're still pending, and still may cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions to build. However, the two Alaska transportation projects that achieved a sort of iconic status among earmarked congressional pork--the Gravina Bridge and the Knik Arm bridge--might be done in by incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski's loss to Sarah Palin in the gubernatorial primary last Tuesday. Emily Ferry of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project emailed me a press release from her organization, that notes,
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