Yesterday, an earmark reform amendment to the stimulus bill introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold was defeated 32-65. The amendment was... View Article
Continue readingGreasing the stimulus with pork?
Glenn Reynolds flags the latest twist on earmarks -- we'll have them, but call them something else:
At some point, [House Majority Whip James] Clyburn [(D-S.C.)] noted, there will be a list of projects funded by the package, and Members want to have input.The list is going to come from somewhere, he said.
House Appropriations ranking member Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) questioned whether the bill can truly be considered free of earmarks when it will be loaded up with complicated formulas directing spending.
Calling it an earmark-free thing and then saying there are established formulas doesn't sound very ...
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Senate to Consider Feingold Earmark Amendment
Sen. Russ Feingold will offer an amendment to the stimulus bill today that would enact most of the earmark reforms... View Article
Continue readingFBI Raids Murtha Linked Defense Firm
The FBI and the IRS raided a defense contractor heavily linked to Rep. John Murtha as part of an ongoing... View Article
Continue readingUpdate on Earmark Disclosure
Just spoke to Kirstin Brost, the press contact of the House Appropriations Committee, who was kind enough to tell me that while not all of the details of the new earmark rules have been worked out, when members disclose their earmark requests, they will include the name of the beneficiaries. (Our friends at Taxpayers for Common Sense told us they had heard the same thing).
Still under discussion is whether requests will be disclosed in a standardized format or however members choose to release it.
Continue readingNew Earmark Reform Push in the Senate
John McCain and Russ Feingold are putting the old team back together to push for earmark reform in the Senate.... View Article
Continue readingEarmark Disclosure Diaspora
Yesterday, the House and Senate announced new earmark rules, which Sunlight’s Bill Allison addressed here on the Sunlight blog and... View Article
Continue readingRadical Earmark Transparency?
Roll Call is reporting that Inouye and Obey, the Chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees, are implementing what... View Article
Continue readingInouye, Obey Promise Earmark Reforms
Roll Call is reporting that Rep. David Obey and Sen. Daniel Inouye, the chairmen of the House and Senate Appropriations... View Article
Continue readingNY Times: Clinton Foundation Donor got help from Hillary
Digging down deep into the list of Clinton Foundation donors, the New York Times finds that a donor had gotten considerable help from Sen. Hillary Clinton:
An upstate New York developer donated $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton's foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman's mall project.Mrs. Clinton helped enact legislation allowing the developer, Robert J. Congel, to use tax-exempt bonds to help finance the construction of the Destiny USA entertainment and shopping complex, an expansion of the Carousel ...
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