Tag Archive: Earmarks

Heckuva Job, Ethics Committee!

by Paul Blumenthal Mar 8, 2010 10:39 am

Wondering why the House Ethics Committee exonerated every single lawmaker touched by the PMA Group campaign contributions-for-earmarks scandal? They didn’t... View Article

Potential Murtha successor Norm Dicks knows the favor factory

by Luke Rosiak

investigations

Feb 10, 2010 3:56 pm

The abrupt passing of Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.) left many wondering who would replace the King of Pork as chair of the Defense Appropriations subcommitteebut anyone hoping his replacement might bring relief from a reputation for trading favors, rewarding campaign contributors and steering lucrative contracts to home districts would likely be disappointed by the pool of potential successors.

Yesterday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer floated the name of Norm Dicks, whose home state of Washington houses Boeing Co., as the likely next chair. Boeing is the second-largest recipient of federal contracting money, at $22.3 billion in fiscal year 2009 ...

Obama asks Congress for real earmark disclosure

by Bill Allison

investigations

Jan 28, 2010 4:52 pm

Right now, three years after Congress began trying to make earmarks transparent, I still have to look in three different places if I want to know how much money Rep. James Moran, D-Va., secured for particular beneficiaries in the Defense appropriations act. I have to read a sideways-posted PDF looking for Moran's requests (like the $1 million for the Ground Combat System Knowledge Center and Technical Inspection Data Capture), and match that project name to one of two enormous PDF files (the bigger is 75 MB) containing earmark disclosure letters from members of Congress (right-side up, but not searchable ...

White House and Influence Reform Anew

by John Wonderlich Jan 27, 2010 10:20 pm

We just received a fact sheet from the White House, which outlines some of the policy goals suggested in President... View Article

Transparency Reforms on List of President’s Priorities

by Ellen Miller Jan 27, 2010 8:31 pm

Copies of the SOTU speech are now circulating and there are several things in it that Sunlight is extremely happy... View Article

Do certain provisions in the health care bill violate disclosure requirements?

by Paul Blumenthal Jan 15, 2010 12:24 pm

Earlier this week, Sen. Tom Coburn and a group of Republican senators sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid... View Article

Why You Need to Download the Real Time Congress App for iPhone now

by Brad Bauman Jan 13, 2010 11:27 am

As a former Capitol Hill Communications Director, I can tell you that access to real-time information on what is happening... View Article

Stimulus grantees cited for poor oversight of federal funds

by Anu Narayanswamy

investigations

Nov 24, 2009 4:32 pm

CarsonCityAirport The Carson City Airport Authority, which has benefited in the last four years from more than $13 million in federal funds, is now slated to receive another $9.6 million in stimulus money, even though an independent auditor cited problems earlier this year with how it manages its federal grants.

The airport authority, which saw a board member resign in 2008 while calling for an independent investigation into the authority's directors, is one of dozens of organizations that received funds from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act despite having flaws in their management systems. Overall, federal agencies ...