The $333 Million Grant That Wasn’t
To understand how maddeningly inaccurate data on USAspending.gov can be, one need look no further than the $333 million grant that was awarded last year to Dynamic Research Inc. of Torrance, Calif., by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In fact, a Dynamic Research employee told us, the vehicle R-and-D firm is not expecting a third of a billion dollars from NHTSA. The grant is more like $1 million for research on advanced crash-avoidance technology. But the casual user of USAspending.gov, maintained by the Office of Management and Budget, would have no way of knowing this.
The problem ...
Continue readingAlways amazes me…
what you can find in lobbying disclosure data. I was looking for something else when I came across this filing. TIG Insurance has hired the Normandy Group to "[a]ddress non-payment by Government of Argentina of fees owed to TIG Insurance Company. Seek to put restrictive language in Foreign Operations Appropriations Bills re: US assistance to Argentina." The fees paid are less than $5,000, so it doesn't seem like a lot of lobbying went on, but the list of lobbyists has a few revolvers on it:
I guess that's one way to get a bill paid...
Continue readingTracking swine flu…
...with Google maps.
View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map
Not our usual thing, but I thought it was interesting. For those curious, here are members of Congress who have used the words influenza, pandemic, tamiflu or flu over the last two years.
Continue readingDicks requests earmark for Concurrent Technologies
Rep. Norm Dicks requested one Defense earmark for one former client of PMA Group:
Enhanced Navy Shore Readiness Integration - $5,000,000Enhanced Navy Shore Readiness Integration targets Commander, Navy Installations Command (CNIC) prioritized opportunities for enhanced mission performance and execution to better enable Navy Fleet, Fighter, and Family readiness. Through this program, prioritized CNIC mission functions are streamlined and standardized on an enterprise scale. During this process, enabling technologies with potential for leap-ahead improvement are identified and demonstrated in real-world environments before being considered for implementation. Additionally, CNICs total force strategy is developed to ensure the right workforce capabilities ...
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Specter ramps up the fundraising
In the whirlwind of fundraising parties this month"as of today we've collected 428 invitations for this month and counting"Sen. Arlen Specter stands above his peers, with a dozen parties scheduled in March and more beyond.
Read more at Party Time.
I'm sure stories like these have nothing to do with his number
Continue readingRangel: No accusations coming from Congress
Roll Call's Lauren W. Whittington reports that Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., once again, is saying that the ethics committee has nothing on him:
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Rangel said that the charge against him has no merit and has no facts, and he repeatedly asserted that no one outside of the press " he specifically called out a New York Times reporter " has made allegations and that there has been no accusations coming from the Congress.Continue readingRangel said several times that no one other than a reporter has accused me. When pressed on why the Committee on Standards ...
Dodd’s family business?
Kevin Rennie notes another connection of Sen. Christopher Dodd to the financial industry, at one remove from AIG:
it turns out that Senator Dodd's wife has also benefited from past connections to AIG as well.From 2001-2004, Jackie Clegg Dodd served as an "outside" director of IPC Holdings, Ltd., a Bermuda-based company controlled by AIG.
There are many other connections, obviously.
Continue readingA few questions for Sen. Dodd
This weekend, the august Sunday Times reported on Sen. Christopher Dodd's Irish "cottage":
John Moore, an Irish business partner of Downe's, also lobbied Galway county council to approve a planning application by Dodd to extend and renovate the property soon after it was bought in 1994.Moore said: I didn't write to the council on behalf of Edward Downe. I was involved with Galway Chamber of Commerce at the time and had got to know Senator Dodd. I asked the council to look favourably on his planning application because I thought he might be able to help ...
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Another guilty plea in Abramoff case
Roll Call's Jennifer Yachnin reports:
Former Senate aide Ann Copland pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, acknowledging she accepted more than $25,000 in gifts including tickets to sporting events and concerts from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates.Copland, a longtime aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) who left in 2008 to join Mississippi Public Broadcasting, has agreed to cooperate with Justice Department attorneys in their long-running investigation into lobbying activities on Capitol Hill. Copland is among the 18 individuals, including the incarcerated Abramoff, to be charged with wrongdoing ...
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