Last night Sen. Chris Dodd admitted on CNN that he was responsible, under administration pressure, for language in the final... View Article
Continue readingSenate channels “Not Me”
Maybe we should make members pass a quiz on the contents of bills before they're allowed to vote. Case in point: the bonus exemption in the Stimulus Bill that AIG executives took advantage of. Where it came from and how it got into the bill is a mystery:
In an interview with CNN, Dodd denied inserting that exemption at the 11th hour, and insisted he doesn't know how it got there."When I wrote the language there was no such language like that," Dodd told CNN Tuesday.
Multiple Senate Democratic leadership sources also deny knowing how the exemption ...
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Recovery Transparency Stories and Recommendations
Rep. Darrell Issa, the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a letter to Earl... View Article
Continue readingCities seeking a Piece of the Action?
From the A Piece of the Action? database, here's a list of cities that have hired lobbyists who have reported that the bailout or the stimulus is a specific lobbying issue, complete with links (if any) to project requests on the excellent StimulusWatch.org page for those cities:
Birmingham, MI
Jasper, AL
Thomasville, AL
Center Point, AL
Jackson, AL
Atmore, AL
Denton, TX
Whittier, CA
Brewton ...
Continue readingSign the Petition to ReadTheBill.org
If you knew where to look, you might have been able to find the massive FY 09 Omnibus Appropriations bill... View Article
Continue readingWho’s seeking A Piece of the Action?
The bailout (the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, etc.) and the stimulus (the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act) are massive pieces of legislation with lots of moving parts. Thus, the more eyeballs on them and what's around them, the better.
A Piece of the Action? tracks one aspect of the unfolding age of bailing and stimulating -- interests hiring Washington lobbyists to at the very least monitor and likely to try to influence how the government spends its money.
As noted immediately below, this database is an imperfect resource. But it's what we can do ...
Continue readingSeventy-Two Hours Is All We Ask
It’s not much to ask Congress, as we do, to make available legislation for public perusal for 72 hours before... View Article
Continue readingSome Stimulus Links
According to various sources, the final stimulus bill (in the form of the conference report) was made publicly availabe last... View Article
Continue readingStop Hiding the Stimulus Bill
While the House and Senate conferees have agreed on what the stimulus bill will look like in final form, the... View Article
Continue readingFeingold Earmark Amendment Fails
Yesterday, an earmark reform amendment to the stimulus bill introduced by Sen. Russ Feingold was defeated 32-65. The amendment was... View Article
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