I don’t know why he’s bothering to yell at the President over this, though: the question of whether Harry Reid has the ability to get earmarks passed into legislation was abruptly settled last November. The House has banned them, and in case anybody was wondering whether the Republican base considers that ban to encompass the conference process where the differences between the Senate and House | Read More »
He wants only free-range dirty lobbyist money, apparently. None of this factory-grown, federal dirty lobbyist money for him: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias says he’s swearing off campaign contributions from lobbyists, but not all lobbyists. Giannoulias, the state treasurer, promised at the start of his Senate campaign a year ago that he wouldn’t take contributions from corporate lobbyists or political action committees. But that | Read More »
In the course of noting that former Murtha crony Mark Critz received 52% of his first-quarter contributions from “[d]efense contractors, local business officers and lobbyists that relied on earmarked federal contracts from Murtha” the Washington Post notes this interesting little detail: Four former lobbyists of the PMA Group, a once-powerful lobbying shop, also chipped in to elect Critz. Murtha arranged for his spending panel to | Read More »
Across the board, and no exceptions. House Republicans approved a conference-wide moratorium on earmarks on Thursday, one day after a House committee enacted a ban on for-profit earmarks. The Republicans’ moratorium is more extensive than the House Appropriations Committee’s ban in that it applies to all earmarks for all members of the caucus. (Via Instapundit) Rep. Pence calls it a ‘clean break,’ which it is: | Read More »
I mean, it’s bad enough that he’s doing it: but apparently it’s not even working. In 2005, Rep. John P. Murtha announced here that a technology firm was moving into an abandoned plate glass factory. Best of all, he promised, the new firm would generate 140 jobs. The Pennsylvania Democrat steered $150 million in defense money to Caracal Inc., along with a $3 million grant | Read More »
Literally. I’ve read the Constitution several times, but I’ve never seen the part that says that elected officials are allowed to physically assault people who’d like to ask questions. Like, say, about his questionable earmark habits: Congressman Alan Grayson has had a close relationship with the civil rights group for which he tried to get hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars. As WDBO first reported, | Read More »
Okinawa Jack seems very, very defensive in this article (H/T: Instapundit): Murtha defends statement The region’s outspoken congressman is in the national lens again – this time CBS News television cameras – in a report Wednesday that calls him “the king of earmarks who wastes a lot of taxpayer money” and implies that the FBI is investigating. U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Johnstown, responded by waving | Read More »
I’m not a federal prosecutor. That means that I don’t have to bend over backward to avoid making what is really a fairly obvious statement. Via Instapundit: PMA Lobbyist, Relatives Gave Lawmakers $1.5 Million Since 2000 A defense lobbyist and his family made $1.5 million in political contributions from 2000 through 2008 as the lobbyist’s now-embattled firm helped clients win billions of dollars in federal | Read More »
Well, Rep. Flake tried to get the Democrats to vote in favor of ethical behavior again, and again they voted him down. Via Instapundit: House turns back call for PMA probe The House on Thursday night turned back another call to investigate the PMA Group, a once-powerful lobbying firm whose offices were recently raided by the FBI and which has close ties to Pennsylvania Rep. | Read More »
Repeat: “may.” Congress has an impressive talent at somehow managing to find new and exciting ways to spend your money. Senate bogs down over $410 billion spending bill WASHINGTON – The Senate, tied up in a fight over a huge omnibus appropriations bill, will have to pass a stopgap spending measure Friday in order to avoid a partial government shutdown. [snip] The huge, 1,132-page spending | Read More »
(Followup to this post) The bad news, of course, is that majority party Democrats are adamant against having any investigation into whether there are links between campaign contributions and earmarks in bills – which is very interesting, given that they control Congress, and thus can presumably make sure that the proceedings are fair… The House voted Wednesday to kill a resolution calling for an ethics | Read More »
As you know, it’s in response to the PMA meltdown/outrage (see here for some background posts): Rep. Flake targets earmarks amidst PMA controversy Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), the House’s most vocal critic of pork barrel spending, is trying to shake the ethics committee into action on the link between earmarks and campaign contributors. Flake has seized on the public corruption investigation of PMA Group, a | Read More »
Ed Morrissey wants to know what it is with PA and pork, although that’s probably a rhetorical question. Our latest edition comes to us via a debate between Rep Carney and his challenger Chris Hackett: Ed notes: “That’s not a rescue plan — it’s a payoff”… and he’s right:
![[RS]](/t/img/logo-footer.jpg){kind=logo}