Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

1. Bonner earmark #9

   By Bill Allison Feb 26, 2008 5:39 a.m.

   In the Transportation and Housing & Urban Development appropriations bill, Rep. Jo Bonner joined Sen. Jeff Sessions in securing a $735,000 earmark for the Mobile Downtown Airport for ramp rehabilitation and drain repair.

   Read all about it

2. Bonner earmark #8

   By Bill Allison Feb 26, 2008 4:45 a.m.

   Rep. Jo Bonner joined Sen. Richard Shelby in securing $470,000 in the Commerce, Justice & Science appropriations bill for the Mobile County Commission to acquire interoperable communications systems.

   Read all about it

3. Bonner Earmark #7

   By Bill Allison Feb 25, 2008 11:18 p.m.

   In the Labor, Department of Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, Rep. Jo Bonner secured a $199,000 earmark for the Fairhope Center for the Arts in Bay Minette, Ala., for arts education programs, including purchase of equipment. The Fairhope Center for the Arts doesn't seem to have hired a federal lobbyist. The organization forms 990 aren't available on Guidestar.org, so I wasn't able to double check the numbers.

   Read all about it

4. Bonner Earmark #6

   By Bill Allison Feb 25, 2008 2:57 a.m.

   Rep. Jo Bonner attached his name to an earmark originally requested by Sen. Richard Shelby for $1,372,000 for the City of Mobile's Transit System, known as the Wave Transit System.

   Read all about it

5. Bonner Earmark #5

   By Bill Allison Feb 25, 2008 2:36 a.m.

   Rep. Jo Bonner earmarked $245,000 in the Transportation, Housing & Urban Development appropriations bill to the "City of Jackson for construction of a building in conjunction with a 240-acre industrial development park."

   Read all about it

6. Bonner earmark #4

   By Bill Allison Feb 24, 2008 2:17 p.m.

   Rep. Jo Bonner earmarked $245,000 for the Bay Area Food Bank for construction of a commercial-size kitchen. Bay Area Food Bank, which distributes food donated by grocery stores, restaurants and the like to soup kitchens and homeless shelters, doesn't have a federal lobbyist, according to the Senate Office of Public Records. To double check, I looked the organization up in Guidestar, a great resource for finding out about nonprofits--their forms 990 show no payments for lobbying. I also ran the names of the organization's executives and board members through OpenSecrets.org looking for campaign contributions, and found nothing.

   Read all about it

7. Bonner earmark #3

   By Bill Allison Feb 23, 2008 11:03 p.m.

   I thought this one would be harder.

   Read all about it

8. Another Bonner Earmark, another lobbying link

   By Bill Allison Feb 23, 2008 4:27 p.m.

   Going for the low hanging fruit first (earmarks in EarmarkWatch.org). So let's look at the $141,000 that the Alabama School of Math and Science in Mobile, Ala., got in the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Act.

   Read all about it

9. Aderholt's bio: record levels, responsibility

   By Bill Allison Feb 23, 2008 3:13 a.m.

   I'm still looking mostly at the earmarks that Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala., has sponsored, but while I was looking at them, I came across the official biography that Rep. Robert B. Aderholt, another Alabama Republican, has on his Web site. The language is instructive:

   Read all about it

10. Following Bonner's earmarks

    By Bill Allison Feb 22, 2008 10:23 p.m.

    Let's start with this earmark, because it's already in EarmarkWatch.org, and hence easy to research. A few interesting notes...

    Read all about it

11. Bonner & earmarks

    By Bill Allison Feb 20, 2008 10:41 p.m.

    Last week, our friends in the Porkbusting movement expressed their dismay that the Republican House leadership chose Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala., over Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., for an open slot on the House Appropriations Committee.

    Read all about it

12. Inspector General launches probe of Traffic.com contracts

    By Bill Allison Feb 5, 2008 4:55 a.m.

    Transportation's Inspector General has launched an investigation of the Transportation Technology Innovation and Demonstration program--at the request of a pair of members of Congress, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.--to determine whether the program, as administered by the Federal Highway Administration, fulfilled the goals set for it by Congress and whether FHWA met competitive procurement requirements that "intended to expand the number of firms providing surveillance services."

    Read all about it

13. Investing in "US Inc."

    By Bill Allison Jan 12, 2008 3:41 a.m.

    Citigroup reportedly is looking to raise additional foreign capital:

    Read all about it

14. Congress to meet new patrons?

    By Bill Allison Jan 11, 2008 9:45 p.m.

    The New York Times reports that Merrill Lynch and several other big financial firms are seeking foreign investment to offset their losses brought on by their heavy betting on the subprime mortgage market, a development that may be troubling some in Congress:

    Read all about it

Investigations by Sunlight Foundation reporter Bill Allison