-
Murtha's pass through earmarks
By Bill Allison Mar 17, 2009 3 p.m.Earmark disclosure isn't going to do any good if members can designate a middle man to take funds, then distribute them to private companies. But that's exactly what the Washington Post says Rep. John Murtha has been doing, and they've got documents to back them up:
Read all about it -
Another guilty plea in Abramoff case
By Bill Allison Mar 10, 2009 6:30 p.m.Roll Call's Jennifer Yachnin reports:
Read all about it -
Dodd's Dealings Illustrate Holes in Financial Disclosure
By Bill Allison Mar 9, 2009 6:22 p.m.Via InstaPundit comes this commentary from the Hartford Courant by Kevin Rennie, an attorney who writes a weekly column for the paper, on Sen. Chris Dodd's real estate deals. The Senate Ethics Committee is already looking at his mortgage with Countrywide Financial (more details here); Rennie writes that other Dodd properties might be worth looking into:
Read all about it -
Treasury Taking a Bath on TARP
By Bill Allison Feb 17, 2009 5:55 p.m.Via twitter, via Right Org, comes this very cool way of tracking the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program investments from Ethisphere -- almost like an S&P index of stocks of publicly traded firms that have received money from TARP:
Read all about it -
NY Times: Clinton Foundation Donor got help from Hillary
By Bill Allison Jan 5, 2009 2:32 a.m.Digging down deep into the list of Clinton Foundation donors, the New York Times finds that a donor had gotten considerable help from Sen. Hillary Clinton:
Read all about it -
Wall Street Journal profiles donors...
By Bill Allison Dec 18, 2008 9:21 p.m....here
Read all about it -
Another day, another Rangel revelation
By Bill Allison Dec 17, 2008 7:31 p.m....this time from The Hill about the funding of Caribbean junkets that potentially run afoul of House ethics rules. It's not like Rangel hasn't had this problem before...
-
Unraveling Rangel
By Bill Allison Dec 16, 2008 10:44 p.m.It's been interesting to watch the stories that have described multiple ethics problems for Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and someone identified by The Hill as the top fundraiser for House Democrats. The Washington Post seems to have kicked things off with a story on July 14 saying that Rangel used official House stationary to solicit big donations for his Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York. There followed a series of revelations that he wasn't properly declaring income on a vacation property he owned in the Dominican Republic; that he benefited from having four rent controlled apartments (one of which he used as an office) in violation of New York City statutes; that he used taxpayer funds to lease an expensive car; that he had all but abandoned a car he owns, a Mercedes, in the House parking garage; that he inappropriately claimed a small tax deduction for having a primary residence in Washington, D.C., (his primary residence is in New York, leaving him ineligible for the D.C. tax break) and he used his campaign committee to funnel $80,000 to his son for performing little or no work on a Web site. The New York Times report that Rangel killed a retroactive tax increase for a big donor to his Center for Public Service is the latest revelation, but it's one of about a half dozen news organizations (the Washington Post, the New York Post, Politico, and WCBS-TV being the others) that have been following the story. I would suggest looking at Glenn Reynold's archives to follow the story, but there are so many links that it's hard to keep up with (that's due to the extent of Rangel's troubles, and is not fault of Reynolds).
Read all about it -
Financial crises: How we got here
By Bill Allison Dec 16, 2008 5:34 p.m.A couple of interesting stories on the financial crises. The Washington Post's Jill Drew writes a solid piece explaining how players in the financial system spread the risk from subprime mortgages through the economy. A bit light on the role played by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (which get attention only in the accompanying interactive graphic). The article itself is probably a bit long to read online, but worth the effort.
Read all about it -
Time can't find an outrageous Defense earmark
By Bill Allison Dec 11, 2008 5:19 p.m.Time Magazine offers its list of the top ten wasteful earmarks proposed in 2008 (note that many of these were proposed but not funded -- download a complete list of earmarks that were funded by going here.
Read all about it -
Feds: Illinois Governor put Obama's Senate seat up for sale
By Bill Allison Dec 9, 2008 4:52 p.m.Here's the summary from Congress Daily (subscription only):
Read all about it -
Financial Bailout: Will Geithner Comply with Bloomberg's FOIA Request?
By Bill Allison Nov 25, 2008 9:02 p.m.It's old news now: yesterday, President-elect Barack Obama announced he was picking Timothy Geithner, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as his Treasury Secretary.
Read all about it -
Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Stevens Trial?
By Bill Allison Oct 2, 2008 4:37 p.m.The Washington Post reports that defense attorneys for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, have accused prosecutors of withholding potentially exculpatory information. It appears that the judge hearing the case agrees:
Read all about it -
Financial Bailout: Nothing specific
By Bill Allison Oct 2, 2008 12:46 a.m.When I read accounts like this, I'm not surprised that Congress has such low approval ratings:
Read all about it
Search the Blog
Real Time Ticker
Recent Posts
- Mayors Against Illegal Guns runs ad backing Nevada background checks
- Thanks to lobbying, farm bill yields crop insurance funds
- Surge of immigration lobbyists fueled by push for high-skilled foreign workers
- Health group airs ad backing Obama EPA nominee
- Apple lobbies on taxes more than any other subject
Reporting we're watching
- OpenSecrets: Millionaire Freshmen Make Congress Even Wealthier
- OpenSecrets: Fastest Growing Cities Lean Right
- Sunlight Foundation: Oversight Committee Endorses Public Access to Agency Reports to Congress
- Sunlight Foundation: Calls for Reform of IRS Rules Face Resistance from Dark Money Advocates
- Sunlight Foundation: Committee on House Administration Supports Public's Right to Gov't Docs
