1. K Street Boom: At least 1,699 new clients in 2009

    By Bill Allison Apr 1, 2009 6:21 p.m. 3 comments

    Lobbying firms and special interests have filed nearly 1,700 new registration forms so far in the first quarter of 2009, according to a review of lobbying disclosure forms available online at the Senate Office of Public Records. As the federal government pumps up spending and intervenes in the troubled financial markets, K Street firms appear to have had no shortage of new business.

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  2. Must everything be earmarked?

    By Bill Allison Mar 29, 2009 1:45 p.m.

    Columnist George Will argues that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 -- the bailout bill that set up TARP, is unconstitutional because it delegates legislative power to the executive branch:

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  3. Making the bailout more transparent

    By Bill Allison Mar 5, 2009 8:10 p.m.

    It's old news -- several trillion dollars ago -- but back in 2008 the Federal Reserve, Treasury and the FDIC started working in tandem on a series of measures to stabilize the financial system. The Federal Reserve's aid is doled our or loaned out in secrecy, despite the dogged attempts of Bloomberg News to pry loose the data; the FDIC has released some, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by our colleagues at SubsidyScope.com.

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