CREW In The News
Watchdogs applaud earmark ban, wonder about loopholes
SOURCE: Humberto Sanchez // National Journal's CongressDaily
11 Mar 2010 // Government watchdog groups Wednesday welcomed House Democrats' ban on earmarks benefiting for-profit companies but said more needed to be done, and they raised concerns that the move could make the earmark process less transparent.
House bans earmarks to for-profit companies
SOURCE: Paul Kane // Washingon Post
11 Mar 2010 // Facing an election-year backlash over runaway spending and ethics scandals, House Democrats moved Wednesday to ban earmarks for private companies, sparking a war between the parties over which would embrace the most dramatic steps to change the way business is done in Washington.
Friends of Mike
Lobbyists put on the dog for congressional favorites.
SOURCE: Paul Barton // Arkansas Times
11 Mar 2010 // WASHINGTON — Arkansas members of Congress, especially Rep. Mike Ross, continue to benefit from fund-raisers where corporate lobbyists are either the hosts or main guests, according to listings posted by the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group.
The events are often in lobbyists' townhouses or in some of the finest restaurants in the nation's capital or at upscale golf courses and lodges.
House Curbs Earmarks, Senate Balks
SOURCE: Corey Boles // Wall Street Journal
11 Mar 2010 // WASHINGTON—House Democrats, facing rising public anger over the ways of Washington, said Wednesday they were banning so-called earmarks that direct government funds to for-profit companies.
Patton Boggs is in negotiations to purchase the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group
SOURCE: Dan Eggen // Washingon Post
11 Mar 2010 // Washington's biggest lobbying firm is on the verge of getting even bigger. Patton Boggs LLP, which rang up nearly $40 million in lobbying last year, is in negotiations to purchase the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group, according to sources familiar with the talks.
Corker shaping payday loan rules in financial reform package
SOURCE: Dave Flessner // Chattanooga Times Free Press
11 Mar 2010 // U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.., said Wednesday he believes Senate negotiators are close to a bipartisan agreement over a new set of financial industry regulations.
But proposals for federal controls over non-bank lenders continue to spark debate between payday lenders such as Check-Into-Cash Inc., in Cleveland, Tenn., and critics of the $6.5 billion-a-year payday lending industry.
Lobbyists’ Earmarks Left in Flux
SOURCE: Anna Palmer // Roll Call
11 Mar 2010 // Lobbyists are bracing for a tumultuous appropriations season following the decision Wednesday by House Democrats to bar earmarks to for-profit companies.
Disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Massa's long trail of bizarre behavior includes home shared with staffers
SOURCE: James Gordon Meek, Richard Sisk, Kenneth R. Bazinet and Michael Mcauliff In Washington and Rich Schapiro In Corning, N.Y. // New York Daily News
10 Mar 2010 // Disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Massa insists he never sexually abused anyone, but he filled his Capitol Hill rowhouse with low-paid male staffers in an arrangement ripe for trouble.
"It's like he had people trapped," said a Hill source.
John Yoo's Email Fail
Government investigators can't find the Bush lawyer's emails. His explanation makes about as much sense as his legal rationale for torture.
SOURCE: Nick Baumann // Mother Jones
10 Mar 2010 // The Justice Department report released last month on the crafting of the so-called torture memos contained a number of eyebrow-raising revelations—but none perhaps as intriguing as the disclosure that More»
Democrats Release GOP ‘Hypocrite’ List After Rangel, Massa Ethics Charges
SOURCE: Paul Bedard // U.S. News & World Report's "Washington Whispers"
10 Mar 2010 // House Democrats, armed with a thick docket of Republican ethics cases, are putting the GOP leadership on notice: Throw mud at them and they’ll pitch rocks at a Republican glass house.
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