Free Republic

A retired Florida couple would appear an unlikely source to have given $83,000 in campaign donations over a five-year period to members of Congress from all over the country. Both in their 80s, they lived in a $118,000 Daytona Beach house they didn't own; they each voted only twice since 1992; and they seemed to lack the financial means to make the contributions. Yet, both were listed as having given dozens of donations to lawmakers, nearly half of which went to members of the House Appropriations Committee - legislators who were especially important to their then-son-in-law, superlobbyist Paul Magliocchetti, who...

The Office of Congressional Ethics has closed its investigation into Reps. John Murtha (D-Pa.), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and Jim Moran (D-Va.) and their relationships to the lobbying firm PMA Group, and the OCE advised against a formal House ethics investigation, the lawmakers’ offices said Friday. George Behan, Dicks’ chief of staff, said the OCE, which reviews potential rules violations and refers investigations to the House ethics committee, informed the Washington lawmaker on Dec. 2 that it had recommended the inquiry be dismissed. “In his case, there was never anything there,” Behan said. Murtha spokesman Matt Mazonkey and Moran spokeswoman Emily...

The archive contains eight stories censored or removed from the on-line archives of the Guardian, Observer, Telegraph and New Statesman. Seven stories were removed in their entirety and one partly redacted following legal pressure by Iraqi-British billionaire fraudster Nadhmi Auchi who has been linked to US senator Barack Obama via the so-called “Rezko Affair”. The action was taken during April-June 2008. The material complements the Wikileaks release a few days ago of a significant 2004 Pentagon Inspector General's report into Mr. Auchi's, apparently grossly fraudulent, activities in Iraq — see US Defense Inspector General: Mobile Telecommunications Licenses in Iraq, 2004....

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 It seems the Olympic suicide flu is spreading through Chicago. Michael Scott another dirty political partner of Valerie Jarrett decides to blow his brains out. We all know the Daley motto, dead men tell no tales and Scott won’t be talking. Of course we also know that suicide in Chi-town is like going for a swim w/lead sneakers in NJ. This is...

To the list of hundreds of schools, hospitals, and community health centers that have received limited allocations of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine, you can now add some of New York's largest employers. In the past week or so 13 companies, including Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS), have begun receiving small quantities of the vaccine, according to city health authorities.

Before taking control of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history." However, with dozens of mostly Democratic lawmakers and various staff under investigation by the House's twin ethics bodies, the majority clearly values political power over clean government. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Charles B. Rangel, 20-term New York Democrat, and Defense Appropriations subcommittee Chairman Rep. John P. Murtha, 19-term Pennsylvania Democrat, are the poster children for how failed ethics cops protect old-guard lawmakers. While under investigation by the ethics committee, they continue to...

So much for the most open and ethical government everFinally, it is clear what President Obama meant when he said this would be the most "transparent administration in history." -SNIP-After The Times' report revealed the administration's "donor maintenance" program, reporters from other news organizations followed up at the daily White House press briefing, where White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tried to dodge questions by referring reporters to the Democratic National Committee. But who controls every aspect of what happens at the DNC? The White House. And when the DNC sells access to government officials, who employs those officials?...

During his first nine months in office, President Obama has quietly rewarded scores of top Democratic donors with VIP access to the White House, private briefings with administration advisers and invitations to important speeches and town-hall meetings. High-dollar fundraisers have been promised access to senior White House officials in exchange for pledges to donate $30,400 personally or to bundle $300,000 in contributions ahead of the 2010 midterm elections, according to internal Democratic National Committee documents obtained by The Washington Times. Top donors described in interviews with The Times how they were given a birthday visit to the Oval Office and...

For more than a decade, the rent-to-own industry has watched as 20 separate pieces of federal legislation it supported failed in Congress. After years of frustration, it decided to assert itself more aggressively. Already a major political donor, the $6.3 billion-a-year industry paid lobbyists to "put a human face" on its case and looked for new ways to sow good will with key Democratic lawmakers, who were wary of an industry that rents equipment such as televisions, appliances, computers, furniture and refrigerators to people -- often low-income consumers -- with the option to buy them later. For instance, the Association...

*snip* Turns out that when the former governor instituted a state-hiring freeze back in 2003, it was just a ruse so that he could do favors for a bunch of politically connected buddies. He ended up hiring just over 2,500 people during the so-called freeze. But these weren’t ordinary applicants; politicians, including then-state-senator Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, pushed all the job seekers on Blago. None of the politicians in the report are accused of doing anything wrong -- leaning on clout is the status quo in Springfield -- but the report does illustrate the insider game that occurs...

When software firm MobilVox wanted to break into the lucrative world of defense contracting, it pursued an unmistakable strategy: It expanded operations from its Northern Virginia base in Rep. James P. Moran's congressional district to the southwestern Pennsylvania district of Rep. John P. Murtha. Working with two of the most powerful members of a House subcommittee that controls Pentagon spending, the company also hired lobbying firms that employed former top aides of both the Democratic lawmakers and Mr. Murtha's brother. Company executives and their lobbyists donated thousands of dollars to the two congressmen. Soon, money flowed the other way. Between...

Even before he was elected governor in 2002, Rod Blagojevich and three of his closest friends schemed about ways to enrich themselves by controlling state government, the former governor's former chief of staff alleged as part of a plea agreement today with federal prosecutors. When Blagojevich took office, his three friends became key players in his administration and met repeatedly with the governor to share moneymaking ideas and get updates on their plans to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars that they could split up later, former top aide Alonzo "Lon" Monk alleged. Monk, who also was a groomsman...

The Washington Post reported over the weekend on the ongoing federal investigation into defense earmarks, saying that it was “increasingly focused on a former top aide to Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) who worked with the congressman on funding requests from clients of a powerful lobbying firm, according to two sources familiar with the probe.” The story said that the aide, Charles E. Brimmer, Visclosky’s former longtime chief of staff, may have “suggested to some lobbyists that companies seeking Visclosky’s help in getting Pentagon funds would need to commit to a program of donations to the member of the...

The House and Senate Armed Services Committees have taken a small but significant step to eliminate – well, almost – one of the most outrageous congressional behaviors in defense legislation. For years, these committees have raided the Pentagon’s critical Operation and Maintenance accounts to offset the cost of earmarks (pork) they add to their bills. A major part of the O&M budget pays for training, weapons maintenance, food, fuel, spare parts, and all the other things troops need when they go to war. Even though O&M spending is the budgetary embodiment of “Support Our Troops,” and even though research on these raids...

A federal investigation into defense contracts awarded through congressional earmarks is increasingly focused on a former top aide to Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) who worked with the congressman on funding requests from clients of a powerful lobbying firm, according to two sources familiar with the probe. Investigators have gathered evidence that Charles E. Brimmer, Visclosky's former longtime chief of staff, suggested to some lobbyists that companies seeking Visclosky's help in getting Pentagon funds would need to commit to a program of donations to the member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee, the sources said. The Justice Department is trying to...

The upcoming 2020 Census comes with a mega-budget for advertising to media companies to encourage citizens to participate – but some media companies may be banned if the Obama-run Census Bureau has its way. The Census Bureau’s web site details its planned media offensive “in order to inform everyone about the 2010 Census and its importance, the U.S. Census Bureau has developed an integrated communications campaign (ICC) that includes paid media, earned media, a national partnership program and the Census in Schools program.”

This is an excerpt from a recently obtained internal E mail written by a gleeful GE executive. “On climate change we were able to work closely with key authors of the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, recently passed by the House of Representatives. If this bill is enacted into law it would benefit many GE businesses.” “…benefit many GE businesses” becomes clearer by following the paper trail of “donations” from GEPAC the lobbying arm of General Electric Corporation. GE/Democrat pay to play scheme Last year most of GEPAC’s contributions went to Democrats. This year almost all of its cash bought...

The president of the United States shouldn't have to fly halfway around the world to humble himself before a posse of international sports influence peddlers and beg for a track meet. But that's exactly what he is doing. By going to Denmark with all the other City Hall politicos, including those from the White House, President Barack Obama is doing more than asking the International Olympic Committee to allow Chicago to host the 2016 Games. He's asking the IOC to make Mayor Richard Daley the king of Chicago for life. If Chicago gets the games, it will be Obama who...

Michelle Obama: It's a 'sacrifice' to travel to Europe to pitch for the Olympics. For Oprah and the president, too. But we're doing it for the kids. By: Byron York Chief Political Correspondent09/30/09 5:12 PM EDT In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or...

The federal monitor over Cook County government hiring issued a progress report on patronage problems today -- *snip* Some workers for the county are actively undermining efforts to take politics out of personnel practices. Read the report here.

The Chicago Sun-Times said that a group of local investors had made a bid to buy the ailing newspaper, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March. The Sun-Times said an investor group called STMG Holdings LLC had offered to buy the Sun-Times Media Group, which includes the flagship newspaper and its sister publications, in a deal worth about 25 million dollars. It said the deal, which would be subject to approval by a bankruptcy court judge, would include up to five million dollars in cash while the investors would take on about 20 million dollars in liabilities. It said the...

On Tuesday, deposed Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, will release his memoirs "The Governor". The book is being billed as not only providing the impeached Governor's account of the political dealings that led to his arrest, but also an insider's perspective into the political landscape of Illinois, or more specifically, Chicago. In recent months, Blagojevich has become the symbol of the corruption and pay-to-play politics that embody the Chicago political machine. But don't necessarily count on The Governor to provide...

The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey. Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters. From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules. Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,...

This much is still certain: Hundreds of political donors to Bill Richardson have received government jobs, contracts and other favorable treatment during his 6 1/2 years as governor. Some of those campaign contributors have been enriched by millions of dollars. Those facts are unchanged by the Justice Department's decision not to pursue criminal charges against Richardson or his aides in the case of one government contractor that made political donations. Acting U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt said that pressure from the Governor's Office "resulted in the corruption of the procurement process" and that nonprosecution "should not be interpreted as exoneration of...

8/27/09Sierra Electric Cooperative will build substation and 6.5 miles of power lines at Spaceport America The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has approved an agreement to pay Sierra Electric Cooperative about $5.5 million for the cooperative to build a substation and some 6.5 miles of power lines to provide electricity infrastructure at the state-owned spaceport in southern Sierra County, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. The newspaper said that according to the contract approved Wednesday, the $5.5 million figure is an estimate only. The following article added by poster:8/14/09 New Mexico’s revenue projections show we’re short $433M, economists say   Revenue estimates...

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said. The decision not to pursue indictments was made by top Justice Department officials, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified because federal officials had not disclosed results of the probe. "It's over. There's nothing. It was killed in Washington," the person told The Associated Press. A federal grand jury began an investigation in 2008...

The University of Illinois, which employs communist terrorist Bill Ayers as a professor, has been hit by an admissions scandal which has forced the resignation of the chairman of its board of trustees. An investigation by the Chicago Tribune found that more than 800 undergraduate applicants received special consideration from 2005 to 2009 because "they had powerful patrons, including elected officials, trustees and donors." It added that "Dozens more law and graduate school applicants also got preferential treatment." But how did Bill Ayers get his job? All signs point to his rich father, Thomas Ayers, who was CEO of Commonwealth...

Last night, Fox News’ Sean Hannity ran a six-minute report on Alexis Giannoulias, the onetime state treasurer now running for Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. According to Hannity, “Alexis Giannoulias was at one time considered such a political libality, he was mentioned in the same breath as Bill Ayers” (Obama’s domestic-terrorist-turned-professor pal, who served with Obama on the board of the Woods Fund of Chicago) and Jeremiah Wright” (Obama’s longtime racist pastor and spiritual advisor who embraces Marxism). Giannoulias, an heir to the Broadway Bank fortune, helped Obama get “seed money” for his first political campaign and provided him with...

Members of the House ethics committee, who are investigating a pattern of lawmakers steering federal funds to generous defense contractors, are all set to have their pet military projects funded by the same committee whose activities they are probing. The 10 committee members together would get 29 earmarks -- or $59 million in federal funding for projects they requested in their districts or states -- under a proposed House military spending bill up for a vote today or tomorrow. The details were approved last week by the House defense appropriations subcommittee, whose practice of steering earmarks to a well-connected lobby...

WASHINGTON -- A House panel approved a big Pentagon spending bill this week that included nearly 150 items tucked in by lawmakers on behalf of companies and other entities whose employees donated to their campaigns. The Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama swept into power on a promise to reform the process of lawmakers trying to dictate in detail how funds are spent, known as "earmarks." When Mr. Obama signed a spending bill for the current fiscal year in March, he said the earmark-laden legislation should be an "end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of...

BOSTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama got more than an education when he attended Harvard Law School in the late 1980s. He also got a healthy stack of parking tickets, most of which he never paid. The Illinois Senator shelled out $375 in January - two weeks before he officially launched his presidential campaign - to finally pay for 15 outstanding parking tickets and their associated late fees.

WILMETTE | Home on auction block carries hefty back-tax burden A property tax bill of more than $200,000. That's the added cost that awaits whoever comes out on top in next month's auction of the foreclosed Wilmette mansion of convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko. Records show Rezko stopped paying real estate taxes on the 8,400-square-foot mansion more than four years ago. He owes a total of $140,409.86 in back property taxes, plus $69,402.24 in interest. The new owner will have to pay that, says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Rezko stopped paying the taxes around the same time he stopped paying...

The Appropriations Defense Subcommittee — always considered the high altar of congressional spending power — has suddenly become a liability for lawmakers touched by criminal inquiries scrutinizing the nexus of lobbyists, earmarks and Pentagon contracts. Just in the past week: A Pennsylvania businessman with ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme, leading to new questions about Murtha’s role in getting earmarks for his brother’s lobbying business. FBI agents raided a Florida company linked to Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.), leading Young to withdraw a $4 million funding request for the firm the next day. And Rep....

The weekend began with this shocking revelation. The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s support in a bitter legislative dispute, then the group’s chairman flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

One of the most favored insiders in Representative John Murtha’s rich churn of defense earmarks has pleaded guilty to criminal charges, shedding light on a twisting, pay-to-play money trail. The contractor, Richard Ianieri, admitted taking $200,000 in bribes from another big defense contractor in the Murtha orbit, and is cooperating with investigators. “What’s that got to do with me?” commented Mr. Murtha, who previously lavished praise and tens of millions of dollars in contracts on the two companies caught up in the criminal investigation. He asks an ever more urgent question. Investigators have not identified him as a target. But...

WASHINGTON -- Despite cries for reform, the earmark process is alive and well in Congress. As lawmakers write the military budget for fiscal-year 2010, every member on the House defense-appropriations subcommittee has requested funds for contractors and other organizations with employees who have donated money to their campaigns. The 18 members of the subcommittee are seeking a total of about $2 billion on behalf of such companies, universities and nonprofit groups, according to a review of campaign-finance data and nearly 400 earmark requests in the 2010 defense-spending bill by the nonpartisan Taxpayers for Common Sense. Employees of those entities donated...

The peculiar timing of Steven Rattner's departure as White House car czar has raised questions about the course of an investigation that has scrutinized his possible dealings with the New York state pension fund. The probe into pay-to-play schemes, part of a long-running and wide-ranging investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, reportedly has intensified as Cuomo's office seeks additional documents from a firm Rattner co-founded. "Obviously he's been a player" in the probe, said a source familiar with the investigation. The source confirmed to FOXNews.com that Cuomo has sought documents from Rattner's...

Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street leviathan that is heavily invested in the cap-and-trade carbon market scam, has admitted it has developed and used software that can manipulate such financial markets. The revelation came during proceedings in a legal case with enough plot twists to make even John Grisham proud; it was made, not by Goldman, but by an assistant U.S. Attorney. "(B)ecause of the way this software interfaces with the various markets and exchanges, the bank has raised a possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets...

At last, Roland Burris has made a decision as senator that we can endorse wholeheartedly.He will not run next year for his Senate seat.Thank goodness.At least one chapter in the sad show that is Illinois politics can soon come to an end.You'll remember, of course, that Burris began shredding his own credibility and the legacy of his decades of state service when he accepted the Senate appointment from our radioactive governor, Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich anointed Burris, just as the governor was getting tossed from office for allegedly trying to sell that very Senate appointment. Recall, too, that we have state...

WASHINGTON — With the current chairman under fire for his connections to a lobbying firm under FBI investigation, Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., could be in line to take over the chairmanship of the House panel that oversees Pentagon funding. But even as that possibility looms, Dicks himself faces increased scrutiny for his relationship to the lobbying firm at the heart of the investigation. So far, Dicks hasn't been sucked into the latest earmark-campaign contribution scandal on Capitol Hill, though he and a handful of other lawmakers have skated around the edges. Dicks adamantly denies any wrongdoing and said he hasn't...

Politics: The career of Roland Burris, a political cipher from Illinois who became a U.S. senator and the lamest of ducks, is over. He can now retire into the obscurity he so richly deserves.Having obtained the seat under a cloud of typical Illinois corruption, Burris announced Friday he won't run for a full term in 2010. He was appointed by the former and recently impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich who, among his other accomplishments, tried to auction off the seat formerly held by Barack Obama. Blagojevich was forced out of office and may soon join other Illinois governors who went on...

CHICAGO (Reuters) – The former chief of staff for ousted Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich pleaded guilty on Wednesday and agreed to testify about attempts to cash in on the governor's power to fill a vacant U.S. Senate post. John Harris, 47, became the first of six defendants indicted in the corruption case against Blagojevich to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors. A trial is scheduled for June. Prosecutors have said Blagojevich was arrested in December to prevent him from carrying out tape-recorded threats to trade the Senate seat vacated by newly elected President Barack Obama. Two months later, Blagojevich was...

For the past several years, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has funneled more than $3 million in earmarks to a company in his district to build an underwater “swimmer detection” sonar system for the Navy to use to protect its docks and ships. But the company, KDH Defense Systems, sews bulletproof vests. It had never built a sonar system and had no expertise in sonar engineering. The sonar project was to be the first product of a new “startup” company. Documents indicate the company did have a plan — which never came to pass — to partner with other local defense...

A former executive for a defense contractor with ties to powerful Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha is charged by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor. The executive charged is Richard Ianieri, of Doylestown, who used to work for a company called Coherent Systems International Corp.

Federal prosecutors filed corruption charges yesterday against a onetime defense contractor who has ties to both U.S. Rep. John Murtha and a suburban Johnstown defense contractor currently under criminal investigation. Richard S. Ianieri, former president and CEO of Coherent Systems International Corp., was accused of accepting $200,000 in kickbacks. He is charged through a criminal information and is expected to plead guilty. No date has yet been set. According to the court filing entered yesterday, Mr. Ianieri is accused of taking the kickbacks from a date unknown through January 2006 while an officer for Coherent, which was a prime contractor...

The Washington Post yesterday initiated internal reviews to ensure that its business practices do not compromise its journalistic ethics when the newspaper organizes conferences or private events funded by sponsors. The reviews follow the revelation last week that The Post was planning private, off-the-record dinners at the home of publisher Katharine Weymouth for which it was seeking sponsors to pay $25,000... Weymouth yesterday appointed the newspaper's general counsel, Eric Lieberman, to review the discussions that led to the controversy. The review, along with a parallel inquiry by Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli and Senior Editor Milton Coleman, are is aimed at...

Washington - They're known as "monuments to me," airports, bridges and courthouses named after the lawmakers who secured the federal funds to build them. Dave Obey says he won't allow any more earmarks for such projects - even though his name is already etched on a building back home in Wausau.The David R. Obey Center for Health Sciences at Northcentral Technical College features a water wall, atrium and a state-of-the-art surgical suite. It was constructed thanks to a $20 million earmark the Wisconsin congressman tucked into a federal spending bill in 2001.Obey did not specify that the building be...

WaPo cancels lobbyist eventBy: Mike Allen and Michael Calderone July 2, 2009 08:04 AM EST Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors. The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for...

Deals offered by the Washington Post For $25K, Boswell will let Manny Acta tattoo a Nat's W on his ass. For $500K, Charles Krauthammer will write a series of columns advocating war with a country of your choosing. For only $10,000 the WaPo will review your stimulus package and they won't mention that it promotes socialism! For $25k, we'll have Woodward write a book on you. For $250k, it will actually be complimentary. For $5000, WaPo will let you write the same psychopathic op-ed http://tr.im/qD3b that you wrote in WSJ 3wks ago http://tr.im/qD3y For $200K Katharine Graham will rise from...