Second Contractor With Murtha Ties Pleads Guilty

From The Hill:

A former Air Force contractor pleaded guilty Monday to a false statement and conflict-of-interest charge in a widening case involving several defense companies with ties to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

Mark O’Hair faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for omitting any reference to his position as a director of a defense company on financial disclosure forms required for his position as a civilian program officer. The company received more than $200,000 in government contracts while O’Hair was in charge of awarding contractors for the Air Force Research Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

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Barney Frank: Don't Blame Me For The Housing Bubble

Barney Frank

From Tech Ticker/Yahoo Finance:

Who’s to blame for the subprime housing bubble? A popular answer – especially on the right side of the aisle - is Massachusetts Democrat, Barney Frank.

Why?

The argument, best summed up in an Investor's Business Daily editorial published in March 2009, goes like this: "Starting in the early 1990s," Rep. Barney Frank "(and other Democrats) stood athwart efforts by regulators, Congress and the White House to get the runaway housing market under control." It goes on to say in, "2002, Frank nixed reforms" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that in 2003, "led by Frank, Democrats stood as a bloc against any changes" that President Bush proposed making to Fannie and Freddie.

Is it true? Frank doesn't think so.

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What’s That Got to Do With Mr. Murtha? -- A Commentary

John Murtha

From The New York Times:

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.

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Big Dem Cash Dump On Eve Of Climate Vote

From The Politico:

Three House Democratic leaders who were whipping members on the climate change bill gave tens of thousands in campaign cash to party moderates around the time of the 219-212 vote on June 26, according to Federal Election Commission records.

It's impossible to tell if that torrent of cash was an attempt to schmear wavering Democrats -- or just part of the usual cash dump made by leaders on the eve of the June 30 quarterly fundraising deadline.

Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) doled out $28,000 to reps who eventually voted yes on June 24, two days before the big vote -- on a day when House leaders were doing some heavy-duty arm-twisting.

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My Comment: Our politicians being bought off. Sigh .... they do not even hide it anymore.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, Accused Of Race Politics Today During The EPW Hearing

From Politico:

While most people were paying attention to Day 4 of Sonia Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) was grabbing the attention of all those watching the Environment and Public Works hearing this morning.

It got very testy.

Boxer was speaking to panelist Harry C. Alford, the president & CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce.

They first started talking about where he lived, which led to Boxer telling him, "Let me talk to you, this is friendly."

That didn't last too long.

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Riddle, Conyers Teamed Up To Extort At Least $65,000, U.S. Says

Sam Riddle. File photo by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL/DFP

From The Detroit Free Press:

Ex-state legislator Mary Waters also indicted.

Detroit political consultant Sam Riddle was indicted today on a host of federal charges ranging from bribery to extortion, mail fraud and making false statements and court documents contend that former City Councilwoman Monica Conyers participated at every turn of the conspiracy.

Also charged was former state legislator Mary Waters, who lives with Riddle. The pair were charged with conspiracy to bribe and two counts of bribery stemming from their alleged roles in helping a Southfield pawnshop relocate and expand in that city.

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Ethics Probe Of Rep. Conyers Sought

Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project. ASSOCIATED PRESS

From the Washington Times:

Group decries letter to EPA on project tied to wife's deals.

The Landmark Legal Foundation filed Monday a House ethics complaint against Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, over his role in writing a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency that supported a waste project tied to his wife, a former Detroit City Council member who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

The foundation, a conservative public interest law firm in Virginia, called Mr. Conyers' actions in his wife's political dealings "very serious allegations." Mr. Conyers is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a powerful member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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My Comment: I doubt that this probe will amount to anything. The Democrats have a lock on the Congress, and they are not going to permit one of their more senior Black Congressmen to lose his seat or going to jail.

The $750,000 Government-Employee Pampering Scandal

From Townhall:

How quickly can 700 government employees spend three-quarters of a million taxpayer dollars at a resort hotel?

Last week the Social Security Administration flew approximately 700 of its managers from across the U.S. and Guam to Phoenix, Arizona’s posh Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Resort, for “organizational training.” The event, which included musical entertainment and dancing, skits, catered food, cocktails, and a “casino night” featuring “door prizes,” cost us lowly taxpayers approximately $750,000.

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White House ‘Dirty Tricks’ Torpedo Palin

From Times Online:

Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential candidate, has accused members of President Barack Obama’s administration of a dirty tricks campaign to derail her political career.

Palin’s bizarre announcement that she would quit her post as governor of Alaska on July 26 stunned political friends and foes and has been greeted with derision by a growing number of prominent Republicans. Some conservative insiders have accused the charismatic mother-of-five of succumbing to “paranoia”.

Among the many explanations for her abrupt departure – from an alleged desire to be free to pursue the presidency in 2012 to money worries and ethics problems – the theory put forward by her spokeswoman, Meg Stapleton, is that members of Obama’s White House are to blame.

Palin, 45, complained in her resignation speech on July 3 that she was being hounded constantly by “frivolous” ethics complaints. “This [is] political absurdity, the politics of personal destruction,” she said. “Todd [her husband] and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills to set the record straight.”

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My Comment: It takes a British paper to publish this story .... the main stream media in the U.S. .... they are zzzzzz.

A Commentary On The Direction Of The USA Today

The War Against the Producers -- Pajamas Media

Stimulus, stimulus and not a drop…

A “stimulus” of nearly a trillion dollars was proposed, without which we were told, unemployment would skyrocket and credit would tighten further. Six months later — unemployment having risen even higher than the administration’s forecast of what would have been the case had their stimulus package not been implemented — now the same proponents of massive borrowing demand a second stimulus to accomplish what the first ’successful’ borrowing apparently did not. If you fail, then try the same thing to fail even bigger the second time — while calling for more success to follow the earlier success?

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My Comment: Could not have said it any better.

DOJ Says Murtha Earmark Money Was Illicitly Distributed

Rep. John Murtha. Matthew Cavanaugh / EPA file

From Roll Call:

A contracting firm that had hired the brother of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) as its lobbyist took the proceeds from a Murtha-provided, $8.2 million Air Force earmark and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to other companies represented by the Congressman’s brother for items that were not part of the project, the Justice Department charged Thursday.

The charges make no indication that the Congressman had any involvement or knowledge of the transactions.

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My Comment: I will change the old phrase .... "All roads lead to Rome" .... to .... "All roads lead to John Murtha".

Ensign Acknowledges $96,000 In Payments To Ex-Mistress And Family

Senator John Ensign speaks during a news conference,
about an affair he had with a former aide Photo: AP

From Roll Call:

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) Thursday acknowledged that his family made nearly $100,000 in payments to family members of his former mistress after her husband, a longtime aide and personal friend, discovered the relationship.

Since Ensign admitted his affair with former campaign staffer Cynthia Hampton, he has repeatedly declined to comment about whether he made any payments to her, her husband, Doug, or other members of the family.

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My Comment: If I was the husband .... I would never have accepted the money and I would have definitely divorced my wife. Sheeessshhhh .... these politicians have no shame. But the husband whose wife had the affair with Sen. Ensign must be a real piece of work to take the money and to keep silent about this.

The Reason Why Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Supports Abortion

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg: I Thought Roe Would Help Eradicate Unwanted Populations Through Abortion -- Life Site News

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg seems to have made a stunning admission in favor of cleansing America of unwanted populations by aborting them. In an interview with the New York Times, the judge said that Medicaid should cover abortions, and that she had originally expected that Roe v. Wade would facilitate such coverage in order to control the population of groups "that we don't want to have too many of."

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My Comment: Any bets that this story is not going to be covered by the main stream media.

Billions In Aid Go To Areas That Backed Obama In '08

Workers take a break at a construction site along Interstate 294 near Chicago on June 1. Public construction projects may increase in coming months driven by stimulus spending. By Frank Polich, Bloomberg News

From USA Today:

WASHINGTON — Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election.

That aid — about $17 billion — is the first piece of the administration's massive stimulus package that can be tracked locally. Much of it has followed a well-worn path to places that regularly collect a bigger share of federal grants and contracts, guided by formulas that have been in place for decades and leave little room for manipulation.

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My Comment: So much for President Obama's declaration that there is no such thing as red state or blue state.

A Blow For Illinois’s Blagojevich In Corruption Case

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is charged with 16 counts of corruption including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. (Nam Y. Huh/ AP/ File)

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Under threat of lengthy jail time, his former chief of staff agreed on Wednesday to be a prosecution witness.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s campaign to clear his name of corruption charges suffered a major blow Tuesday when John Harris, his former chief of staff, entered a plea agreement with the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

Mr. Harris pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and he pledged cooporation with prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence if convicted.

Mr. Blagojevich is charged with 16 counts of corruption including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. He has insisted he is innocent of all charges.

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My Comment: This guy deserves to go to jail, but he is going to turn others in to save his skin from going to jail.

Jury Sees Video Of Congressman Accepting Cash

From MSNBC:

Jefferson accused of taking $400,000 in bribes to broker business deals.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - From four different angles, jurors saw a former Louisiana congressman accept a suitcase filled with $100,000 on videos played in court Tuesday.

The July 2005 handoff of the suitcase from an FBI cooperating witness to former Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, is one of the key pieces of evidence in the ongoing bribery trial of Jefferson. He's accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes in exchange for brokering business deals in Africa.

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My Comment: This guy is going to jail unless there is one juror who believes that he is innocent.

A Question That Needs to be Asked: Is The Washington Post A Lobbying Firm?

From the Chicago Boyz:

Most of you are no doubt familiar with the Washington Post salon scandal, where people with very deep pockets were invited to pony up $25,000 USD in order to have a dinner at the house of publisher Katharine Weymouth.

What would you get for that kind of scratch? The movers and shakers at the newspaper would personally introduce you to the movers and shakers at the White House, as well as the reporters who covered them. Pay them cash, and the good folks at the WaPo would create an instant handshake relationship with the very people who are shaping the future of the country, and those who shape public perception of same. If you are a representative from a special interest group, a corporation or lobbyist, this was like sounding the dinner bell at fat camp.

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Exec With Murtha Ties Took Kickbacks, Feds Say

Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) speaks at the National Press Club in Washington, Sep. 17, 2007. (AP.)

From MSNBC:

Ex-head of defense firm allegedly got $200,000 for ‘favorable treatment’.

PITTSBURGH - A former executive for a defense contractor with ties to Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor.

Richard Ianieri, of Doylestown, Pa., served as president and CEO of Coherent Systems International Corp., the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

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Fundraisers Win Jobs As Obama Envoys

U.S. Embassy In London

From The Washington Times:

President Obama's campaign to bring change to the nation's capital hasn't kept him from continuing the Washington tradition of handing out ambassadorships to political friends and fundraisers.

An old college roommate, the head of an entertainment production company and a lawyer whose family made its money selling vacuum cleaners are among more than a dozen people who have won ambassadorships after raising a total of at least $4 million for Mr. Obama's presidential campaign, according to public records.

The practice has been common for both political parties.

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My Comment: This would be a great appointment .... unless they stick you in Somalia or some other hell hole.

Al Gore Likens Fight Against Climate Change To Battle With Nazis

Al Gore: we have everything we need except political will. (Adrian Sherratt/The Times)

From Times Online:

Al Gore today compared the battle against climate change with the struggle against the Nazis.

The former US Vice President said the world lacked the political will to act and invoked the spirit of Winston Churchill by encouraging leaders to unite their nations to fight climate change.

He also accused politicians around the world of exploiting ignorance about the dangers of global warming to avoid difficult decisions.

Speaking in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment , sponsored by The Times, Mr Gore said: “Winston Churchill aroused this nation in heroic fashion to save civilisation in World War II.”

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My Comment: This man was a step away form the Presidency in 2000 .... and now he is selling this. Equating fighting the Nazis to global warming .... what he is essentially saying is that those who oppose him are Nazis. Sheeehhhh ....

At Least 38 States Overestimated Tax Revenues

From The Washington Times:

Errors force governments to make cuts.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. | With its IOUs and plans to close state offices three days a month, California gets all the attention as lawmakers fight to write a budget set off balance by a $26.3 billion deficit.

But the dozens of states that made spending cuts, tapped into reserves or relied on federal stimulus funds to patch together budgets that took effect this past week are hardly free from worry. Many of those spending plans are based on tax revenue projections that have been wrong throughout the recession - and may be unreliable again.

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My Comment: The political class has been voicing that this economic crisis is the worse since the Great Depression .... and now they are surprised by budget forecasts. Please .....

Washington Democrats Try To Bail Out Chris Dodd

Photo: President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help Sen. Chris Dodd.

From Politico:

With Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) facing an uphill battle to win reelection next year after a series of Washington scandals battered his popularity back home, President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help him.

Despite the scandals which left his ethics called into question, the three-decade Senate veteran is not trying to shake his Beltway image. Instead, Dodd is working furiously to show the impact of his long service by racking up big legislative accomplishments - including, potentially, a health care reform bill - before the midterm elections. And some of the national Democratic Party's biggest names are coming in to back him up.

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Sanford’s Affair: How To Mismanage A Crisis

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford gestures as he talks during an interview with The Associated Press about his relationship with an Argentine mistress in his Columbia, S.C., Statehouse office on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

From The State:

Sanford made ‘classic mistakes’ in handling scandal, political observers say.

There is a politician’s playbook for coping with an extramarital affair that explodes into scandal.

But Mark Sanford did not operate from that playbook. Instead, the embattled S.C. governor took a different course — to disastrous effect, those who have managed communications for politicians said last week.

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My Comment: Love .... sheesshhhh ... been there .... bought the T-Shirt.

$hady Land Of Dodd

Photo: FAINT APPRAISE: In Senate forms, Sen. Christopher Dodd valued his cottage on Inishnee Island far below what was typical for the scenic area.

From The New York Post:

Lists Irish Hideaway's Worth As Mere 638G

US Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut may have lowballed the value of a vacation property he acquired in a sweetheart deal in Ireland.

According to the Democrat's latest financial disclosures, obtained by The Post, Dodd claims his three-bedroom cottage on 10 acres with breathtaking views of the Atlantic is worth $638,000.

This figure falls far short of property values on Inishnee Island, where The Post discovered Dodd's next-door neighbor was selling a much smaller property for $1.2 million.

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My Comment: This Senator has no shame.

Battle Lines Drawn In AmeriCorps IG Scandal

From Washington Examiner:

Key Republicans in both the House and the Senate are accusing the White House of giving “incomplete and misleading” information to investigators probing the president’s abrupt firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. In return, the White House is hinting that documents concerning its actions in the Walpin affair may be protected by executive privilege.

Both developments are part of an escalating conflict between GOP lawmakers and the Obama administration. Republicans are deeply skeptical of the White House explanation for the June 10 firing of Walpin, a tough investigator who had been probing misuse of AmeriCorps money by Sacramento, Calif., mayor — and prominent Obama supporter — Kevin Johnson. And the administration seems determined to conceal its dealings with AmeriCorps and the organization that oversees it, the Corporation for National and Community Service.

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My Comment: The Democratic Party is protecting their own .... even the ones who are obviously playing in an unethical manner. The Republicans cannot do anything about it .... they just do not have the numbers in the Senate or Congress.

Complaints Arise About White House Kibitzing In Key Senate Primaries

President Barack Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) help assemble USO care packages for US troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, as Obama welcomes the Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, at the White House in Washington, May 21, 2009. (Jason Reed/REUTERS/FILE)

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Team Obama has picked favorites for races in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and New York. Local party figures say that undermines democracy – and is not the national party's job.

To an unusual degree, the Obama White House is getting involved in 2010 Senate races, attempting to shape primary contests in defiance of local party activists and before voters have even begun to focus on their potential choices.

In Pennsylvania, the White House and other Democratic leaders had made clear to Sen. Arlen Specter (D) that, were he to switch to their party, which he did in April, they would back him in the primary.

In New York, the White House is openly backing Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), who was hand-picked by Gov. David Paterson (D) to replace Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton when she became secretary of State.

In Illinois, top White House officials have made no secret that they would like to see state Attorney General Lisa Madigan run for Senate. If she agrees, the betting goes, she would clear the Democratic field – including the incumbent, Roland Burris, who was appointed to the seat by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and therefore is serving under a cloud.

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My Comment: The Republicans are doing the same thing, and are getting away with it. The reason why they are permitted to do this is simple .... it is all about the money. The National party has it .... the local party does not.

Washington Post Cancels Lobbyist Event Amid Uproar

From The Politico:

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 the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

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My Comment: I would like to know what these "officials" in the Obama administration were getting for this meeting.

Sigh .... another reason why one should not trust a newspaper like the Washington Post for its news coverage on the Obama administration. Shame on them.

Congress Travel Budget increases 1000% Since 1995

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley (left) and Sen. Richard Shelby in June on a river cruise in Paris, where U.S. politicians met with defense-industry executives. Gov. Bob Riley via Flickr

Congress's Travel Tab Swells -- Wall Street Journal

Spending on Taxpayer-Funded Trips Rises Tenfold; From Italy to the Galápagos.

WASHINGTON -- Spending by lawmakers on taxpayer-financed trips abroad has risen sharply in recent years, a Wall Street Journal analysis of travel records shows, involving everything from war-zone visits to trips to exotic spots such as the Galápagos Islands.

The spending on overseas travel is up almost tenfold since 1995, and has nearly tripled since 2001, according to the Journal analysis of 60,000 travel records. Hundreds of lawmakers traveled overseas in 2008 at a cost of about $13 million. That's a 50% jump since Democrats took control of Congress two years ago.

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My Comment: They are doing it for the children.

Politics Takes Chunk Out of White House Payroll

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel listens to U.S. President Barack Obama during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington June 23, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES POLITICS)

From Yahoo News/Real Clear Politics:

During his two months on the campaign trail as Barack Obama's running mate, Joe Biden was fond of sharing his father's witticisms with audiences to illustrate a point. One of the more common ones went something like this: "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."

Barack Obama promised voters he would change the way Washington does business and turn the page on the tired politics of the past. But newly-released documentation of White House employee salaries suggests that his administration has placed a premium on political counsel.

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Conyers Supported Project Linked To Wife

ASSOCIATED PRESS Monica Conyers attends a political rally with her husband, Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, who according to a 2007 letter to the EPA changed his opposition to a hazardous waste project.

From Washington Times:

Had opposed hazardous waste site in Michigan

Rep. John Conyers Jr. reversed his opposition to a controversial hazardous waste project in his district, writing a letter of support to the federal government with the help of his wife, former Detroit City Council member Monica Conyers, whose aide later linked her to receiving money from the contractor in the project.

The letter, sent in July 2007, was written in support of permit transfers for a hazardous waste injection well project in the city of Romulus, Mich., which was operated by a company with ties to Mrs. Conyers, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a federal investigation unrelated to the hazardous waste project.

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My Comment: This looks bad on every level.

After Call From Senator's Office, Small Hawaii Bank Got U.S. Aid

Photo: Sen. Daniel K. Inouye
Carol Cunningham/Associated Press

From The Washington Post:

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye's staff contacted federal regulators last fall to ask about the bailout application of an ailing Hawaii bank that he had helped to establish and where he has invested the bulk of his personal wealth.

The bank, Central Pacific Financial, was an unlikely candidate for a program designed by the Treasury Department to bolster healthy banks. The firm's losses were depleting its capital reserves. Its primary regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., already had decided that it didn't meet the criteria for receiving a favorable recommendation and had forwarded the application to a council that reviewed marginal cases, according to agency documents.

Two weeks after the inquiry from Inouye's office, Central Pacific announced that the Treasury would inject $135 million.

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My Comment: Sheeessshhh ..... a conflict of interest if there ever was one.

Rep. Kaptur Gets $3.5 Billion Sweetener In Climate Bill

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Democrat, capitalized on an opportunity in the House climate-change bill, seeking energy projects for her state. Getty Images

From The Washington Times:

Democrats offered concession to Ohio's Kaptur.

When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained stubbornly undecided.

They finally secured the vote of one Ohioan, veteran Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, the old-fashioned way. They gave her what she wanted - a new federal power authority, similar to Washington state's Bonneville Power Administration, stocked with up to $3.5 billion in taxpayer money available for lending to renewable energy and economic development projects in Ohio and other Midwestern states.

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My Comment: I was not aware that prostitution was legal in the U.S.