The Daily Muck

An ad war over the Iraq war is about to begin. Freedom’s Watch, a pro-Bush group co-founded by Ari Fleischer and other high-profile Bush supporters, will spend $15 million on an ad campaign (including radio and television ads featuring military veterans) that will try to garner support for Bush’s troop “surge” in Iraq. (The Politico)

A former lawyer at the Texas secretary of state’s office has filed a lawsuit claiming that she lost her job because of political pressure. Elizabeth Reyes appeared in an article discussing Karl Rove’s voting record; she was fired shortly after Rove called her boss to ask about quotations from the story. (Think Progress)

Yesterday a federal judge ruled that the Bush administration broke the law when it failed to create two environmental reports, an updated climate change research plan and an impact assessment plan. The administration has until March 1st to create the first of the two plans. (Associated Press)

The power of the probe. Congressional Democrats are using subpoenas and public investigations to pursue their agenda, according to AP. The article details the various subjects Congress is pursuing through its oversight powers, while House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said Congressional investigative powers could be “more important than legislation.” (Associated Press)

The amount of money spent on no-bid contracts continues to rise this year. The total annual expenditure on these deals has thus far tripled since 2000; last year, the amount increased by $60 billion to add up to a $200 billion year-end haul. (Washington Post)

Big surprise: Wall Street does not want more taxes. Hedge funds and private equity firms are willing to spend an arm an a leg to prevent Congress from adding to their tax burden; despite the fact that legislation was only first offered in the spring, these investment vehicles have already doled out over $5 million in lobbying fees this year. That’s more than double all of 2006’s numbers. (Washington Post)

See no protesters, hear no protesters. That’s the White House’s basic guideline for dealing with protesters during President Bush’s speaking engagements. A White House guide called the “Presidential Advice Manual,” obtained through a FOIA request by the ACLU, gives specific instructions to administration staff that protesters, if they absolutely HAVE to be there, should be placed in a designated protest area where President Bush cannot see them. There are “rally squads” that make sure there are no secret protesters or protesters with “folded cloth signs.” (Washington Post)

Illinois Gov. George Ryan (R) had his racketeering and fraud convictions upheld yesterday. He will remain out of prison while he appeals the decision. (Associated Press)

Move over, Facebook. Now the cool new social networking tool is A-Space, an analyst program designed to be a “MySpace for analysts” working at intelligence agencies. (Financial Times)