The Daily Muck

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

So much for unity in times of crisis. Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has accused Minnesota of exploiting the federal government’s generosity in responding to the recent bridge collapse. He claimed that they accepted $250 million dollars in bridge repair “to screw us”, because the state realized that “they were going to get all the money from the federal government and they were taking all they could get.” Via Think Progress. (Times Leader)

Stop being hypersensitive. That’s effectively what officials are saying to employees at the Interior Department (which oversees the country’s natural resources) who are suffering from nausea and headaches due to continuing renovations on the department’s DC headquarters. General Services Administration officials overseeing the 12-year renovation say they publish regular air quality reports and have installed a fan to “blow out bad air.” (WaPo)

While on the subject of Guantanamo, the British government did in fact request the return of five citizens that are currently being held as detainees at Guantanamo Bay. In true diplomatic form, the U.S. offered an even better deal: Britain can take all the detainees that we don’t want anymore. Britain has thus far suggested that it is not interested in the U.S.’s “generosity.” (Financial Times)

Hundreds of hurricane victims who lived in FEMA-issued, formaldehyde-laden trailers are suing the manufacturers of the trailers for “cutting corners.” FEMA has not been named in the lawsuit. (Associated Press)

Lawmakers are considering relieving FEMA of its responsibility to oversee long-term disaster recovery. They claim that FEMA does not have the organizational structure to handle situations of crisis management that last more than a few weeks. I’m sure New Orleans residents are thrilled that the agency has taken this hard look at its own capacities. (Boston Globe)

The American Bar Association is considering a proposal that recommends limiting public access to criminal records, but media organizations say this would violate the First Amendment and make it more difficult to expose police and prosecutor misconduct. The ABA argues that the unsealed records allow employers and landlords to discriminate against people who were arrested but never convicted of crimes. Even if the ABA approves the proposal, state and federal law would have to be changed in order to implement it. (Associated Press)

Latest Muckraker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: