The Daily MuckCongratulations to Rep. John Murtha (D-PA)! He is this year’s winner of the Daily Muck’s coveted “Most Pork” award. Murtha has requested or co-requested a cool $150 million in earmarked funds. (The Hill)
The House Rules Committee struck down three of Rep. Allan Mollohanâs (D-WV) earmark requests after Mollohan himself asked to remove the earmarks. The lawmaker, who anticipated that Republicans would move to strike the earmarks anyway, is currently under investigation by the FBI for his close ties to nonprofit groups and the earmarks he has directed to these organizations. (The Hill)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has requested a Pentagon investigation of 21st Century Systems, Inc., a defense contracting company, for alleged misuse of government earmarks. Coburn has set his sights on the company as part of a wider effort to crack down on earmark spending. Sen Nelson (D-NE), who sponsored the earmark, defended his request despite questions raised by the fact that the Senator’s son is an employee of the firm. (The Hill)
After two years of listening to complaints that the post-Katrina “disaster trailers” contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde, FEMA is springing into action. They have finally decided to suspend the sale and donation of these trailers while they review the reports that the trailers are causing respiratory problems for residents. It’s a stunning reversal, considering that only a few weeks ago Congress saw documents showing that FEMA lawyers had discouraged the agency from looking into the problem. (USA TODAY)
Valerie Plame worked at the Central Intelligence Agency from 1985 to 2006. I am allowed to write that fact which is now both public knowledge and published in the Congressional Record. But Valerie Plame can’t include it in her memoir, according to a new court ruling which says the information was classified and has never officially been acknowledged by the CIA. (NY Times)
Six years ago the Army knew that their promotion exams were vulnerable to cheating. Last year that vulnerability was confirmed when the Army discovered that soldiers were downloading copies of exams off the internet. And yet, the Army has only just moved to close the site most visited for “exam assistance.” Don’t worry about our soldiers, though: already, three copycat sites have popped up to replace the closing of shamschool.com. (Boston Globe)
“I am hoping that Kyl would not bring it up in an open hearing.” Those are the words of an assistant to the Attorney General after Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) privately said he opposed the firing of Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton. Kyl has since publicly voiced his disappointment that Charlton was fired. Via Think Progress. (Arizona Central)
The District of Columbia has agreed to pay $1 million for improperly rounding up 120 protesters who were demonstrating against the Iraq War, the IMF and the World Bank. (Associated Press)
