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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Visclosky aide offered earmarks for campaign donation, convicted lobbyist said

2014-09-20

[Washington Post] Lobbyist Paul Magliocchetti told the FBI that an aide to Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) offered him legislative earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions annually for about a decade, according to newly released FBI files. The lobbyist -- who pleaded guilty to illegally funneling $386,000 in campaign donations to politicians -- said a representative of Visclosky's office first approached him in 1997 and told him earmarks were "for sale" for $10,000 to $15,000 in campaign cash for Visclosky, the documents show. When Visclosky later became chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee for energy and water development, the price for earmarks increased to $20,000, Magliocchetti told the FBI, according to the files. The allegations -- contained in documents released as part of a public-records lawsuit -- shed new light on a multi-year corruption investigation by the FBI into Magliocchetti's former lobbying firm, PMA Group, and its ties with a network of House appropriators, including Visclosky and the late congressman John Murtha (D-Pa.). Maglioccchetti was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 2010, but no charges were ever brought against Visclosky or any of his aides. Neither a front man for Vis­closky -- who is now ranking Democrat on the House defense appropriations subcommittee -- nor Visclosky's attorneys responded to calls Thursday requesting comment. In 2010, Visclosky's attorneys, Reid Weingarten and Brian Heberlig, told the House Ethics Committee ...think of a nudibranch pretending to be a vertebrate... that the politician's actions were "examples of typical fundraising practices that members have historically engaged in on a widespread and routine basis without recrimination." Visclosky stepped aside as chairman of the energy subcommittee after his office and political committees were subpoenaed in 2009. His longtime chief of staff also resigned. The House Office of Congressional Ethics in February 2010 released a report concluding there was probable cause that Visclosky sought contributions in exchange for earmarks, citing among other things e-mails in which company lobbyists said they and others seeking earmarks had been asked to donate $20,000 to Visclosky and were invited to attend a campaign fundraising event.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Murtha-linked Pa. brothers to plead guilty

2013-03-28

[GOOGLE] Two brothers who owned defense contracting businesses that benefited from earmarks obtained by the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha will plead guilty to charging the military $650,000 for parts that were never delivered and paying a kickback to another contractor, a defense attorney said. Ronald and William Kuchera will waive their right to be indicted and plead guilty to charges filed late last week by federal prosecutors, said Ronald Kuchera's lawyer, Stanton Levenson. They're waiting only for U.S. Judge Kim Gibson in Johnstown to set a court date, Levenson said. Murtha, the powerful Democrat who chaired the House Defense appropriations subcommittee, isn't mentioned in the twin four-page criminal informations charging the Kucheras with major fraud against the federal government and conspiracy via two companies they owned, Kuchera Defense Systems Inc. and Kuchera Industries Inc., of Windber.

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Home Front: Politix

LTC lawyers up against Dempsey

2012-09-22

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it is representing U.S.Army Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley, a 1994 Graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. In April 2012, LTC Dooley, a highly decorated combat veteran, was publically condemned by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and relieved ofhis teaching assignment because of the negative way Islam was portrayed in an elective course entitled, Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center observed, "In order to appease Muslims and the White House, General Dempsey and the Department of Defense rushed to punish LTC Dooley. In the process, they violated not only our Nation's core principles of free speech and academic freedom guaranteed by our Constitution, but also, a number of the military's own regulations dealing with academic freedom and non-attribution policies of the National Defense University (NDU) to which LTC Dooley was assigned. They violated the right to due process of law and even by-passed the University's Provost, who under NDU's own rules has primary responsibility for adjudication of this matter." The Thomas More Law Center played a pivotal role in defending LtCol. Jeffrey Chessani, USMC, another loyal military officer, who was ordered to face a court martial to appease the Iraqi government and anti-war politicians, especially Congressman John Murtha (D-PA). A military judge dismissed the charges against Chessani on the grounds of undue command influence. Parroting the FBI's reason, namely, "political sensitivity" as the reason for not thoroughly investigating Army Major Nidal Hasan, which ultimately led to the Ft. Hood Massacre, General Dempsey on 24 April 2012 ordered a review of instruction that was "disrespectful of the Islamic religion" to ensure "cultural sensitivity." The result is certain. Officers and instructors see what has happened to LTC Dooley, and will refrain from telling the truth about Islam or confronting the difficult strategic challenges facing our nation for fear of jeopardizing their professional careers. The Pentagon has still apparently not learned from the politically correct policies that led to the Ft. Hood massacre. Lawsuit to follow?

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Home Front: Culture Wars

Sweet Jesus, they're at it again...The "USS Harvey Milk?!?!?"

2012-05-18

An op-ed from - naturally - the San Francisco Chronicle Petty local politics shouldn't ruin a truly meaningful national gesture, which is naming a U.S. Navy ship after gay icon Harvey Milk. A ship named for the first openly gay supervisor in San Francisco seems like such a bold and audacious gesture that you wonder whether the Navy would consider such a thing. Actually, it might. Last week, the service commissioned the Cesar Chavez, a ship named for the Mexican American labor leader. Chavez served two years in the Navy during World War II. Good God...between the Cesar Chavez, the (gag) John Murtha and the LCS named after a Democrat House backbencher who was nearly unknown until being shot by some nutjob, you just know this jackass will be all over this idea... Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, made the formal request to the Secretary of the Navy, and supporters lined up. Next on the list...the USS Freddie Mercury! And how about the USS Liberace? And let's not forget the USS RuPaul...we have to give proper public honor to the entire LGBT community, after all! Then some people lost their compass. Supervisor Christina Olague, who voted against the idea in committee this week, thinks Milk's objection to the war in Vietnam makes a Navy ship a poor choice. "It's a warship," she said. "I'm not convinced that reflects Harvey Milk values." Even more vehement is gay activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca. "Why not name a bomber after Gandhi?" he asks. "The purpose of the military is to kill people, no matter how we look at it. I know Harvey opposed the Vietnam War, and if he were alive, he would be against the wars we are in now. I think it is inappropriate." If the Bay Area's hard-left, military-hating nut sandwiches can put the kibosh on this stupid phuecking idea, I'm almost willing to forgive them for being hard-left, military-hating nut sandwiches.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

FBI Saw Dark Side of Rep. John Murtha

2011-10-26

[Roll Call] Last week's release of FBI documents finally put in writing what nobody had ever said on the record: The FBI suspected that former Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and lobbyists close to him were running a scheme to funnel earmarks to sham companies and nonprofits to benefit the politician's friends and former staffers. Bits and pieces of this story were kicked around for years before Murtha died in February 2010. The Los Angeles Times, Roll Call, the Washington Post and others had documented the odd appearance of earmarks for tiny defense contractors that just happened to open an office in western Pennsylvania and just happened to hire one of the lobbying firms close to Murtha and just happened to begin making campaign donations to Murtha and other Members of Congress close to him. Reporters could do little but assemble the coincidences and couldn't prove there was anything wrong with the bigger picture. But it turns out the FBI was reading the stories and was very interested -- interested enough that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into Murtha and some of the lobbyists in his orbit, a fact that never leaked while Murtha was alive. In part, the probe never leaked precisely because he was alive. The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Justice Department files on Murtha and other Members of Congress. Its requests have been denied for the living Members on the grounds that they have a right to privacy, CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said last week. Murtha's death eliminated the privacy exemption, and the Justice Department handed over a heavily redacted bunch of files to CREW on Oct. 14. The files spell out for the first time a theory of the case that explains what Murtha's cronies may have been up to. In a memo dated June 19, 2009, FBI field agents requested the bureau "open a full public corruption investigation" regarding KSA Consulting, the lobbying firm that employed at various times the Congressman's longtime defense aide Carmen Scialabba and the Congressman's brother, Robert Murtha, widely known as Kit. The FBI field agents concluded that "the relationships between Congressman John Murtha ... and employees and partners of KSA Consulting provide for a potential Honest Services Fraud ... if Congressman Murtha influenced the awarding of contracts to KSA-controlled entities or clients, in exchange for some personal benefit to the Congressman. KSA principals may also have committed Honest Services Fraud by lobbying Murtha to direct earmarks to KSA clients who 'passed-thru' the funds to subcontractor firms that did little actual work and were owned by KSA principles." Neither Murtha nor anybody from KSA was ever charged with a crime, and it is unclear what happened to the investigation. Sure it is. Wondered just exactly who called off the FBI and DoJ...

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Magliocchetti Case Involving Late Dem Draws Less Coverage Than Abramoff Scandal

2010-08-07

The financial scandal that dogged Rep. John Murtha until his death in February has reached a climatic point following the arrest Thursday of a former aide to the Pennsylvania Democrat. But as the case sparks comparisons to the infamous Jack Abramoff scandal, the story has yet to generate as much attention. Paul Magliocchetti, the owner of a now-closed lobbying firm that represented defense clients, was arrested Thursday on charges of making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions. The charges against Magliocchetti, brought in federal court in Alexandria, Va., included making false statements to the Federal Election Commission. But the coverage of Magliocchetti has drawn scant media coverage. By comparison, the Abramoff scandal, which involved Republican lawmakers, captured national attention. Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, noted that the Washington Post ran a front page story Friday on the Magliocchetti, but he slammed the broadcast news stations and newsweeklies for not offering as much prominent coverage. "They're not going to do anything that would put a Democratic member of Congress on the cover of a magazine," he said. "They run in a pack and the pack isn't mindless. They have a narrative they want and they're going to stick to it." Abramoff was sentenced in 2006 to nearly six years for a fraudulent Florida casino deal and got a four-year sentence in 2008 for conspiring to defraud the U.S., corrupting public officials and defrauding his clients in a separate case. Even Abamoff's release from prison in June has generated more media coverage. Abramoff landed a job at Tov Pizza, a kosher pizzeria in Baltimore soon after his release. Graham said "it's very easy for a partisan media" to largely ignore the Magliocchetti case. "Too difficult. Congressman dead. No one cares," he said. But he added "there's elements that could make a compelling television news story but they just don't want to do it." As part of his plea deal, Abramoff cooperated in a long-running Justice Department investigation that led to the convictions of former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and several top Capitol Hill aides.

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Home Front: Politix

Where do defamed SEALS go to get their reputations back?

2010-05-16

Ray Donovan, who served as Ronald Reagan's labor secretary, was indicted on 10 counts of corruption in 1984. That was the beginning of a three-year ordeal, culminating in a nine-month trial that was largely superfluous. A good portion of the American media and public had already rendered a presumptive guilty verdict. A jury of 12 of Donovan's peers who actually heard the evidence against him thought otherwise. They unanimously acquitted him on all counts. “Should this indictment have ever been brought?' Donovan asked after his exoneration. “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back?' Three Navy SEALs who faced courts-martial for allegedly abusing a terrorist and covering up the incident should be asking these questions. Last week, a military jury delivered the same verdict for Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe that two previous juries had given Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jonathan Keefe — not guilty. The charges against the three elite SEALs stemmed from the apprehension of Ahmed Hashim Abed in a daring nighttime raid in Iraq last September. Abed is believed to have led the ambush of a convoy in Fallujah in 2004, during which insurgents pulled four American military contractors — one a former SEAL — from their vehicles, brutally beat them to death, mutilated their bodies and hung the corpses from a bridge over the Euphrates River. McCabe was charged for — if you have a delicate constitution, stop reading here — striking Abed once in the midsection while he was in the SEALs' custody. Huertas and Keefe were charged with dereliction of duty for failing to prevent the alleged abuse and impeding the investigation into it. In the civilian world, these charges don't sound like much. In the world of the SEALs, they lead to dead-end careers. That was implicit in the offer from military brass scared stiff by the Obama administration's political correctness: acknowledge guilt and accept ruinous administrative punishment, or take your chances with a court-martial and end up in the brig. The SEALs, men of honor, chose to defend their names and try to continue serving the nation in the Special Operations Forces. The cases against McCabe, Huertas and Keefe were largely based on the assertions of one eyewitness who gave conflicting statements and Abed himself, who as an al-Qaida operative would have been trained to exploit the justice system and the media with claims of abuse. Numerous other witnesses contradicted those assertions. Should these indictments have ever been brought? “I allowed these charges to go forward because I truly believe that the best process known for uncovering the truth, when the facts are contested, is that process which is found in our adversarial justice system,' read a statement from Maj. Gen. Charles Cleveland, Commander of Special Operations for U.S. Central Command, after McCabe's acquittal. Cleveland is a decorated soldier. But those are the words of an officer who has been cowed into submission by civilian leaders intent on turning the war on terror into a legal briefing, who have given greater priority to Mirandizing terrorists than gleaning valuable intelligence from them, who believe Abu Ghraib is the rule rather than the exception and for whom the presumption of innocence prevails for those who want to destroy this nation while, as the late John Murtha infamously observed, those who gallantly defend it are assumed to be cold-blooded killers. McCabe, Huertas and Keefe have been acquitted. But instead of earning distinction for capturing a terrorist who butchered four Americans, they will forever be known as the three SEALs who faced courts-martial for beating a detainee and lying to cover it up. Which office do these brave men go to to get their reputations back?

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Home Front: Politix

DCCC pulls out of Hawaii special election

2010-05-11

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is pulling out of the Hawaii special election for Rep. Neil Abercrombie's (D) seat, effectively handing the seat to the Republicans. In Hawaii? "The DCCC will not be investing additional resources in the (Hawaii) special election," Jennifer Crider, a DCCC spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Local Democrats were unable to work out their differences. The DCCC will save the resources we would have invested in the Hawaii special election this month for the general election in November." The committee concluded there's no way state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case (Hawaii) can split the Democratic vote and still defeat Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou (R). The committee spent more than $300,000 in the Hawaii race, according to a source. The National Republican Congressional Committee said the DCCC's involvement revealed a local party "in disarray." "The DCCC is giving up in a district as blue as this one due to their own blunders and a fed-up constituency that rejected their reckless agenda of higher taxes, negligent spending and government takeovers,"Joanna Burgos, an NRCC spokeswoman, said in a statement. President Barack Obama won the district with 70 percent in 2008. Hanabusa has been in third place in most polls of the three-way contest. National Democrats were sending the message to step aside through Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and his staff, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. But the Hanabusa camp seemed to hint she was staying in the race to help her chances in November. A local strategist close to Hanabusa told the paper the campaign has heard the message to step aside for the interest of the party. "It has not fallen on deaf ears," the strategist said. "But we understand our community better than anybody and, come November, there will be a Democrat there." The special election is Saturday, May 22nd, and is a winner-take-all-format. Abercrombie resigned his seat to run for governor. Democrats had been on a winning streak when it came to special elections. Now, the party can concentrate on next Tuesday's special election for former Rep. John Murtha's (D-Pa.). seat.

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Home Front: Politix

Dick Morris Predicts GOP Landslide

2010-04-18

The man considered one of the premier sculptors of Bill's Clinton's re-election in 1996 predicted Friday night that Republicans would take control of the Senate and the House in mid-term elections this fall. Noting that he keeps reading quotes from GOP leaders such as Republican National Chairman Michael Steele that they are "optimistic" about the elections this fall, Dick Morris told a packed dinner at the Pennsylvania Leadership Council: "I've got news--it's not even going to be close, guys." Fresh from addressing a 4,000-strong Tea Party in Arkansas, Morris--best-selling author, syndicated columnist, and Fox News commentator--held the PLC audience spellbound with his bold predictions. "Republicans will win the Senate with 52 or 53 seats," Morris said without hesitation, "and the House will go Republican by 10 to 20 seats." The former Clinton strategist-turned-Republican pointed out that it will take a minimum of 39 seats to change from Democrat to Republican for the GOP to win a majority. Seven of those 39, he predicted, "will come from right here in Pennsylvania--the epicenter of change." Beginning with a Republican pick-up of the Western Pennsylvania seat of the late Democratic Rep. John Murtha in the special election May 18, Morris said that the GOP's gains in the Keystone State would come from unseating Democratic Representatives Kathy Dahlkemper, Jason Altmire, Patrick Murphy, Christopher Carney, and Paul Kanjorski. (Although that ads up to only six, others at the dinner told me Morris came to his figure of a gain of seven by automatically factoring in the likely pickup by GOPer Pat Meehan of the Delaware County district vacated by Senate hopeful Joe Sestak). As to the claims of Altmire (who voted twice against the Obama-backed healthcare bill) that he is a "moderate Democrat," Morris recalled his days as a "moderate Democrat" in the 1990's working with Bill Clinton on issues such as "tough love" welfare reform and cutting the capital gains tax. "Today, the moderate Democrat is as extinct as a do-do," declared Morris, "I am extinct." He said that in the Democratic Party of today, "you are either an Obama-Reid-Pelosi Democrat or you are a Republican. I am a Republican." Morris also quoted Ronald Reagan that "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me." And even if moderate Democrats weren't extinct, he added, "the first vote any of them would cast would be to make Nancy Pelosi speaker, put [California Rep.] Henry Waxman in charge of energy policy, [Mississippi Rep.] Bennie Thompson in charge of homeland security, and [Massachusetts Rep.] Barney Frank in charge of the banking and financial industry. No other vote matters after that one." The leftward drift of the Democratic Party under Obama ("the most liberal President in history," Morris said) and its agenda of "nationalilzing healthcare, cap and trade, and card check" was the reason he felt Republicans would have a banner political year in 2010. In suggesting that clashes between a Republican Congress and Obama could lead to a government shutdown similar to that of 1995, Morris predicted that congressional Republicans would not experience the blame they did 15 years ago. He explained that "people didn't blame President Clinton because he was not trying to raise spending. Everybody knows that Barack Obama has raised spending and will blame him. And we will win."

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Home Front: Politix

Critics Slam Decision to Name Navy Ship for John Murtha

2010-04-15

The Navy's decision to name a ship for the late Rep. John Murtha has outraged some critics who have not forgiven the Pennsylvania Democrat for accusing U.S. Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" five years ago. The Navy is naming its newest San Antonio-class amphibious transport-dock LPD 26 for Murtha, the powerful chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee who became an outspoken and influential critic of the Iraq war. Murtha died in February at age 77 after complications from gallbladder surgery. San Antonio-class ships support Marines and can carry roughly 700 troops, their equipment and vehicles. They are usually named after cities; the USS Murtha will be a break from that tradition. The Washington Times denounced the tribute to the powerful congressman, a former Marine Corps officer, in its editorial on Thursday. "This is a slap in the face to every service member who bridled when Murtha publicly accused Marines in Iraq of intentionally killing women and children in cold blood," the editorial reads. The newspaper said the honor shouldn't go to "a political hack whose most successful defensive maneuver was saving his pork-laden earmarks from surprise attacks of fiscal responsibility." Another blogger wrote that it "seems oddly premature" to affix "Murtha's name to a ship while real and continuing issues of ethics violations and abuses of power remain fresh in the collective memory." In February, the House ethics panel cleared Murtha in an investigation of his role in awarding defense contracts to a firm led by a former aide. Murtha served in Korea and received a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam. In 1974 he became the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress and went on to serve his Pennsylvania district for 18 terms. But the Navy's decision to honor him has become the focus of controversy because of his criticism of the Iraq war. In 2002, Murtha voted to authorize President George W. Bush to use military force in Iraq, but his growing frustration over the administration's handling of the war prompted him in November 2005 to call for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. His criticism of the Iraq war intensified in 2005, when he accused Marines of murdering Iraqi civilians "in cold blood" in Haditha after a Marine died and two were wounded by a roadside bomb. Charges against six of the Marines have been dropped, and one Marine was acquitted. The last Marine, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, will stand military trial in September on reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter in nine of the 24 deaths and other crimes. Wuterich was originally charged with shooting 17 Iraqi civilians. Critics said Murtha unfairly held the Marines responsible before an investigation was concluded and fueled enemy retaliation. He said that the war couldn't be won militarily and that such incidents dimmed the prospect for a political solution. Murtha, nicknamed "The King of Pork," also faced scrutiny for earmarking federal dollars for projects in his district. While critics object, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who announced the tribute, made clear in a statement following Murtha's death in February that the congressman was respected at the Pentagon. "Both in uniform and in the halls of Congress, Chairman Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the Marine Corps and Congress. His unwavering support of our sailors and Marines, and in particular our wounded warriors, was well known and deeply appreciated," Mabus said. A senior Republican congressional aide told FoxNews.com that it's doubtful much criticism will emerge from Capitol Hill. "In the past, whenever the Navy decides to name a ship after someone, especially a former member of Congress, generally there's not that much pushback," the aide said.

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-Short Attention Span Theater-

USS John Murtha, LPD-26 - A Jonah Ship

2010-04-14

The Navy's 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock will be named for Rep. John Murtha, the long-serving Pennsylvania Democrat who chaired the powerful House appropriations defense subcommittee before he died in February. According to a Navy memorandum obtained by Navy Times, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus notified Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead that he had selected “John P. Murtha' for the previously unnamed LPD 26. It's the latest example of the Navy breaking a convention for naming its warships; the previous ships in the San Antonio class have been named for American cities. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

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Home Front: Politix

Breaking - House Appropriations And Defense Committies Ban For-Profit Earmarks

2010-03-10

The powerful House Appropriations Committee announced Wednesday it will no longer approve earmarks directed at for-profit companies. Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.) and newly appointed defense appropriations subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) made their ruling less than an hour after House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) asked that House Republicans meet to take up a unilateral moratorium on earmark spending. In a statement Obey said that "these new policies are not intended to be a one-year experiment. They are intended to be a long-term proposition." A number of Democrats and Republicans have undertaken efforts to rein in so-called "pork barrel" spending in recent days, sparking a battle between the parties over who can best reform the earmark process. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has lobbied members of her party in recent days to impose a moratorium on earmarks in order to get out in front of Republicans on the issue. Republicans discussed enacting a ban in the last Congress, but a vote never materialized. That the Appropriations Committee decided to bar for-profit earmarks signals that Democrats are looking to make a splash with their effort. Without harming the 'community organizations' that are vital to their re-election hopes ... Dicks' successor atop the defense appropriations subcommittee, the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), was known for handing out millions of dollars in earmarks to defense contractors to create projects in his district. Murtha's propensity to dole out cash for his district sparked several probes by the ethics committee and federal prosecutors. Government watchdogs have for years decried the use of earmarks, saying that they are wasteful and cause corruption. Several lawmakers have pushed for reform for several years, but spending has ballooned under both Republican and Democratic Congresses. Obey and Dicks claim that 1,000 earmark requests would have been turned down last year if the rule was in place on their panel. The ruling also requires agencies to audit at least 5 percent of non-profit earmarks. They also announced the creation of a program that allow companies that don't have connections to the Pentagon to present their products to Defense Department officials. In a release, the two Democrats also touted earmark reforms enacted by Democrats in 2007 and 2009 related to earmark disclosure. But earmark disclosure reforms pushed by the Obama administration has not reduced the amount of spending, according to a recent report by Taxpayers for Common Sense. Two Republicans have taken up the issue in addition to Boehner. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has indicated he will force a vote on a one-year moratorium on earmarks when the Senate takes up its extenders bill, which is expected to happen Wednesday. Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) is planning to offer a privileged resolution on the House floor requesting better guidance from the ethics committee on taking campaign contributions from companies that accept earmarks. Republicans have argued that Democratic proposals won't go far enough in cutting earmarks. In a statement, Flake praised the committee's move but said more is needed. "Banning earmarks to private companies leaves untouched the millions of dollars wasted every year by earmarks, but it is a good first step in addressing the corruption that stems from the practice," he said. "I hope that Republicans take these restrictions a step further and impose a moratorium on all earmarks this year."

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