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This page contains an archive of the last 100 entries posted to ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest in the Effective and Ethical Government category. They are listed from newest to oldest. You can find older entries using the search box below.

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Effective and Ethical Government Archives

February 29, 2008

Reid vows to end war despite lacking votes to force troop pullout - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/02/29/reid_vows_to_en...
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada pledged yesterday to try to end the Iraq war even though he lacks the votes to force a troop withdrawal. The Senate wrapped up its first round of debate on the war this year with little fanfare. After two days of discussion, Republicans refused to advance the bill. As a result, Democrats were forced to shelve proposals by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin that would have cut off money for combat and demanded a new strategy for defeating Al Qaeda. The procedural wrangling left majority Democrats defeated, even without a final vote cast on either measure. "We'll be back," said Reid, the majority leader, noting that this spring the Senate will debate whether to approve an additional $100 billion for the war. The Senate also will consider legislation to rein in contractor abuse, he said. Senate Democrats planned to meet Wednesday to discuss their strategy on the war debate. "There's a lot to do on Iraq because it's such a big hole we're dumping our money in," he told reporters.
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Pelosi demands probe on Bolten, Miers - The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/02/29/pelosi_demands_...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked the Justice Department yesterday to open a grand jury investigation into whether President Bush's chief of staff and former counsel should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress. Pelosi, a California Democrat, demanded that the department pursue misdemeanor charges against former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers for refusing to testify before Congress about the firings of federal prosecutors in 2006 and against chief of staff Joshua Bolten for not turning over White House documents related to the dismissals. She gave Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey one week to respond and said refusal to take the matter to a grand jury would result in the House filing a civil lawsuit against the Bush administration. Pelosi sent an additional letter to US Attorney Jeff Taylor, the chief federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, whose office would oversee the grand jury. The letters point to sections of federal law that require the Justice Department to bring the House contempt citations before a grand jury to investigate. The Justice Department said it had received Pelosi's request and anticipated providing further guidance after Mukasey's review. It noted "longstanding department precedent" in such cases against letting a US attorney refer a congressional contempt citation to a grand jury or prosecute the executive branch.
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$4 gasoline? It's news to Bush - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gas29feb29,1,5496121.story...
The prospect of sharply higher fuel prices, including $4-a-gallon gasoline, may not have made it into Oval Office briefing books, perhaps explaining why President Bush was surprised Thursday when a reporter mentioned what energy analysts are saying could happen soon in many parts of the country. "Wait, what did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?" Bush responded to a reporter who said some analysts expect prices to soon climb that high. "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. . . . I know it's high now." The price of oil set another record Thursday, jumping $2.95 to close at $102.59 a barrel in New York futures trading. But even before the recent surge in oil prices, analysts were predicting that the average price of a gallon of gasoline could reach $3.75 nationwide in the near term and top $4 in states such as California and Hawaii. Bush's acknowledged unfamiliarity with the recent cost of gasoline produced some fumes at the pump.
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House ethics panel launches Renzi probe - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-28-renzi-ethics_N.htm...
The House ethics committee said Thursday it was beginning an investigation into the conduct of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., who was indicted a week ago on conspiracy, extortion and other charges. The panel said in a statement it had created a four-member subcommittee to determine whether Renzi violated any laws, rules or standards of conduct with respect to any of the matters for which he was indicted. Renzi, 49, a three-term lawmaker whose district covers much of rural Arizona, was indicted on 35 counts including charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, insurance fraud and extortion. The Justice Department accuses him of engineering a swap of federally owned mining land to benefit himself and a former business partner and stealing from his insurance company's clients.
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Bush May Take Foreign Money for Presidential Library - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/washington/29library.html?ref=washington...
President Bush said Thursday that he would probably accept foreign donations to build his presidential library in Dallas and would consider keeping the donors’ names confidential if they do not want to be identified. The comments, at a White House news conference, were the first time Mr. Bush had talked in any detail about his plans for the library, which will be at Southern Methodist University, the alma mater of First Lady Laura Bush. But his detail was scant. “We just announced the deal,” he said, “and I, frankly, have been focused elsewhere, like on gasoline prices and, you know, my trip to Africa, and haven’t seen the fund-raising strategy yet.”
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City Council Resolution Urges Detroit Mayor to Resign - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/28/AR2008022804448....
A City Council committee passed a resolution Thursday accusing Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) of using his office for personal gain and calling on him to resign or risk being forced from office. The resolution accuses Kilpatrick of lying under oath when he denied during a whistle-blower lawsuit that he was involved in a romantic relationship with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. The resolution is expected to go before the entire council for a vote Tuesday. If Kilpatrick refuses to resign, the resolution directs special counsel William Goodman to research how the council can remove Kilpatrick from office through the forfeiture provision of the city charter. Kilpatrick has denied wrongdoing and vowed to stay on as mayor.
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February 28, 2008

Senate Continues Debate on Iraq Pullout - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022703382....
The Senate yesterday continued a heated but largely theatrical debate on a bill to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 120 days and began considering another that would require the Bush administration to develop a new strategy against terrorism. Republicans relished the opportunity to joust over war policy, confident in their political standing because of security gains in Iraq since President Bush's troop buildup took hold there last year. But Democrats said the debate offers them a new chance to highlight Republican support for a still unpopular war, setting the stage for them to run a general-election campaign this fall largely against Bush's policies in Iraq. Under the complicated rules set up for the congressional debate, however, it is all but certain that neither bill introduced by Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) would be approved. It is possible that neither would even approach a final vote, despite knotting up the chamber in as many as three days of floor debate. Rather than distancing themselves from Bush's Iraq policy, Republicans embraced the improvements on the ground since the president sent an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq last year, and they criticized Democrats for wanting to change course.
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House Democrats Hold Plan for Ethics Office - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022703359....
House Democrats abruptly pulled an ethics reform proposal from consideration yesterday after widespread opposition surfaced from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle a day before a scheduled vote on the plan. The proposal, months in the making, would create a new Office of Congressional Ethics run by a bipartisan group of six non-lawmakers with the power to review ethics complaints against members and staff, and forward them to the existing Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. The fate of the plan is now unclear, though Democrats vowed they would revisit the issue soon. The ethics panel has been the subject of criticism from inside and outside the Capitol for its frequent partisan feuds and light workload. House members have been wary of filing ethics complaints against each other in recent years, and the panel initiates few probes of its own. As a result, the committee has been relatively inactive, even as numerous allegations against lawmakers have emerged and the Justice Department has launched several high-profile investigations.
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Senate Panel Seeks to Alter Whistle-Blower Law - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/washington/28whistle.html?ref=washington...
Complaining that recent court rulings were thwarting efforts by citizens to report fraud against the government, members of a Senate committee said on Wednesday that they wanted to work with the Justice Department to undo some of the harm they thought the courts had caused. In a hearing, both Democratic and Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee cited examples of citizen whistle-blowers who had brought what appeared to be valid cases to the government, only to have them dismissed on legal technicalities. In one such case, filed against the Bombardier Corporation, the would-be whistle-blower was rejected because the organization said to have been a victim of fraud — Amtrak — was not a government agency. The federal whistle-blower law refers to “government entities.” The court ruled that the law did not apply to Amtrak, which is a corporation whose stock is mostly held by the government, and it threw out the case without addressing the question of whether Amtrak had been defrauded.
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Detroit Mayor Loses Fight Over Secret Papers - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/28detroit.html?ref=us...
The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the release of a trove of documents that revealed how Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick of Detroit and city lawyers tried to cover up Mr. Kilpatrick’s extramarital affair with his chief of staff, as well as text messages that could expose the mayor to perjury charges.
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Police Force Improvements Promised - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/27/AR2008022703531....
A top official vowed yesterday to turn around the troubled U.S. Park Police, which is under fire for inadequately protecting national monuments in New York and Washington. Mary A. Bomar, the National Park Service director, told a House subcommittee that a damning report by the Interior Department inspector general this month "demands my prompt and decisive action." That report said the Park Police were understaffed, poorly trained and badly equipped, leaving such icons as the Washington Monument and Statue of Liberty at risk.
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February 27, 2008

Senate Agrees To Debate Bill On Iraq Pullout - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022602452....
The Senate voted overwhelmingly yesterday to begin debating a bill that would require the administration to start withdrawing forces from Iraq in 120 days and cut funding for battlefield deployments, a surprise move supported by Republicans who want to highlight the security achievements over the past year under President Bush's troop buildup strategy. Republicans remain almost unanimously opposed to any required withdrawal timeline, but they supported opening the debate because they want to draw attention to the decreased violence and other military progress in Iraq since the United States sent an additional 30,000 U.S. troops there last year. "There's been so much improvement in the situation in Iraq. Since [Democrats] are the ones who want to turn back to the subject, we'd like to spend the time talking about the dramatic improvements in Iraq," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters moments before a preliminary vote on the withdrawal measure.
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Senate Democrats Focus on Economic Cost of War - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/washington/27congress.html?ref=washington...
Undeterred by President Bush and Senator John McCain proudly pointing to progress in Iraq, Congressional Democrats are trying to mount new lines of attack against the administration’s war policies. In a shift from last year’s failed legislative efforts to force a reduction of troops, the Democrats’ new approach is aimed primarily at framing the issue for the November elections by focusing on the financial cost of military operations and on the war’s implications for the nation’s troubled economy. With the fifth anniversary of the war fast approaching, the Democrats, citing testimony by the Pentagon’s own commanders, are also emphasizing the strain on the armed forces. In addition the Democrats contend that the war against terrorism should be waged primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, not Iraq. The change in tactics by the Democrats is one of necessity. The closest they came last year to forcing the administration to alter its war plans was in September, when they mustered 56 votes — 4 short of the 60 they needed — to advance legislation that would have required troops to be given as much time back in the United States as they spent overseas before being redeployed.
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Grassley to Wrestle Justice Department - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022602987....
For more than 20 years, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has generally taken no prisoners when it comes to defending workers who blow the whistle on fraud. But, at a hearing today, the pugnacious lawmaker will square off against an unusual combatant: the Justice Department, which opposes his plan to allow federal employees to use a powerful legal tool to recover money lost to misconduct and abuse. "The ones apt to know more about fraud in government contracting than anyone else are government employees," Grassley said in an interview. "The only people who know where the skeletons are buried are government employees." Officials at the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, however, have expressed concerns about Grassley's proposal, which would amend a Civil War-era statute designed to attack war profiteering. The change would explicitly empower federal workers to sue -- and collect a portion of the proceeds for themselves.
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Ashcroft to Testify in Congress on No-Bid Contract for His Firm - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/us/27ashcroft.html?ref=washington...
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft has agreed to testify to Congress about a multimillion-dollar no-bid contract steered to his consulting firm by the Justice Department under an out-of-court settlement between federal prosecutors and a medical-supply company, Congressional officials said Tuesday. Mr. Ashcroft agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in the face of the committee’s threat to issue a subpoena to compel his testimony. Congressional officials said the committee hoped to schedule the hearing for next month. Mr. Ashcroft, who left the Justice Department three years ago, had initially declined the committee’s invitation to testify this month about his monitoring contract with the medical-supply company in Indiana, Zimmer Holdings, which agreed to hire an outside monitor in settling accusations that it paid kickbacks to doctors who agreed to use its equipment.
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GOP Halts Effort to Retrieve White House E-Mails - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022602312....
After promising last year to search its computers for tens of thousands of e-mails sent by White House officials, the Republican National Committee has informed a House committee that it no longer plans to retrieve the communications by restoring computer backup tapes, the panel's chairman said yesterday. The move increases the likelihood that an untold number of RNC e-mails dealing with official White House business during the first term of the Bush administration -- including many sent or received by former presidential adviser Karl Rove -- will never be recovered, said House Democrats and public records advocates. The RNC had previously told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it was attempting to restore e-mails from 2001 to 2003, when the RNC had a policy of purging all e-mails, including those to and from White House officials, after 30 days. But Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) disclosed during a hearing yesterday that the RNC has now said it "has no intention of trying to restore the missing White House e-mails." "The result is a potentially enormous gap in the historical record," Waxman said, including the buildup to the Iraq war.
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Sen. Warner Hospitalized for Heart Trouble - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/26/AR2008022601740....
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) checked into a hospital yesterday for observation of a heart condition, according to a statement released by his office today. Warner, who was hospitalized last fall for atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat -- experienced a return of the condition and was admitted to Inova Fairfax Hospital for a "re-evaluation and readjustment of medications which require regular monitoring," the statement said. After going to the office yesterday, Warner "consulted with a Capitol physician, completed his office appointments and left for a scheduled admission" to the hospital, "where he remains for observation," the statement said.
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February 26, 2008

Govs: No infrastructure funds from Bush - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-25-governors-bush_N.htm...
Governors pushing for federal money to repair roads, water systems and bridges say they did not get the response they wanted from the White House on Monday. Even their own ranks are divided over infrastructure spending. Governors raised the issue during a meeting with President Bush. "It's the best type of stimulus, even better than what was in the first package," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, said as he left the White House. Bush this month signed an economic stimulus package to send $300 to $1,200 rebate checks to millions of Americans and to offer tax incentives to businesses. He opposed including infrastructure projects because "it's not really a stimulative way to get the economy going," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Monday. Bush also said he opposes anything that could raise taxes. Perino said the president has concerns about "earmarks," the nickname for lawmakers' pet projects, in transportation funding. Highway bills "are filled with earmarks, which takes away from governors being able to make decisions as to where they want to spend that money," she said.
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In Shift, Ashcroft to Testify on Oversight Deal - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/25/AR2008022502785....
Former Attorney General John D. Ashcroft agreed last night to appear at a House hearing to discuss his lucrative arrangement overseeing a medical equipment company, averting a showdown with committee members who had planned to meet today to authorize a subpoena. The move marks an about-face for Ashcroft, who told lawmakers earlier this month that "discussing the details of my legal responsibilities, as requested, in this pending criminal case and related ongoing criminal investigation would violate my ethical obligations." Ashcroft, who left public service three years ago to start a private consulting firm, won the contract under a settlement the company reached with federal prosecutors in New Jersey. Under a recent government policy, companies facing criminal investigation can accept such outside supervision to avoid indictment.
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February 25, 2008

Congressman indicted over land deal - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-22-ariz-congressman_N.htm...
An Arizona congressman has been indicted on federal extortion, fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges for pressuring companies to buy property from his business partner, federal authorities announced Friday. The 35-count indictment says Republican Rep. Rick Renzi persuaded an investment group in 2005 to buy the land from his business partner, James Sandlin, who then paid Renzi $733,000. Renzi did not report that payment on the financial disclosure forms required by all members of Congress, the indictment says. He is the second sitting member of Congress under indictment. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted on June 4 and accused of misusing his office to solicit more than $400,000 in bribes in exchange for his help in arranging business deals in Africa. Renzi, who was first elected in 2002, announced he would not seek re-election after federal agents raided an Arizona home that doubles as offices for his family businesses.
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February 22, 2008

House GOP Confronts 'Irregularities' - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102713....
As if their list of disadvantages in the November elections is not long enough, House Republicans have spent this month worrying whether some of their crucial campaign cash has disappeared. It is far from clear at this point. But House Republican leaders have been working to calm the frayed nerves of GOP lawmakers after the party's campaign arm called in the FBI to investigate "irregularities" in the committee's finances. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) announced on Feb. 1 that the campaign organization had "notified the appropriate law enforcement authorities" after discovering "irregularities in our financial audit process." Sources have confirmed that the FBI has been asked to investigate. Cole also said at the time that the NRCC had "terminated our relationship with a former employee who was engaged as an outside vendor." That employee has been identified by several Republican sources as Christopher J. Ward, who worked for the committee for several years and was treasurer from 2003 until September 2007. He subsequently worked for the committee as a contractor and was paid through his own firm, C.J. Ward & Co.
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Ex GOP staffer: Rove sought dirt on Dem gov. - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-21-rove-siegelman_N.htm...
A former Republican campaign operative claims that President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, asked her to find evidence that the Democratic governor of Alabama at the time was cheating on his wife, according to an upcoming broadcast of 60 Minutes. Jill Simpson, who has long alleged that Rove influenced the corruption prosecution of former governor Don Siegelman, makes the claim against Rove in a broadcast scheduled to be aired Sunday, according to a statement from CBS. Simpson testified to congressional investigators last year that she overheard conversations among Republicans showing that Rove was involved in Siegelman's prosecution by the Justice Department. She has never before said that Rove pressed her for evidence of marital infidelity in spite of testifying to congressional lawyers last year, submitting a sworn affidavit and speaking extensively with reporters. According to the CBS statement, she says Rove approached her at a meeting in 2001.
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February 21, 2008

An Old Hand Goads Democrats to Get Tough on Ethics - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022002831....
A man who knows the congressional ethics process like the back of his hand is demanding big-time reform. As deputy counsel for the Senate ethics committee for six years and chief counsel for six more, Wilson R. Abney gained a perspective only a few insiders have. Abney thinks the process is so desperately in need of repair that he's trying to get a reform proposal before the Democratic National Convention in August, when he hopes the party will adopt a resolution making reform on Capitol Hill part of its national platform. "After 40 years, the ethics committees have failed to restore the public's trust in the integrity of the federal legislative process and, in fact, have further diminished the public's faith in congressional integrity," Abney writes in a proposed platform resolution. Abney, who left Washington a decade ago to live in suburban Denver, vehemently opposes a proposal House Democrats expect to bring to the floor in the next couple of weeks. It would create a nonpartisan Office of Congressional Ethics with the power to initiate investigations into lawmakers' behavior. That office, however, would have no subpoena power and no ability to punish violators. It could only recommend that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct -- as the House ethics panel is officially known -- formally take up cases against members. Lawmakers would still be in charge of policing fellow lawmakers. "That didn't fly with me," Abney told On the Hill, comparing the proposed ethics office to putting a "new air filter on your heater."
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Hearing Is Delayed on Contract for Ashcroft - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/washington/21christie.html?ref=washington...
A Congressional hearing into lucrative no-bid contracts awarded by federal prosecutors has been postponed because the Justice Department has not indicated whether a leading witness, the United States attorney for New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie, will testify, Representative Frank Pallone Jr. said on Wednesday. The hearing, which had been scheduled for next Tuesday, was intended to review the process by which United States attorneys have selected law firms to monitor deferred prosecution agreements with corporations. While such arrangements have been used by United States attorneys across the country, Mr. Christie granted such a contract to his former boss, John Ashcroft. Awarding that 18-month contract, worth from $28 million to $52 million, to the former United States attorney general to monitor a medical prosthetics company has elicited criticism from Congressional Democrats, who have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate.
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February 19, 2008

House Committee Questions $1.2 Million Contract for Former Bush Appointee - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/business/19sbiz.html?ref=business...
The House Small Business Committee has asked for an investigation into how a newly retired Bush administration appointee with no experience in helping small businesses compete for government contracts received money from the Small Business Administration to do exactly that. The $1.2 million contract — 90 percent of the agency’s budget to provide advice and training to small disadvantaged businesses or businesses operating in high unemployment areas — went to the VBP Group, a company based in Paradise Valley, Ariz. The company’s owner, Vernon B. Parker, served as assistant secretary for civil rights in the Agriculture Department from April 2003 to January 2006. The post was created by Congress to help address the department’s historic discrimination against black farmers. A month after Mr. Parker, a former church pastor who is also a lawyer and a civil rights consultant, left the Agriculture Department, he founded the VBP Group. Certification by the S.B.A. to run one of its programs typically takes two years, unless the owner has prior experience in the area and receives a waiver. The VBP Group was four months old when it was certified.
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February 18, 2008

Progress in Iraq reshapes debate over war - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-02-17-Iraqcongress_N.htm...
When President Bush proposed increasing U.S. troop levels to quell rising violence in Iraq more than a year ago, several Republicans in Congress were skeptical. Democrats almost uniformly predicted failure. "I don't think it will change a thing," Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., then the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in December 2006. "It would create more targets," added Republican Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota. "This surge is a bad idea," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said a few weeks later. The criticism grew louder last April, when Reid declared the war "lost," and louder still over the summer, as U.S. casualties mounted. In September, the situation in Iraq began to improve. In October, the number of U.S. troops there peaked at 171,000 — 35,000 more than the previous January. By December 2007, U.S. deaths were at their lowest levels since the 2003 invasion, civilian casualties were down, and street life was resuming in Baghdad. The impact on American politics has been nearly as striking. As the U.S. effort has shown more success, the slowing economy has eclipsed the war as voters' No. 1 concern, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted Jan. 4-6.
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Government Accountability Chief Resigns - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/15/AR2008021501705....
One of the government's chief internal watchdogs resigned yesterday, as Comptroller General David M. Walker, an outspoken gadfly and frequent witness on Capitol Hill, announced his plans to lead a new foundation focused on U.S. fiscal responsibility. Walker has led the Government Accountability Office, Congress's investigative agency, for a decade. He was an outspoken critic of the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Social Security, and Medicaid and Medicare spending -- issues on which the Democratic-led Congress, and Republicans before it, have had trouble building consensus. In September, the administration and the military took issue with a bleak GAO assessment of progress in Iraq; the top military command in Baghdad described the assessment as flawed and "factually incorrect." Despite last-minute changes to address the criticism, the final report cast serious doubt on U.S. efforts to build a functioning democracy in Iraq.
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A Smooth Cut From Photo Op to Bill Signing - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/17/AR2008021701808....
Heckuva few weeks for Bill Wright, concertmaster violinist in high school turned biblical literature major turned chief executive of a lawn-mower company. President Bush hustled over to Frederick last month for a half-hour visit to Wright Manufacturing, where he talked about the need for an economic stimulus package while on one of Wright's stand-on mowers, whose origins date to a brainstorming meeting in 1993 at a Wendy's. Bush apparently had such a good time on the mower -- spinning around in a circle, steering it directly at reporters but not hitting them -- that his staff invited Wright to the White House last week to watch as the stimulus package was signed into law. "It's been a blessing to be part of this unforeseen thing that has happened," Wright said. But as presidential visits go, this one was not entirely out of the blue. In fact, Wright and his team -- like hosts to most presidential photo-ops -- were subject to a thorough screening process that ultimately helped the president create an image to win over more political support for the stimulus package. That the president delights in doing yard work at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., may have helped somewhat.
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Nancy Reagan Hospitalized After Fall - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/us/18nancy.html?ref=us...
Nancy Reagan was hospitalized on Sunday after falling in her home, a spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman, Joanne Drake, said Mrs. Reagan, 87, was taken to St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica for examination and would stay in the hospital overnight. Doctors said she did not break a hip as had been initially feared.
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February 15, 2008

House Votes to Issue Contempt Citations - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/washington/15contempt.html?ref=washington...
The vote to hold Joshua B. Bolten, the chief of staff, and Harriet E. Miers, the former counsel, in contempt of Congress followed bitter partisan wrangling on the House floor, including a Republican walkout from the chamber, and moved House Democrats closer to a constitutional showdown with President Bush. The 223-to-32 vote to issue the contempt citations, the first approved by Congress against the executive branch since the Reagan administration, is likely to move the dispute to a federal courtroom, with House lawyers calling on a judge to enforce subpoenas against Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers. The Senate is weighing similar contempt charges against Karl Rove, Mr. Bush’s former political adviser. Mr. Bolten and Ms. Miers were subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee for information about their part in the dismissal of several United States attorneys last year for what appear to have been political reasons. The uproar over the firings led to bipartisan calls in Congress for the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, who stepped down last summer.
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House OKs contempt citations against Bush aides - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-contempt15feb15,1,1529502.s...
The vote targets Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former Counsel Harriet Miers, who failed to answer subpoenas in the U.S. attorney firing case. Republicans stage a walkout.
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House Holds Bush Confidants in Contempt - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021401782....
The House voted Thursday to hold two of President Bush's confidants in contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge of federal prosecutors was politically motivated. Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and staged a walkout. The vote was 223-32 to hold White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt. The citations charge Miers with failing to testify and accuse her and Bolten of refusing Congress' demands for documents related to the 2006-2007 firings. Republicans said Democrats should instead be working on extending a law _ set to expire Saturday _ allowing the government to eavesdrop on phone calls and e-mails in the United States in cases of suspected terrorist activity. "We have space on the calendar today for a politically charged fishing expedition, but no space for a bill that would protect the American people from terrorists who want to kill us," said Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio. "Let's just get up and leave," he told his colleagues, before storming out of the House chamber with scores of Republicans in tow.
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Lantos Praised as 'Champion of Our Common Humanity' - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021403461....
Congressional colleagues, family members and compatriots in his many causes bid the late Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) a hero's farewell yesterday, lauding him, in the words of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, as "a champion of our common humanity." The Hungarian-born Lantos, who died of cancer Monday at age 80, was the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress. His youth as a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Budapest, where he lost most of his family, lent authority to his pursuit of humanitarian causes and his support for U.S. military intervention in the name of democracy. Lantos's moral heft and stern demeanor often left colleagues reluctant to challenge him, even when he became one of the strongest Democratic supporters of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq.
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February 14, 2008

Candidates' Earmarks Worth Millions - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021303635....
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton helped secure more than $340 million worth of home-state projects in last year's spending bills, placing her among the top 10 Senate recipients of what are commonly known as earmarks, according to a new study by a nonpartisan budget watchdog group. Working with her New York colleagues in nearly every case, Clinton supported almost four times as much spending on earmarked projects as her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), whose $91 million total placed him in the bottom quarter of senators who seek earmarks, the study showed. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the likely GOP presidential nominee, was one of five senators to reject earmarks entirely, part of his long-standing view that such measures prompt needless spending.
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Casino Battle Rages in Congress - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021303398....
An unusual effort by several powerful congressmen to clear the way for two Indian casinos in Michigan is fueling a fierce multimillion-dollar lobbying battle of a scale not seen since the fall of Jack Abramoff. More than a dozen lobbying firms have joined the fray on both sides, representing Indian tribes, well-connected Michigan developers and the Las Vegas-based gambling company MGM Mirage. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions have flowed to members of Congress considering bills that would allow the tribes to build casinos in populated areas away from their reservations. The bills pit senior Democrats against one another -- among them three House committee chairmen, leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). Yesterday, legislation that would allow the casinos sailed through the House Natural Resources Committee, clearing a hurdle that portends only more furious advocacy.
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Lawmakers Put Out New Call for Earmarks - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/washington/14earmarks.html?ref=washington...
The window for Congressional earmarks is open once again. Lawmakers from both parties are inviting constituents and lobbyists to recommend pet projects that could be financed by the federal government as the 2008 earmark season gets under way.
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Sen. Larry Craig scolded for 'improper conduct' - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-craig14feb14,1,48526.story...
The Senate Select Committee on Ethics harshly criticized Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) on Wednesday for his actions during and after his arrest last summer in a men's restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In a strongly worded "public letter of admonition," the panel of three Democrats and three Republicans told Craig that his behavior constituted "improper conduct reflecting discreditably on the Senate." Craig, who before the scandal was a leading voice on Western issues, was arrested in June by an undercover officer investigating complaints of lewd conduct. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct; after the incident became public, he attempted to revoke his plea. In what became a soap opera, Craig announced that he intended to resign his Senate seat for the good of his party, then changed his mind and decided to serve out his term. The move angered GOP colleagues and created awkwardness in the Capitol as he tried to go about his job. He has denied any wrongdoing and has said that he regrets his plea.
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Ethics Panel Admonishes Craig for Conduct in Sex Sting - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021303072....
Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) was rebuked yesterday by the Senate ethics committee over his conviction for disorderly conduct in an airport men's restroom, with the panel concluding that he committed the offense and citing him for actions "which [have] reflected discreditably on the Senate." Craig was "publicly admonished" in a letter that closed the case without any formal punishment or a public inquiry into the allegations. Despite calls from fellow Republicans for his resignation, Craig has said he will serve out the remainder of his term and retire next January. Craig said last night, "I am disappointed and strongly disagree with the conclusions" of the committee, adding that he "will continue to serve the people of Idaho." He initially welcomed the committee investigation and suggested that it would help him disprove the misdemeanor charge, stemming from his arrest at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by an undercover police officer working a sex sting. But the committee concluded that Craig's efforts to withdraw his guilty plea were an attempt to duck fallout after the arrest and subsequent guilty plea were reported in late August.
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BlackBerrys in Hand, Senators Thumb Their Noses at Ban - washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021303624....
So much for the tradition of the Senate, at least when it comes to the legendary decorum that includes a ban on senators or staff using electronic devices on the chamber floor. Any number of senators and staff can be seen using their BlackBerrys with reckless disregard for the rules that forbid their use. Openly flouting the rules yesterday, Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.) pulled out his BlackBerry while standing in the well of the chamber. He read and sent messages while talking to another senator and managing a bill on intelligence agency issues. In the presiding officer's chair, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) read a briefing book during a vote but had his BlackBerry next to the binder, dutifully checking the device infamously known by Capitol Hill staff as a "CrackBerry." Menendez took the precaution of lowering his BlackBerry onto his lap so his colleagues couldn't see him typing. Even senior staff openly use their BlackBerrys these days. Yesterday, the top Republican floor adviser, David Schiappa, used his to conduct quick research in response to a question from Sen. Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine).
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Redlands' Rep. Lewis a leader of the earmark pack - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-earmarks14feb14,1,1014394.s...
Even though he has come under investigation for his ties to a lobbyist whose clients have benefited from millions of dollars in congressional earmarks, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) was among the top lawmakers securing money for special projects in this year's spending bills, a watchdog group's analysis has found. Lewis, the senior Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, secured $137 million in earmarks on his own or working with other lawmakers. His was the fifth-highest total in the House and more than eight times the average secured by a member of Congress, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
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Court: Unseal Detroit mayor's texts - USATODAY.com

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-02-13-detroit-mayor_N.htm...
A Michigan appeals court panel Wednesday affirmed a lower-court decision to release documents related to a city settlement deal that kept secret intimate and sexually explicit text messages involving the mayor and his top aide. The documents, which could open the door to a perjury case against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, "were properly found to be subject to disclosure" under the Freedom of Information Act, the appeals panel said in a 3-0 ruling. The documents will remain sealed until at least Tuesday, however, to give the city time to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, the appeals court said.
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February 13, 2008

House Vote on Contempt Is Expected Soon - New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/us/13contempt.html?ref=washington...
Democratic House leaders plan to force a vo