About The Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation was founded in 2006 with the goal of using technology to enable citizens to learn more about what their elected representatives are doing, to help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparency and... [more]
Join Our Mailing List:
Sunlight's RSS feeds:
Sunlight's Project feeds:
Help Spread Sunlight:
We're Social:
Sunlight's Reform Agenda
Sunlight has updated and refined our legislative priorities in order to generate greater change and a more transparent Congress.
[Full Memo | Top Priorities]
Search our Archives
User login
We Need Help Exposing Earmarks!
Whether you're a blogger, a curious citizen, a citizen journalist, a muckraker, or a journalist, we need your help.
There are more than 1,800 earmarks in the 2007 appropriations bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (see the map). That's over 1,800 appropriations that have never been publicly debated -- and probably never will be -- and we don't even know where they came from.
An earmark is a line-item that is inserted into a bill to direct funds to a specific project or recipient without any public hearing or review. (Read the Earmarks FAQ.)
The Sunlight Foundation along with Citizens Against Government Waste, Porkbusters.com, Human Events Online, Club for Growth, the Heritage Foundation, and the Examiner Newspapers, have pulled together a database of the earmarks. We're all asking you to help make sense of the information (if you've got alot of time, here are a bunch of questions to ask of the earmarks).
Check out our interactive map of the earmarks put together by the Sunlight Labs, and you'll see there are gaps in the data. Where do these earmarks come from? Which earmark comes from which Member of Congress? Is your Member of Congress responsible for any of these? Take 10 minutes to call your Lawmakers office and find out whether any of the Labor HHS earmarks come from his/her office, and then come back to this blog post and report it. Thanks!
Written by Zephyr Teachout on August 15, 2006 - 8:48am.
Thanks for the comment, and make sure you keep the emails!
If you're interested in doing some more digging, check out the http://www.sunlightfounda... questions for intense research -- and tell us what you find.
Thanks again!
Z
Wed Sep 5 08:19:18 2007
Oh yeah, we were talking about the foundation the sunlight foundation was founded in 2006 with the goal of using technology to enable citizens to learn more about what their elected representatives are doing .
How would one look up earmarks for the same(corresponding) bill for previous years?
$250,000.00 Pittsburgh PA Carnegie Museum of Art for an archive and traveling photojournalism exhibit
I contacted Congressman Mike Doyle's office and according to the staffer that answered the phone, if the earmark is for the Carnegie Museum, it probably came from that office.
$800,000.00 Glenside PA SouthEastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Professional development for elementary and high school teachers
The "credit" for this earmark belongs to several congresspeople who have schools belonging to SEPCHE http://www.sepche.org/ind... in their districts. This information was courtesy of Rep. Allyson Schwartz office, as she and the others submitted a letter requesting the funding.
(I accidently posted this at the wrong spot earlier, sorry)
$8,500,000.00 Allegheny County PA Community College of Allegheny County for technical education programs
This one falls in the District of Rep. Mellissa Hart. She sits on the board of the CCAC (according to her bio http://hart.house.gov/bio...). I have contacted the office and am awaiting a reply regarding the origins of this earmark.
8.5 million is a pretty good return on investment (40,000 to Whitmer & Worrall for lobbying).
Whitmer & Worrall's contributions to Hart's campaign:
Whitmer $1,000 06/23/2005
Worrall $1,000 03/31/2006
Correction - They've spent more than 40k, according to this article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (July 6, 2006: "Community College of Allegheny County spent more than $300,000 on outside lawyers and political consultants last fiscal year, including $85,857 to two lobbyists in the nation's capital....said the use of lobbyists by community colleges has grown in recent years in an attempt to get earmarks...")
(Hat tips to ocschuylkill and Tribune-Review; this has been interesting.)
I have yet to hear back from the Congresswoman's office, but will try contacting again (I have plenty of time, I'm on vacation this week).
Anyplace that is difficult to get information from you can simply submit a FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) request there is usually a department to handle these and I think all government sites are required to list this information, these colleges aren't just handing out fake degrees.
Aloha: Zephyr I reviwed all 1800 and only five to Hawaii and none that I find not in good taste or excessive or Frivilious. $300,000,000 for Saint Francis Telemetric Project- $300,000,000 for Honolul Sea Grant College Program- $250,000,000 Honolulu Renal Care Foundation for Equip and Telecommunications-$ $250,000,000 For Domestic Violence Progra and $50,000 For Susannah Westly Project for After school. Nothing that would raise my porkbarrel ant. Buzz Baer Holualoa Hi.
FIB Economic Development is located in the building owned by First Iconium Baptist Church. There are about 20 other past and present corporations located there.
The earmarks for Hunterdon Medical (2 of them) in Flemington NJ, for the Children's Specialized Hospital in Mountainside, NJ, and the Jewish Federation in Scotch Plains, NJ have all been claimed by Congressman Mike Ferguson, NJ7, on his website or in press releases
**********
Dump Mike Ferguson
Hi Guys -- What is the timeframe for this legislation? How long do people have to dig around and look into these earmarks?
Sorry if you've explained this somewhere else...
Rick
Since we spent $485 billion and rising on the war in Iraq, I would like to see an earmark of $485 billion to repalce every madrassa in the Muslim world that is training new jihadists, plus every underfunded school in the US that is producing at-risk children who may grow up to harm society, and provide medical insurance for each of the 46 million Americans who do not have insurance and who must use ERs needed in case there is a terror attack (although more people die of smoking, driving, and hospital accidents than of terror attacks). After all that is done, we can think about what to do with the change.
The best gift you can give your friends is your friends.
Today in The Rural Blog, we at the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, note this story and the important role local newspapers can play. Local newspapers often have easier access to members of Congress than do citizens. So, if local newspapers will get involved in this effort, then perhaps a media frenzy will take place and open the door for others to get involved too.
The Earmark Project is a great idea and I've been thinking about different ways to research earmarks since I first read about the project at the the TPM Muckraker last week.
Identifying the "why" of an earmark requires some digging into background information. I've done a fair bit of research into government corruption in the last few years on my own and I'd like to share how I use online databases to get to the real story.
Here's what I mean.
I downloaded the Excel spreadsheet listing all of the earmarks linked in Zephyr's post. I then sorted it by "Description". (If you are not familiar with Excel, sorting is fairly easy to do. Select "Data" in the toolbar and then "Sort" which gives you the option of which columns to use to sort the information.)
Scanning the list, I noticed a total of $1,175,000 earmarked for the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation located in Lake Success, New York which is Rep. Gary Ackerman's (D-NY5) district. Lake Success is on Long Island where I live.
LOL - An earmark with "Congressional" in its title automatically provokes a "Red Flag Alert". Do not spend even thirty seconds considering whether this earmark is a pork barrel project.
Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation is a not-for-profit organization classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) which means it is an tax-exempt private foundation.
Most not-for-profit organizations, with the exception of houses of worship, are required to file an annual informational report with the IRS called a 990. By law, an organization must provide its recent 990s to the public on request.
990s contain a treasure trove of information for anyone interested in "following the money" in politics but requesting 990s from individual organizations is time-consuming and cumbersome.
990s are now available online at the Foundation Center's 990 Finder and at Guidestar (registration required). The Foundation Center and Guidestar provide an invaluable public service, free to everyone in the world, and I commend both organizations for their commitment to civil society.
Tip: Check both sites for 990s when researching an organization. Guidestar may have 990s for an organization not listed by the Foundation Center and vice versa. Guidestar only provides free access to the three most recent 990s filed by an organization but the Foundation Center may have more than three years of 990s free.
As an aside, I had a lot of fun a couple of months ago when I found the 2003 990 filed by Rush Limbaugh's Sunrise Foundation. I posted about my "find" at the TPM Cafe and speculated as to just why Mr. and Mrs. Limbaugh were "donating" to various individuals in the Palm Beach area.
Returning to the issue at hand, I searched "glaucoma" at the 990 Finder rather than "Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation" because I wanted to get an idea about the extent of not-for-profits in the glaucoma business.
The 990s filed by the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation were, indeed, full of useful information. According to the 2001 990, the foundation began operation in 2000 and initially was funded by pharmaceutical companies. Red Flag Alert!
If I have time later today, I'll post about how to read the 990s and what I learned about Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation from its 990s.
Before I sign off, here are some other questions that came to mind when I sorted by "Description".
A total of $2,650,000 in earmarks is allocated to Jewish organizations nationwide for a "naturally occurring retirement communities demonstration project". (Sort by "Description" and then check "Jewish".)
I have no idea what a naturally occurring retirement communities demonstration project entails and whether it is a worthwhile project. I do know that only Jewish organizations are earmarked to receive funds for these "demonstrations". Red Flag Alert!
Connecticut-based Save The Children got a total of $750k in earmarks for projects in Arizona, South Carolina and Tennessee. Why are we only saving children in those states? Red Flag Alert!
I don't anything at all about the California-based KIPPS Foundation but I'd like to. A total of $1,555,000 is earmarked for KIPPS but only $550,000 is earmarked for specific locations. Red Flag Alert!
More to come.
Researching the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation, Inc. ended up being lots of fun! The foundation is a microcosm of how Congress wastes taxpayer money and I can demonstrate how I came to that conclusion.
The Foundation Center's 990 Finder provides access to the foundation's 990s for the four years ended 2004. The foundation was founded in late 1999 so almost all of the foundation's financial history through 2004 is available for review.
The foundation's website address, www.GlaucomaCongress.org, is listed in the 2001 990. The foundation does not provide 990s or other
financial information on its website.
As an aside, most not-for-profits do not provide 990s on their websites. When I visited the Focus on Family website, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Dr. James Dobson provides four years of 990s and audited financial statements online.
All of the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation's 990s list 150-12 14th Avenue, Whitestone, New York 11357, as the foundation's address. Whitestone is in Queens, a borough of New York City. The Whitestone address is that of the foundation's accountants, Raguso & Devito, CPAs.
According to the website, the address of the foundation is 1983 Marcus Ave, Suite 111, Lake Success, New York. WhitePages.com lists the official address as New Hyde Park, not Lake Success. Lake Success and New Hyde Park are one and the same but it makes a difference if you are doing reverse searches.
As an accountant, I notice the quality of financial reports and Raguso & Devito made typos and other careless errors in the 990s. More importantly, the firm made material disclosure errors because revenue for all four years is categorized as non-governmental which is not true.
From the foundation's website:
"Originally, the Foundation was supported by corporate grants from the private sector, but because of its success at screenings, the Foundation soon received very generous funding from several governmental agencies. For example, the Foundation received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control to conduct screenings in senior centers, shopping malls, office buildings, houses of worship and other venues across the nation. That grant was renewed in 2003 and again in 2004.
The District of Columbia also provided funding for the Foundation to conduct screenings in the city of Washington in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, a special grant was received to conduct screenings in the west Texas region, an area that has few medical centers and many people to serve.
A very important grant was awarded to the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation in 2002-2003 from the Health and Human Services Department, and it enabled the Foundation to start a new venture: mobile screening. With funds received from HHS, the Foundation built and equipped a Mobile Eye Screening Unit (MESU1), to serve as an “ophthalmologist’s office on wheels.”..."
From the 990s:
2001
Total revenue - $540,124
Contribution from Pharmacia & Upjohn - $500,000
2002
Total revenue - $1,524,365
Contribution from Pharmacia & Upjohn - $530,000
2003
Total revenue - $3,384,440
Contribution from Pfizer, Inc. - $270,000
Contribution from Van Buren Buick - $49,234 (Non-cash - 2003 GMC Yukon XL)
2004
Total revenue - $4,698,611
Contribution from Pfizer, Inc. - $250,000
Note: Foundation generally are required to only disclose individual contributions of $5,000 or more.
If Raguso & Devito repeatedly reported misleading information about the foundation's revenue sources, how reliable is the rest of the information in the 990s?
Raguso & Devito's fees increased from $12,000 in 2001 to $105,900 in 2004. $77,700 of the $105,900 was for in-house accounting. Raguso & Devito should have done a better job for that kind of money.
Not only that but the salary of the foundation's treasurer, Robert Bishop, increased from $46,000 in 2001 to $114,000 in 2004. In 2001, he devoted 14 hours per week to the foundation which increased to 20 hours per week in 2004.
What does Mr. Bishop do to earn his handsome salary if he does not review the foundation's 990s?
Here is his bio from the foundation's website:
"Vice President & Treasurer
Robert J. Bishop, J.D.
Mr. Bishop, a founding partner of the government relations and consulting firm Pitta, Bishop, DelGiorno & Dreier LLP, is a native New Yorker who has served numerous civic and community organizations. A graduate of Fordham College and Fordham University School of Law, Mr. Bishop maintains offices in both New York City and Albany, New York. He has been an advocate on behalf of labor, health care and tax reform issues for more than twenty-five years. He serves the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation as their treasurer. Mr. Bishop has served as a Commissioner of the State of New York Northeastern Queens Nature and Historical Preserve Commission and on the Mayor's Task Force charged with developing a ten year strategic plan for Ending Chronic Homelessness in NYC."
More to come.
Here's the kicker - Stanley J. "Bud" Grant, president and CEO of Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Foundation, is or was a Washington lobbyist.
Bud Grant's salary by year:
2001 - $200,000
2002 - $230,000
2003 - $240,000
2004 - $381,000 (includes $41,000 pension plan contribution)
What did Bud Grant do in 2003 to deserve a $141,000 raise representing a 59% increase from the prior year? Does he get a cut of every federal grant? How about Robert Bishop? Does he get a cut of any New York State funding he brings in?
Bud Grant's bio:
"President & CEO
Stanley J. "Bud" Grant
Mr. Grant coordinated the founding of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus and established the "Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation" to support this congressional activity. Mr. Grant serves as the President of the foundation. Mr. Grant has graduated St. Francis College and attended Fordham University and the New York University of Public Administration. He served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. His lobbying and public relations firm, Bud Grant Associates of Washington D.C., has represented the Medical Society of the State of New York, the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association, Pharmacia Corporation and Covance Research Labs. Over the years he has established a special interest in Health Care, Health Administration and Health Economics. Mr. Grant has served on the Board of Directors of Wagner College and New York Hospital Division of Queens."
I don't know if S. J. Bud Grant Associates is still active. The only reference I could find to Bud Grant online was a 2001 $1,000 contribution to William Jefferson's PAC. The address given was Southampton, New York.
From his photo, I know Bud Grant is no spring chicken. So what did he do? Set up his own retirement gig? $381,000 to be president of a small not-for-profit foundation with less than $5 million in revenue must be a cushy job. I'd sure like to know what Bud Grant does for 50 hours every week.
The way I see it, Bud Grant convinced a couple of pharmaceutical companies to kick in some cash to get the foundation going while he lobbied for federal funding.
I don't know all that much about how things are done in Washington. Do lobbyists usually set up their own federally-funded foundations when they get tired of the daily grind of lobbying?
The foundation's payroll is stuffed with pork.
For example, Sharmon Paschal Thornton is a foundation consultant whose fees have increased from $93,000 in 2003 to $122,500 in 2004. Ms. Thornton is a former politicial appointee and employee of the Defense Department. She is also Rep. Charles Rangel's legislative consultant which, right there, tells someone all they need to know about Ms. Thornton's qualifications.
Darrell Penn, Field Director, was paid a salary of $85,000 in 2004. I'm going to take a wild guess that this Darrell Penn is the same Darrell Penn who is a member of the Bronx Coaliton For Parks and Green Spaces.
Cripes, even the administrative aide, Loraine Karimulla, pulls in $63,952 for working 35 hours per week. Dollars to doughnuts, Ms. Karimulla is politically connected to someone.
I do not want to even speculate as to the other consultants who, along with Sharmon Paschal Thornton, were paid $819,624 in 2004. I already know they are friends of the members of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus.
The foundation purchased vehicles at a cost of $683,709 which I assume are the mobile vans. What are the chances that Van Buren Buick was the vendor? I doubt Van Buren Buick donated a 2003 $49,234 GMC Yukon to the foundation without some quid pro quo.
And who is driving that Yukon? Bud Grant? If so, add the value of that perk to his already exorbitant salary package.
Enough. Anyone who has read this far along in my comments gets the message - Oink, Oink!
More to come.
I never did get around to figuring out who requested the earmarks for the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation.
The three earmarks are (1)$325,000 for glaucoma screening in the US Virgin Islands, (2)$350,000 for glaucoma screenings in metropolitan New York and (3)$500,000 for facilities and equipment for the Southwest Texas Eye Care Collaborative.
I can't find the interactive map of the United States marked up for Congressional districts that I accessed here the other day so I'll just link to the list of Caucus members at the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation.
I'm sure Rep. Donna M. Christian-Christensen (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) had a hand in the request for $325,000 glaucoma screening in the Virgin Islands.
Take your pick from the New York members of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus.
I'm not going to bother to find out who is behind the Southwest Texas Eye Care Collaborative. What I do know is that when members of Congress collaborate or engage in bipartisanship, the taxpayer foots a bigger bill.
Compared to the tens of millions earmarked for defense spending by Duke Cunningham and other members of Congress, the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Foundation earmarks are peanuts and hardly worth bothering about.
What I did was demonstrate that, given half a chance, Democrats are no better than Republicans when it comes to pork barrel spending.
And this is the last time I criticize Democrats until after Election Day.
According to Citizens Against Waste, $500k was earmarked in a 2004 HHS appropriations bill for the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation.
$450k was earmarked in 2003 for the "Glaucoma Caucus Foundation", no state listed.
$500k was earmarked in 2002 for the "Glaucoma Caucus Foundation".
$461k was earmarked in 2001 for the "Glaucoma Caucus Foundation".
2001 appears to be the first year that funds for the foundation were earmarked.
I'd say the lesson here is that it pays to have lobbyists on board as officers of your charitable organization.
Wikipedia on KIPP
from Aug 15 WaPo - "KIPP, short for Knowledge Is Power Program, is the most interesting initiative in American public education at the moment..."
Thanks for the link, Anna. The Kipp program may very be a sucessful program but the fact that it is expanding so quickly nationwide raises a red flag for me.
I searched the Foundation Center's 990 Finder and there are a couple of dozen Kipp organizations. I just don't have the time to volunteer to look into Kipp operations but I wish I did.
I'd really like to be able to congratulate at least one charter school operation for doing good work.
This item is an excerpt of a post at my site, WWW.GOPPROGRESS.COM
The BBC is reporting that rising concerns about agro-terrorism-- the poisoning of milk, or cattle feed-stuffs by lunatic Islamic jihadists-- have apparently led not just to one Mark Fisher, of Dodge City, Kansas getting involved in his local Agro Guard group (think neighbourhood watch for farmers), but also to the development of a new, national bio- and agro-defense facility, a project that apparently comes with $500m in government funding. That funding has been secured by none other than Pat Roberts, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, and who seems to believe that, as the BBC puts it, "tackling agro-terrorism is part of the global war on terror."
This may not fit the dictionary definition of an earmark, but it smells like bacon to me.
Liz Mair is the editor of WWW.GOPPROGRESS.COM, a RedState-style blog for moderate and libertarian-leaning Republicans.
I just did a post at Room Eight about the $300,000 earmarked for the American Airpower Museum. Although I'd say Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) probably is responsible for the earmark, there's more to the story.
Jeffrey Clyman, the museum's founder and a trustee, has not only donated to Steve Israel but also to the beleagured Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana).
A big chunk of public financing came from New York State after Clyman contributed to Governor pataki's campaign.
Working link to Mrs. P's Flying High On Government Funding: Biplanes and Bipartisanship
I just updated my post about the American Aipower Museum with a funny item about a 2002 $50k NYS "grant" for the museum.
Jeffrey Clyman, museum founder and trustee, donated $500 to "Friends of Fuschillo in September 2002.
LOL - The museum's 2002 990 actually lists a $50,000 contribution from the "Office of State Senator Charles Fuschillo".
How's that for a return on investment?
When you contact your Representative's office with questions, how long should it take to get answers?
And when asked "are you Press?", how should a citizen journalist asking about earmarks answer?
(update: I got a phone callback, requested an email address to send my questions to, was given it, and have sent the Qs.)
My new question -
Why would a lobbying relationship be shown in the Senate's lobbying database but not the House one? are House and Senate lobbying considered to be different, or do the databases not contain homologous info, or is one of them incorrect, or am I missing something?
I didn't know how to search for lobbyists and their clients other than through OpenSecrets.org.
I searched "American Airpower Musuem" and it looks like it hired lobbyists in 2002 which is the year it got a $200k federal grant.
The problem is that there is another American Airpower Museum in Texas so I don't which musuem lobbied the Senate.
The information in House and Senate filings is supposed to be identical, although you do come across the odd instance in which the House and Senate versions have different information.
According to the Senate registration form filed by the American Airpower Museum's lobbyist, Dykema Gossett, the museum in question is located in New York, Long Island City to be precise...
Thanks - I somehow missed the address the first time around.
The Dyekama Gossett registration form is dated November 2001. In November 2001, two offices of Dykema Gossett made a $500 and a $350 contribution to the RNC. Dykema then made one in September 2002 for $5k.
According to the Dykema Gossett filings, the American Airpower Museum paid Dykema less than $10k.
So for a very small investment, the museum got a $200k federal grant. Not bad, huh?
If you get a moment, take a look at my followup comments to my original post about the musuem and its founder and trustee, Jeffrey Clyman.
Clyman's motivation for founding the museum may have been a lot less altruistic than he would have us believe.
Yeah, he is a pilot who loves to fly but he is also the owner of an increasing valuable collection of vintage planes stored and maintained by the taxpayers.
As an ancillary benefit of my research, I came across a very interesting company doing a big development deal out east here on Long Island. I never heard of the company but it contributed $25k to the museum in 2002. Not exactly chump change.
So far I'm batting three for three on shady earmarks and I already have another one in mind.
I've posted the questions on my rather moribund weblog.
And a Sunlight Foundation Q - sent an email yesterday to Sunlight's "info" email address, asking where to send Sunlight Foundation website feedback suggestions; would appreciate directions to the appropriate person or page.
re Sunlight feedback, i must have missed this post from Zephyr.
Never did get answers from Congressman Doolittle's DC or Granite Bay offices, despite a fax, multiple phone calls, and sending emails Sept 1,8,13&18 and again (plus phone call) today.
Earmark 1. $200,000 to Sierra College (a 2-year community college) in Rocklin CA for the Mechatronics workforce training initiative.
("trains future employees to operate and maintain equipment that integrates electronics, mechanics, pneumatics, hydraulics and computer control....custom Mechatronics equipment provided by $600,000 grant from The California Community College Chancellors Office and another $600,000 obtained through industry donations.(including Diebold))
In Spring 2005, Sierra College signed on (apparently for $60k) with a federal lobbyist, former Doolittle staffer Peter Evich of Van Scoyoc Associates ("Evich spent five years in the office of Representative John T. Doolittle (CA), a member of the House Republican leadership and Appropriations Committee. As legislative director, Evich provided advice on all legislative areas, with a special focus on appropriations...")
(am inferring the 60k from the minutes of the Sierra College board meeting:
14. Memorandum of Understanding: Van Scoyoc Associates
Term: July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006
Amount: $60,000 plus expenses not to exceed $2,000
Funding Source: General Fund
Agreement: Contract to assist the District with the development and implementation of its federal legislative strategy to advance the District's interests.
)
Mr. Evich's 2006 cycle contributions include $1900 to Mr. Doolittle (along with a mystifying $1000 to Dianne Feinstein...)
--------------------------
Earmark 2. $195,000 to the City of Rocklin, for the Integrated Schools Program
Rocklin's lobbyist: Jeff Fedorchak of Impact Strategies, who Rocklin paid $50k in 2005
Jeff doesn't show up as a donor to Doolittle's campaign, but Kathy Fedorchak of Fairfax VA generously donated $2599 to John T. Doolittle for Congress in the 2006 cycle.
I'm assuming Jeff and Kathy are husband and wife; K. lives in Fairfax VA, where J goes to church ( as quoted in this NY Times article)
I researched three earmarks thoroughly here and at Room Eight and all three earmarks involved Democrats. BTW, I've been a Democrat for 36 years.
So where are the results of the research into earmarks from the big right wingers? They certainly can investigate Republican earmarks more easily than me.
How about it, Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit? Where's Ed from the Captain's Quarters? Surely Grover Norquist could have lent a hand to Club for Growth?
Are all of the folks at Town Hall going to claim that they couldn't find one questionable Republican earmark?
I knew this project was B.S. when I took on the first earmark, Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation. Investigating an HHS bill is bound to be biased against Democrats.
I knew, too, that all of big right wing bloggers are funded one way or the other by the Republican Party. No way was Glenn Reynolds going to bite the hand that feeds him.
If folks here at the Sunlight Foundation want me to research any more earmarks, they can call me when they are investigating defense and homeland security appropriation bills because that is where all of the big money in Congress is going.
And Esther Dyson can pay me fair market value to do it. Or is Ms. Dyson just another rich Republican?
The details of Congressional earmarks are shrouded in secrecy, because there are so few rules requiring Congress to disclose details of them. Not even the names of all the lawmakers who inserted various earmarks are known. Getting citizens involved in researching the who, what, when, and how of them is just one way to strengthen the relationship that people have with their Members of Congress, by bringing about more openness. Mashing the earmark database with a Google map provides a real simple way to present the information so that everyone can understand it.
---
Download Full Movies Online
~
The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government.
Current Projects
PublicMarkup.org An experiment to open bills to online, public review.
Where Are They Now? Former Congressional Staffers head through the Revolving Door on to K Street.
Punch Clock Map: Putting congressional transparency on the map
Earmark Watch: Bringing Citizen Oversight to Congressional Spending
Wiki the Vote: Giving constituents the ability to report on candidates running for the House and Senate
A word from our Sponsor
Ongoing Projects
Realtime Investigations: Follow along as Bill and Anu detail their investigative reporting adventures.
LOUIS is the beginning of a comprehensive, completely indexed and cross-referenced depository of federal documents.
The OpenHouse Project: Working to identify areas where Congress can open up and improve access to relevant and timely information.
OpenCongress: Bringing together official government information with news and blog coverage to give you the real story behind what's happening in Congress.
Past Projects
Visualizing Earmarks: Select Visualizations of 2005 OMB Earmark Data.
Mashup Congress and Win:
And the Winner is... Unfluence! We received more than a dozen entries to Sunlight's first Web 2.0 Mashup Contest.
Congressional Web Site Investigation:Employing citizen oversight to find out if we are getting our money’s worth from congressional Web sites.
Today's Ethics Watch
Senator’s Ties to Real Estate Draw Criticism: He has made millions as a title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer in this college town, where the economy, despite trouble nationwide, is still growing nicely. Now, as a United States senator, with the mortgage mess fueling a national economic slowdown, Richard C. Shelby has more say over the revamping of housing finance laws than almost anyone else in Congress. (New York Times)
Oil Lobby Reaches Out to Citizens Peeved at the Pump: Faced with a national outcry over the high price of gasoline and soaring profits for energy companies, the oil and gas industry is waging an unusually pricey campaign to burnish its image. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers Accused of Flouting Rules on Use of Staff: Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers, according to campaign finance reports. (Washington Post)
NAM discloses member list: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) disclosed certain member companies on Thursday after failing to win a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Hill)
Clinton introduces bill to post contractor violations on the Web: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would force contractors to self-report criminal actions or government overpayments to agency inspectors general under the threat of potential disbarment or suspension. The misconduct would then be made publicly available on a searchable Web site. (GovExec)
Rep. Abercrombie questions ethics of ethics bill handling: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is challenging actions by his Democratic leaders and plans to ask the ethics committee to determine whether House rules were broken during a recent ethics vote. (The Hill)
A futile walk down Coconut Road?: The House agreed Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the now infamous Coconut Road earmark, but don’t hold your breath waiting for indictments. (Politico)
Young, Jefferson quiet as Coconut Road earmark nears vote in House: Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and William Jefferson (D-La.) are keeping mum on whether they will vote for a bill that includes language calling on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate the notorious Coconut Road earmark when that measure comes to the House floor Wednesday. (The Hill)
Ethics Complaints Sheathed: Even though both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently called for the ethics committee to investigate members of the other’s party — fighting words by any standard — neither took the next step of triggering an investigation, effectively pulling their punches. (Roll Call)
New disclosure reports lack clarity: The much-touted new lobbying disclosure reports are now available. But beware: They do little to make it easier to track the nation’s influence class. (Politico)
Lawmakers Want Hearing on Ties Between Sect, Defense Contracts: The Defense Department has contracted with three companies that are closely tied to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some lawmakers want to know if money from those deals supported the sect, whose ranch was raided this month after allegations of child abuse. (Washington Post)
[ More in the Archive ]
Oil Lobby Reaches Out to Citizens Peeved at the Pump: Faced with a national outcry over the high price of gasoline and soaring profits for energy companies, the oil and gas industry is waging an unusually pricey campaign to burnish its image. (Washington Post)
Lawmakers Accused of Flouting Rules on Use of Staff: Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers, according to campaign finance reports. (Washington Post)
NAM discloses member list: The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) disclosed certain member companies on Thursday after failing to win a reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. (The Hill)
Clinton introduces bill to post contractor violations on the Web: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would force contractors to self-report criminal actions or government overpayments to agency inspectors general under the threat of potential disbarment or suspension. The misconduct would then be made publicly available on a searchable Web site. (GovExec)
Rep. Abercrombie questions ethics of ethics bill handling: Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) is challenging actions by his Democratic leaders and plans to ask the ethics committee to determine whether House rules were broken during a recent ethics vote. (The Hill)
A futile walk down Coconut Road?: The House agreed Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the now infamous Coconut Road earmark, but don’t hold your breath waiting for indictments. (Politico)
Young, Jefferson quiet as Coconut Road earmark nears vote in House: Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and William Jefferson (D-La.) are keeping mum on whether they will vote for a bill that includes language calling on the Department of Justice (DoJ) to investigate the notorious Coconut Road earmark when that measure comes to the House floor Wednesday. (The Hill)
Ethics Complaints Sheathed: Even though both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) recently called for the ethics committee to investigate members of the other’s party — fighting words by any standard — neither took the next step of triggering an investigation, effectively pulling their punches. (Roll Call)
New disclosure reports lack clarity: The much-touted new lobbying disclosure reports are now available. But beware: They do little to make it easier to track the nation’s influence class. (Politico)
Lawmakers Want Hearing on Ties Between Sect, Defense Contracts: The Defense Department has contracted with three companies that are closely tied to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some lawmakers want to know if money from those deals supported the sect, whose ranch was raided this month after allegations of child abuse. (Washington Post)
[ More in the Archive ]
I contacted REP Gilchrest's office and they said that he had NO earmarks in the Labor/HHS bill. I then asked for a detailed list of all earmarks sponsored by REP Gilchrest for the past two years. The Office Manger in DC said that she would prepare one for me but that was over two months ago and I never heard back from her after repeated emails.