Two Obama Cabinet Members Added Earmarks to Omnibus Spending Bill

Two of President Obama's Cabinet members authored a variety of earmarks in the $410 billion omnibus spending bill the House is poised to pass Wednesday to keep the government running through Oct. 1.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis were both House members when appropriators began to forge this legislation last year. However, a stalemate between President Bush and congressional Democrats forced the sides to punt the rest of the spending provisions until now.

New transparency rules ordered up by Democrats two years ago require lawmakers requesting earmarks to write a letter expressly asking Congress to dedicate money for a given project. And as one scours the omnibus spending bill, it's easy to find specific appeals from people who are no longer in office, like LaHood and Solis.

Added to the list ping

President Obama's 5th week in office:

Two of President Obama's Cabinet members authored a variety of earmarks in the $410 billion omnibus spending bill the House is poised to pass Wednesday to keep the government running through Oct. 1. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis were both House members when appropriators began to forge this legislation last year. However, a stalemate between President Bush and congressional Democrats forced the sides to punt the rest of the spending provisions until now.

*Obama Upholds Detainee Policy In Afghanistan:
The Obama administration told a federal judge military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush’s legal team
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/washington/22bagram.html?hp

*Obama appoints "The Vacuum Cleaner" to be the new US ambassador in London. Obama has been embroiled in a cronyism row after reports that he intends to make Louis Susman, one of his biggest fundraisers, the new US ambassador in London.
http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/

*Obama's administration attended four full days of negotiation at the "Durbin II" conference. During that time his people sat and passively watched the following: the failure to adopt a proposal to act against Holocaust denial, a new proposal to single out Israel, which will now be included in the draft without brackets, broad objections to anything having to do with sexual orientation, vigorous refusal by many states to back down on references to "Islamophobia" (the general allegation of a racist Western plot to discriminate against all Muslims), and numerous attacks on free speech.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/22/obama-israel-holocaust-durban-opinions-contributors_united_nations.html

*In response to the backlash against the bailout for failing home owners, triggered in part by Rick Santelli on CNN's rant on the floor of the Chicago stock exchange, Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan responded publicly; "the Obama administration's efforts to help struggling homeowners will aid "responsible" borrowers, not deadbeats or speculators."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/22/obama.housing/index.html

*Obama gives his blessing to Sheik Sharif Ahmed's appointment as President in Somalia. The UIC was viewed as a terrorist organization by the Bush administration, but is viewed as moderate by the new US Obama administration.
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/02/terror-group-leader-takes-control-of.html

*President Barack Obama now likes to talk at commissions" and summits” after making fun of Sen. John McCain for proposing a commission to look at the economic crisis facing the country. In the "Fiscal Responsibility Summit" at the White House, the President listens "to the best and the brightest on the subject of the budget as well as the larger issues related to the economy".
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090223/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_economy

*Among the eight members named Friday to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry and the 10 senior policy aides who will assist them in their work, two own American models. Add the Treasury Department's special adviser to the task force and the total jumps to three.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/02/members-of-the-presidential-task-force-on-the-auto-industry-prefer-to-drive-imports.html

*Obama’s Homeless Woman Is Actually Real Estate Investor
New information about Henrietta Hughes has come to light. It appears that the desperate homeless woman owns real estate she shifted into the name of her son to avoid taxes and acquire government aid. Henrietta Hughes also apparently sold real estate at a significant profit in 2005.
http://theliepolitic.com/2009/02/obamas-homeless-woman-is-actually-real-estate-investor/

*The United States (Obama) plans to pledge more than $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas and strengthen the Palestinian Authority, a U.S. official said on Monday.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1066381.html

*Vice President Joe Biden's Son and Brother Marketed Hedge Fund Through Stanford Company: The fund was marketed exclusively by companies controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission accusations of engaging in an $8 billion fraud. The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/24/report-bidens-son-brother-marketed-hedge-fund-stanford-company/

*Thomas Perez, current Labor Secretary for the State of Maryland, and former board director for Casa de Maryland, is Obama's choice to take over as the Head of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). CASA is affiliated with the National Council of La Raza. CASA has also received a two-year grant from George Soros's Open society Institute.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2009/02/perez_in_the_mix_for_immigrati.html

*Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano avoids mention of the terms "terrorism" or "Sept. 11" in remarks prepared for her first congressional testimony since taking office, signaling a sharp change in tone from her predecessors. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/02/24/napolitano-avoids-mentioning-terrorism-remarks-congress/

Illegal aliens can apply for mortgage relief under the Obama administration's $275 billion plan, according to immigration experts and a group the government will use to help homeowners modify #loans.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89967

*Obama will propose a massive business tax on greenhouse gases in his FY 2010 federal budget to be presented this week.
The massive tax increase and power grab was buried at the end on article on Obama's forthcoming budget proposal in The New York Times

(rest of list on my profile page)

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