Congressional Spending, Ethics Problem

Since 07-22-07

From: Lowell J Mix [mailto:ljmix@juno.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 12:14 AM
To: newsletter@hutchison.senate.gov
Subject: Congressional Spending, Ethics Problem

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison,

The following was reported in House action on 17 Jul 2007.  After reading and confirming that this is in fact true, I would trust that you would be concerned and opposed to this kind of waste of taxpayers money and political paybacks to campaign donors.  After what reportedly occurred, I am even more amazed that a majority of House members from both parties, passed this phone spending bill.

Please use your integrity and person fo character to influence the Senate to stop this waste of taxpayers money when it reaches the Senate.  I would also ask that you ask for the address and contact info for the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure and find out why they are asking Congress for $1,000,000 taxpayer dollars and advise me accordingly.

Thank you, and thank you for standing firm on the right thing to do regarding the Amnesty bill, S.1639.  We still need to get our President to enforce the border control laws on the books now though, and correct the real illegal alien problem.  I have some suggestions for you in order to do that if you are interested in hearing them.

Sincerely,

Lowell J. Mix  ljmix@uno.com

San Anotnio, TX  78238

Republican Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona, the fiscal crusader who's never met an earmark he likes, questioned Democratic Rep. Peter J. Visclosky of Indiana on the House floor Tuesday about whether the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure actually exists - since, hey, it's getting like a million bucks or something.

Visclosky, who chairs the spending subcommittee responsible for the project, had to admit that, well, he didn't have a clue.

After a lengthy back-and-forth, Flake, complaining that his staff couldn't find a website for the center, asked Visclosky, "Does the center currently exist?"

"At this time, I do not know," the Indiana Democrat replied. "But if it does not exist, the monies could not go to it."

And who could possibly be the sponsor of such an earmark? Yes, you guessed it, the man Republicans love to hate, Pennsylvania Democrat John P. Murtha.

Despite the money's uncertain destination, the House rejected Flake's measure to strike the funds, 326-98. And the Visclosky bill also sailed through, 312-112.

What's one million dollars to a member of Congress?

UPDATE: I failed to report last night that a certificate filed with the requested funds says the money is actually earmarked to Concurrent Technologies Corporation, a nonprofit technological consulting firm. A brief search of campaign finance records shows CTC President and CEO Daniel R. DeVos, of alternately Central City and Johnstown, Pa. has contributed $7,000 to Murtha's reelection campaign since April 2002.