Public Campaign Action Fund issued a statement this morning after Roll Call reported that Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) has introduced eight tariff measures that would directly benefit a major campaign donor, United Color Manufacturing. 

Campaign Money Watch released a new report today showing that all of Rep. Dan Lungren’s (R-Calif.) 2010 earmark requests were for those who contributed campaign cash to his campaign.

A new report from U.S. PIRG looks at the connection between transportation earmarks and campaign contributions, as reported in the N.Y. Times.

Let's assume that John McCain did in fact have Alaska Governor Sarah Palin thoroughly vetted before selecting her as his running mate. One can only further assume then that he really savors a challenge, because in addition to the more high-profile news that has leaked about the Governor over the weekend, several questions have been raised about just how ethically sound this "reformer's" credentials are.

On the one hand, three cheers for investigations into lawmakers abusing their positions to reward themselves and their contributions, on the other hand thumbs down for recent court rulings that are deterring public corruption investigations in favor of granting special privacy privileges to members of Congress. Go the Politico for more on the Rep. Don Young (R-AK) earmark controversy and the Speech and Debate clause that might save him.

The push to eliminate earmark spending for a one year period failed spectacularly in the Senate yesterday, despite support from unlikely corners. Indeed stories of bribed legislators and Bridges to Nowhere weren't enough to dissuade Senators from the pork barrel spending that's the bread and butter of reelection. While the impetus behind the proposed moratorium was a good one, it's going at the problem the wrong way.

March 1st may be the first hint that spring is soon upon us, with barbecue and bikini season soon to follow, but for Congress 'tis the season to raise big money -- coincidentally right about the time earmark requests come due. Roll Call asks around about connections, real or implied, between late-night fundraisers and daytime spending decisions (sub. req. to read whole article).

Earmarks have been a hot topic on the Hill of late, and a go-to target for debates on wasteful government spending. How do the major candidates for president stack up when it comes to these controversial spending allocations, the ethics around them, and what about the earmarking process should be changed? The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, takes a look.

More bad news for Senator Ted Stevens. The Anchorage Daily News is reporting that he set up an earmark to finance a real estate bailout for a longtime aid. The $1.6 million earmark to the SeaLife Center in Seward, Alaska was used to buy half a million in property from a former aide, Trevor McCabe.

In his final State of the Union address last night President Bush announced his intention to wield the veto pen against congressional earmarks but it's too little, too late for the billions in secret spending that have already been doled out for pork barrel project rewards to campaign contributors. Many, including Public Campaign Action Fund's David Donnelly, tell the Boston Globe that Bush should have gone much farther.