Last Sunday, the Washington Post took a look at how recently departed Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson ignored the mortgage crisis. Today the New York Times’ Rachel Swarns examines the other key component of Jackson’s dubious legacy—millions in housing contracts to his friends.

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The Washington Post’s Josh White reports on a fishy $50 million contract given to Strategic Message Solutions. The company had “barely existed” in 2005, but the contract was given that year “to reward a recently retired four-star general and a millionaire civilian pilot who had ...

One way to avoid big government is to stop hiring people, a strategy which the Bush Administration and Congress seem to have settled on.  As Madonna Lebling writes in the Washington Post, "Congress and the president [are] locked in a standoff over nominations" that has left TWELVE important federal regulatory ...

The Washington  Post's Al Kamen illustrated the theme of last week's "How Washington Really Works" in which Charlie Peters complimented the Secretary of State for her plan to redeploy ambassadors from cushey European capitals to Africa, Asia and other harder posts.Kamen alsowrites about the overlooked third shooter in the Cheney party that took out ...

This could explain the demise of the thank-you note.  Imagine if you had to worry that the recipient would read it aloud on a national radio broadcast. Dear Dr. Dobson:This is just a short note to express my heartfelt thanks to you and the entire staff of Focus on the ...

In a move that mocked career civil servants, decades of efforts to help developing countries stem population growth and the presidential appointments process itself,  President Bush in early 2006 granted a recess appointment to former Maryland state delegate and twice unsuccessful candidate for governor, Ellen Sauerbrey.  Sauerbrey, who ran Bush's ...

Web Posted: 11/01/2005 12:00 AM CST

San Antonio Express-News

In the wake of the disaster of Michael Brown as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, another nominee to high-level government position is justifiably drawing fire as a potential "crony" appointment.

She is Ellen Sauerbrey, nominated to be undersecretary ...

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For the latest news from a variety of sources, I use Google News as my homepage ......For links to 1652 stories, so far, on Miers' resignation, see news.google.com. Before we mourn the demise of  cronyism, let's wait and see who Bush nominates next.  Odds anyone? 

Re: Re: Re: Julie Myers -- very interesting by Anonymous on 2005.10.13 07:00PM EDT  |  IP:   They used to transfer people to the border, but there's no money for that now.