All Blog Posts from Investigative Round-Up

The Center for Public Integrity:
The U.S. High Speed Rail Association’s October conference opened like any large Washington gathering. The congressmen were seated in the front row. A powerhouse Beltway law firm laid out prints of its lobbyists’ biographies on a display table. And as the upscale J.W. Marriott meeting room went dark, a short film offered romantic visions of bullet trains in America’s future. (read the article)

http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/global_climate_change_lobby/overview/> The Center For Public Integrity:
Global attempts to craft a pivotal new climate treaty in Copenhagen this December are being stymied by a far-reaching, multinational backlash led by fossil fuel industries and other heavy carbon emitters, according to an eight-country report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (read the article)

The Washington Times:

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. misled the public about the financial weakness of Bank of America and other early recipients of the government's $700 billion Wall Street bailout, creating "unrealistic expectations" about the companies and damaging the program's credibility, according to a report by the program's independent watchdog. (read the article)

The Center For Public Integrity:

Almost 1,800 special interest groups of all kinds are trying to influence Congress, as it races against time to enact a giant new transportation bill, according to The Transportation Lobby, a new investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. Notorious for earmarks like Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere,” Congress’s funding of transportation has become a broken process influenced by special interests, according to the investigation. Interest groups employed 2,100 lobbyists and spent an estimated $45 million to lobby lawmakers on transportation in the first half of 2009 — a spending pace on par with the amount spent lobbying on climate change, the Center found.

(read the article)

The Center for Public Integrity:

Computer Analysis Shows 12 of 16 House Defense Subcommittee Members in Controversial Circles of Lobbyists, Earmarks, and Campaign Cash

For months, a cloud has swirled around Congressman John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, and the relationship that Murtha and other subcommittee members had with the PMA Group, a lobbying firm filled with former subcommittee aides.

(read the article)

NPR:
Bus operators which federal authorities have ordered to stop operating because of serious safety violations appear to be frequently "reincarnating" by changing their names and continuing to operate, endangering other travelers on the nation's highways.
(read the article)

The Center For Public Integrity:
Whether the subject is health care reform, climate change, or pay-as-you-go budgeting rules, almost everyone, it seems, suddenly wants to talk with the Blue Dogs. President Obama’s White House meeting with members of the fiscally conservative Democratic coalition earlier this week is but the latest indication that the Blue Dogs — 52 members strong — have deftly turned themselves into a key voting bloc at the nexus of power. With them, the Democrats do not need a single Republican to back their legislation; without them, the Democratic agenda would be in serious peril. And as their clout has expanded, fundraising has grown accordingly, not just from traditionally Democratic contributors, but from unexpected quarters as well. The Center for Public Integrity
(read the article)

CBS/AP:
The mayors of three New Jersey cities, two state legislators and several rabbis were among more than 40 people arrested Thursday in a sweeping corruption investigation that began as a probe into an international money laundering ring that trafficked in goods as diverse as human organs and fake designer handbags. (read the article)

The Guardian:
New videos highlighting aggressive policing tactics at the G20 protests will be revealed today as MPs get their first opportunity to examine the issues raised since the death of Ian Tomlinson.
(Read the article)

The Guardian:
A quarter of all the largest public-sector database projects, including the ID cards register, are fundamentally flawed and clearly breach European data protection and rights laws, according to a report published today.
(Read the article)