What West Virginia lacks in jobs, population, and reasons to live there, it more than makes up for in receipt of shitloads of government money. So who can blame Rep. Alan Mollohan for unethically steering millions of dollars to his “poverty-ridden district” (and, uh, to his own personal poverty-ridden bank account)? Turns out lots of people can blame him for this, including the FBI, and now the House Rules Committee. MORE »

According to new House rules, approved earmark requests on spending bills are now ours for the public oversighting. Exciting news if you love reading lengthy, poorly-scanned .pdfs! There are a couple gems, though. Like the above, from the Interior and the Environment bill. Representative Emerson will be receiving a cool half a million dollars for “meth prevention” at the Mark Twain National Forest. ‘Cause there are few things in this life sadder than a tweaking deer. MORE »

Two writers, two “staffers,” and six interns pooled the extensive resources of CNN.com to email every member of the House and politely ask them what their earmark requests were for the upcoming fiscal year. MORE »

* Iowa voters get high off the smell of their own farts, pretend to listen to what Hillary Clinton has to say. [WP, NYT, WSJ, USAT]
* Mike Hukabee starts his Presidential campaign by getting Tim Russert to admit he’s digging his grave, “with a knife and fork.” [WP, NYT]
* Giant q-tip is inserted into the Congressional earmark culture to clean out the “pornography” and “terrorists.” Staffers keep their fingers crossed for a furlough day. [WP]
* Loving father John Negroponte is going from one job he doesn’t need to another. [WP]
* Handful of movie stars, handful of hippies were all that showed for weekend’s peace march. [CNN]
* Not just New Orleans: levees are fucked nationwide. [USAT]
* Federal judges just a bunch of wikilectuals. [NYT]

• Maverick McCain and his merry band of outlaws reject Bush’s, “alternative interrogation strategies” legislation, approve their own. [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]

• Both houses of Congress shelve large ethics bills; do agree to write their name next to kickback payments, er, earmarks. [WP, NYT]
• Congressman Bob Ney will plead guilty to “Abramoff stuff,” but it’s not his fault — the booze made him do it. [WP, NYT]
• Judge in Saddam Hussein trial tells him, “You were not a dictator.” [CNN, LAT]
• World Bank releases list of countries not to visit on vacation this year. [WP]
• FDA goes against Popeye and your parents, issues warning about eating spinach. [WP]

Above, someone forgets to edit the shit out of the Washington Examiner. MORE »

• Real estate profits made by Speaker Dennis Hastert and other legislators raise new concerns about earmarks. [WP]

• Bush and EU leaders warn Iran and North Korea against developing nuclear and other weapons technologies. [WP]
• With midterm elections approaching, Republicans attempt to turn the Iraq War into a political asset rather than a liability. The Senate debate over Iraq hints at 2008 presidential race themes. [NYT; WP]
• Vote to renew the Voting Rights Act canceled after objections from GOP lawmakers. [WP; NYT; LAT]
• Eight troops have been charged with murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of an Iraqi civilian in April. [WP]
• The Department of Veterans Affairs will offer a year of free credit monitoring to veterans and military personnel whose personal data was stolen last month. [WP; NYT]

Rep. Jim Moran is a pretty colorful House member. In the past few months, we’ve learned about his weight loss challenge, his arrest at the Sudanese embassy, and his conspiracy theorizing. And now this: MORE »

• FBI and Justice Department officials, including Alberto Gonzales, defend search of Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) office; Speaker Hastert talks to Bush. [WP, NYT, LAT]
• Gen. Michael Hayden wins over the Senate intelligence committee; full Senate could confirm his nomination to lead the CIA by Thursday. [WP, NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Chertoff contends the U.S. is prepared for hurricane season but skepticism remains. [WP]
• Reaching a compromise over immigration will be a challenge for the House and Senate; Bush urged to apply his “full energy into the effort.” [WP, LAT]
• Veterans Affairs Department waited two weeks before alerting authorities about data loss. [NYT, USAT]
• Critics see recent spending bill for Iraq and Katrina “as a monumental example of earmarking taken to extremes.” [WP]

MORE »

• Senate passes $109B in emergency spending by vote of 77 to 21; bill is rifled with earmarks that Bush threatened to veto. [WP, NYT, WSJ]

• House approves $7.4B for port security by vote of 421 to 2. [WP]
• Rumsfeld confronted by harsh criticism from audience members. Asked a former CIA analyst, “Why did you lie to get us into a war that caused these kind of casualties and was not necessary?” [AP]
• Administration increases rhetorical push for “democratic reform in Russia”; Cheney’s comments could “reflect a growing impatience with Russia’s unwillingness to back stronger measures, including sanctions, against the Iranians.” [WP, NYT, WSJ]
• Republicans “are struggling to marry a newfound zeal for energy conservation with their traditional loyalty to big cars and Big Oil.” [NYT]
• The proposed $100 gas rebate “offers a window on how Washington sometimes works in a slapdash way” and shows how Sen. Frist “has stumbled at the pinnacle of Senate power.” Sen. Thune: “I never was in favor of that. We all got out there and tried to put our best face on it.” [NYT]

* House narrowly approves ethics legislation that increases disclosure requirements for dealings with lobbyists; earmarks now must be publicly sponsored. Most Democrats and 20 Republicans vote nay and the new rules must be reconciled with Senate proposal. [WP, NYT, USAT, WSJ]
* Senators pile on earmarks to emergency spending bill in spite of renewed veto threat from Bush. [WP, NYT]
* Some lawmakers are rethinking their resistance to raising fuel economy standards. [WP]
* “Day of reckoning” for tax cuts will probably be January 1, 2011. [WP, WSJ]
* Administration releases plan for flu outbreak; funding is not established. [WP, NYT, USAT]
* Businessman pleads guilty to bribing Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) with $400,000; Jefferson’s “legal problems are steadily mounting and have undercut his party’s efforts to portray the Republicans as the party of political corruption.” [WP, NYT]
* Callers to Medicare hotline are frequently provided wrong or incomplete information, independent study finds. [WP]
* Valerie Plame is shopping a book deal. [NYT]