Secret files reveal how pay-to-play works in N.J.

A special report by The Star-Ledger exposes how one politically connected engineering firm parlayed campaign donations into millions of dollars in public contracts, all the while keeping the scheme hidden from the public. An analysis of the records, meticulously kept and numbering 137 pages, found Birdsall made more than 1,000 secret campaign contributions worth in excess of $1 million to politicians of all stripes and in all corners of New Jersey. At the same time, the company cashed in on more than $84 million in public contracts.

The 27 senators who voted against an immigration overhaul bill amendment, which strengthens border security but is also a step towards passing the overall immigration package, on average received very little money from the computer industry, human rights groups and labor unions, but did receive heavy support from donors in the agribusiness industry, according to an OpenSecrets Blog post.

The Center for Public Integrity reports that "Rep. Mel Watt, the North Carolina Democrat whom President Barack Obama has appointed to oversee mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has received more campaign money from financial interests than any other industry or special interest."

"Since he entered Congress in 1992, Watt has received $1.33 million in campaign contributions from the finance, real estate and insurance industries, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that tracks money in politics."

"As gun control debates raged in Congress early this year, the National Rifle Association increased its federal government lobbying expenditures to record levels, new filings with the U.S. Senate indicate," according to an investigation by The Center for Public Integrity.

Tom Shephard, a political consultant for Bob Filner, a Democrat running for mayor of San Diego, noticed a lot of full page newspaper ads attacking his client; ads that he was quoted $8,000 for.

"Amita Sharma and Ryann Growchowski, with inewsource and KPBS, audited ads in the San Diego Union-Tribune every day between Labor Day and Election Day 2012 and compared the list with campaign finance records. The results show varied payments for ads, indicating the U-T may have offered bargains to the anti-Filner campaign and to other candidates and issues the newspaper endorsed."

Update: California's Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has said that "an investigation has been opened on this matter," regarding UT San Diego's political ad rates during the 2012 election season.

"inewsource and KPBS audited ads in the U-T every day between Labor Day and Election Day 2012 and compared the list with campaign finance records. The results show varied payments for ads, indicating the U-T may have offered bargains to the anti-Filner campaign and to other candidates and issues the newspaper endorsed," according to the investigation.

"Lobbyists and corporations that employ them can't give gifts to lawmakers—unless they funnel the money through a nonprofit," according to an investigation by Mother Jones.

“Key lawmakers in the immigration debate are among the top recipients of campaign contributions from the prison industry”

Center for Investigative Reporting/Esquire
The Shooter
"The man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden sat in a wicker chair in my backyard, wondering how he was going to feed his wife and kids or pay for their medical care."

The Tampa Bay Times
Public schools lose millions to crooks and cheaters
“Axson's case points to a larger problem with mandated tutoring in Florida: The program pays public money to people with criminal records, and to cheaters and profiteers who operate virtually unchecked by state regulators.”
Lobbying preserved millions for Florida tutoring companies
"Every year for nearly a decade, private tutoring companies have made millions in Florida because the federal government required school districts to hire them. That was in danger of changing last February, when the state won freedom from mandated private instruction for poor children in the state's worst schools.But the tutoring industry wasn't letting go without a fight."

KPNX 12 Phoenix
Raked Over the Coals
Investigative Reporter Wendy Halloran exposed unethical conduct by members of the Phoenix Fire Department’s Fire Investigations Unit. Arson investigators are caught trying to manipulate the arson dog while investigating a house fire. The Phoenix Fire Department boasts the highest arson clearance rates in the country. Did they arrest a woman for arson with faked evidence? Arson investigators, under oath, testified the arson dog is far superior than any crime lab. But they never showed this video to the Grand Jury. And the City of Phoenix refuses to talk about it. Barbara Sloan says they’re trying to railroad innocent people into prison.

The Center for Public Integrity
Current gun debate may not help beleaguered ATF
"So for now, the bureau remains systematically hobbled by purposeful restrictions, flimsy laws, impotent leadership and paltry budgets. And it’s not at all clear there’s anything on the horizon that would change that situation."

Milwaukee Journal Constitution
ATF's Milwaukee 'Fearless' storefront had little to ward off burglars
“Who would imagine the thieves would have unfettered access to the place for three days, propping open the door with a shoe and returning the next day with a moving truck to finish the job?”

USA Today
Ex-House members spend campaign money after they depart
"Former House members are spending their leftover money to pay for everything from luxury cars to foundations that bear their names, a USA TODAY review of new campaign-finance reports shows. The practice is legal but raises questions among government watchdogs about whether these accounts are used as political slush funds."

The News Tribune
Army won't release details of report on Madigan hospital
"Army leaders insist they have fixed flaws in Madigan Army Medical Center’s behavioral-health department that resulted in the misdiagnoses of hundreds of patients. But they have refused to release reports that could substantiate their findings and shed light on what happened at the Army hospital last year."

The Star Tribune
Minnesota is a hotbed for radioactive gas radon
"More than 40 percent of Minnesota home radon tests conducted in the past 13 years show unsafe levels of the radioactive gas, according to a Star Tribune analysis of state records. Yet Minnesota has no mandatory radon testing of homes, schools or day care centers; no requirement that homeowners test for radon before selling a house; and weaker real estate disclosure rules than some leading states."

ProPublica
Will Democrats sell your political opinions to credit card companies?
"For years, state Democratic parties have been gathering information about individual voters' political leanings. They have noted down the opinions voters shared with canvassers — which candidates they said they supported or their positions on policy issues. Now, the record of what people told Democratic volunteers may go up for sale — and not just to political groups.

Bloomberg News reports that corporate political action committees, such as those of Boeing and General Electric, waste no time in donating to winners of congressional elections after previously placing money on losing campaigns. Bloomberg reports that "at least eight corporate PACs that contributed to the losing candidate gave to the victor in the month following the 2012 elections, Federal Election Commission records show."