Lame-duck Cravaack handed out large raises to his staff

"Former U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) awarded his staff some of the largest salary increases in Congress last year as he left after one term in office. For the first three quarters of 2012, the Minnesota Republican’s staff payroll averaged a little over $197,000. In the final three months of the year, it shot up to $354,000, an 80 percent increase. For decades, departing members of Congress have awarded large bonuses and salary increases to longtime staff, but these raises were of a magnitude typically awarded by senior members of Congress," according to an investigation by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Collaborative reporting between ProPublica and NPR reveals that Intuit, the company behind America's most popular tax software, TurboTax, has long fought efforts to establish an easier, free tax filing system in the U.S. Similar systems already exist in Denmwark, Spain and Sweden, and advocates for such a system say it could save millions of taxpayers a collective $2 billion in tax peparation costs.

The idea, which has at times been endorsed by both Ronald Reagan and President Obama, has also "been opposed for years by the company behind the most popular consumer tax software — Intuit, maker of TurboTax. Conservative tax activist Grover Norquist and an influential computer industry group also have fought return-free filing."

"Choco was the first journalist to fall victim to the turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels that engulfed the state of Chihuahua from 2007 to 2011. He was not the last. In July, the special prosecutor for crimes against journalists in Mexico testified that 67 journalists had been killed in that country since 2006. An additional 14 others have disappeared without a trace," according to the Texas Observer. "Only one person has been sentenced for any of these crimes," the story notes.

According to a Washington Post analysis, during the 10-year federal ban on assault weapons, the percentage of firearms equipped with high-capacity magazines seized by police agencies in Virginia dropped, only to rise sharply once the restrictions were lifted in 2004. In Virginia, the Post found that the rate at which police recovered firearms with high-capacity magazines — mostly handguns and to a smaller extent rifles — began to drop around 1998, four years into the ban. It hit a low of 9 percent of the total number of guns recovered the year the ban expired, 2004.

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."

On the floor and in the committee rooms, you can identify the most powerful lawmakers simply by checking their fundraising and lobbying totals. The cost of access to a legislator rises as he does: being promoted to chair a key committee doubles his campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts.

A WXII12 investigation found that lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly can collect money, including subsistence money for meals and lodging while in session, whether they show up for work or not.

WXII12 reports that "The legislative manual says lawmakers can waive the money by filing a waiver. Otherwise, O’Neil reported, the money comes automatically. No receipts are needed, like most businesses would require."

Fair Warning reports that as governments around the world adopt stringent rules to fight the public health burdens of smoking, tobacco companies are fighting back, trumping those laws by invoking long-standing trade agreements. Anti-smoking advocates told Fair Warning those efforts, and the cost and liability governments face in fighting them, will intimidate "all but the most wealthy, sophisticated countries" into inaction.

When San Bernardino filed for bankruptcy in August, the mayor blamed the city council and the police and fire unions. The unions blamed the mayor. Yet on close examination, the city’s decades-long journey from prosperous, middle-class community to bankrupt, crime-ridden, foreclosure-blighted basket case is straightforward—and alarmingly similar to the path travelled by municipalities around America’s largest state. A Reuters investigation of city data found San Bernardino succumbed to a vicious circle of self-interests among city workers, local politicians and state pension overseers. Little by little, the salaries and retirement benefits of city workers—and especially its police and firemen—grew richer and richer, even as the city lost major employers and gradually got poorer and poorer. No single deal or decision involving benefits and wages over the years killed the city. But cumulatively, they built a pension-fueled financial time-bomb that finally exploded.

Welcome to IRE's roundup of the weekend’s many enterprise stories from around the country. We’ll highlight the document digging, field work and data analysis that made their way into centerpieces in print, broadcast and online from coast to coast. Coverage this week was dominated by the election, but there was some watchdog coverage to be found in other areas. In preview of the election, we've got a roundup of some of the data-driven work that's been done this campaign season.

Did we miss some? Let us know.  Send us an email at web@ire.org or tweet to @IRE_NICAR. We’ll add it to the list and spread the word. 

The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Atlanta police wanted helicopter replaced in 2001 
"The Atlanta police helicopter that crashed Saturday night, killing two officers, was a Vietnam War-era chopper that city officials 11 years ago said had outlived its useful life."

The Indianapolis Star
Just 1 in 10 Indianapolis residents recycle. Why is that?
"Just 10 percent of households participate in curbside recycling. That means Indianapolis, which has been striving since 2008 to become 'the most sustainable city in the Midwest,' has one of the most underused recycling programs in the nation for a city its size."

The Milwuakee Journal Sentinel
With no oversight, police can ignore domestic violence laws
"Wisconsin's laws on how police must respond to domestic violence are among the most comprehensive in the country, but no one has the authority to enforce them, a Journal Sentinel investigation has found. And if the laws are ignored, there are no penalties."

The Houston Chronicle
Alleged HISD fee scheme detailed
"HISD trustee Larry Marshall voted repeatedly to award taxpayer-funded contracts to companies that hired his longtime business associate - who gave him a cut of her earnings, according to court records, deposition testimony and interviews."

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Parking ticket abuse rampant by Rochester Police
"A month-long investigation by the Democrat and Chronicle revealed that the Police Department routinely violated its own policies by fixing tickets for officers and their friends and relatives for flimsy excuses or none at all."

The Palm Beach Post
Felons, dead people are eligible voters on final Palm Beach County roll 
"Peter Costello, a felon convicted of racketeering and fraud in 1998, has no right to vote because his civil rights never have been restored.But that didn’t stop the registered Republican from casting a ballot in the Aug. 14 primary, and, he said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post, submitting an absentee ballot for Tuesday’s election."