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The Coconut Road Affair - How To Investigate A Crooked Earmark
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ShareApril 16, 2008 2:54 PM
ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Take the "Bridge to Nowhere" put it in a pot, add the Specter of law men roaming Capitol Hill William Jefferson-style, season it with some alleged corruption and add dash of earmark reform. Serve with a side of filibustering lawmakers trying to police themselves.
Call it the Senate Bean Soup.
It was the "Bridge to Nowhere" that got all the media attention from the 2005 transportation bill, but if ever there were ever an earmark that needed investigating, it's Coconut Road.
Things are at a standstill on the Senate Floor while senators weigh their options. Should it be lawmakers investigating themselves or the Department of Justice? Or both?
Someone - before Congress mandated that earmarks enacted into law be made public, so we're not sure who - someone changed language in the conference report to the 2006 transportation bill that redirected $10 million that had been designated to widen parts of I-75 to instead create the off-ramp.
Problem is the residents of Lee County in Naples, Florida didn't want the off-ramp. The local government didn't want the off-ramp and the local Congressman, Republican Connie Mack, says he didn't request the off-ramp.
It was requested by a local business man - conveniently a political patron of Rep. Don Young, the powerful Alaska Republican that tried so hard to bring you the "Bridge to Nowhere" boondoggle that same year, and the lawmaker who wrote the bill.
Young has not directly admitted requesting the earmark, and despite Mack maintaining he didn't request it either, offering he even worked to have the earmark reversed, there exists a letter from 2006 indicating Mack supported an off-ramp in that location.
Lawmakers put 6,300 earmarks worth $24 billion into what was ultimately signed by President George W. Bush. But only Coconut Road is still causing problems on Capitol Hill.
Republican anti-earmark crusader Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla, wants to appoint a bipartisan, bicameral panel with subpoena power to investigate the matter and he's holding up action on the Senate floor demanding a vote on the proposal.
Senators have spent all week considering a "technical corrections" to the 2005 transportation bill. "Technical corrections" are supposed to dot i's and cross t's overlooked when the bill was originally passed, but Coburn says there should be a full accounting of the taxpayer money that was overlooked too.
But senators are supposed to stay out of the business of the House. Leaders from both parties are working to come up with an inquiry format.
Democratic leaders, trying to move things along, suggested a non-binding measure encouraging the Department of Justice to investigate. Young is already the subject of a federal investigation.
But the notion of executive branch law men prowling the legislative halls on Capitol Hill is making some up here nervous.
Should the White House have that power over Congress?
It's reminiscent of the search by FBI agents of Rep. William Jefferson's, D-La, office back in 2006.
Whether the executive branch can march into a House office building is currently working its way through the judicial system and many expect it before the Supreme Court, involving that third branch of government, in short order.
April 16, 2008 in Washington | Permalink | User Comments (3)
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We should all declare war on the house of representatives.
They passed no meaningful legislation. And, unlike the Senate, they don't have the excuse of filibusters. Nancy Pelosi is truly a waste of breath but she still controls the appointment of important committees.
Vote all the buggers out regardless of party. It's the only way to get the government back into the hands of the people.
Posted by: S | Apr 16, 2008 3:20:14 PM
Mecksi needs his meds.
Don Young is the face of corrupt earmarks.
The "Bridge..." was to his wife's property and the Coconut Road is to his FLA bankroller's property.
Posted by: disabledOIFvet | Apr 16, 2008 5:19:33 PM
earmarks only serve corruption. Ban them. You want to add something to a bill you have to do it from the floor and put it to a vote.
Posted by: Louis | Apr 16, 2008 5:48:47 PM
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