Pol Watchers

McCain's their guy, but Ky. GOP does love pork

Search Mitch McConnell's and Hal Rogers' 2008 earmarks

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com 

Republican John McCain says he'll veto all congressional earmarks if he's elected president and use the savings – about $18 billion a year – to help offset his tax cuts.

No surprise: Throughout his long Senate career, McCain protested the special projects tucked into federal spending bills by lawmakers with little review, calling them ”wasteful pork“ and ”outrageous and obscene.“

But McCain's war on earmarks could turn into friendly fire for Kentucky's two biggest Republicans now united behind his campaign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Congressman Hal Rogers.

Both are senior members of their chambers' appropriations committees and have earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars over the decades. As a result, Kentucky is one of the porkier states, with an estimated $56 in earmarked spending per resident compared to the $33 national average.

Are McConnell and Rogers ready to kiss their earmarks goodbye if their man wins in November?

Hardly, said David Williams, vice president of Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-partisan spending watchdog in Washington.

”McCain has been battling earmarks in Congress, and folks like Mitch McConnell and Hal Rogers have been battling him,“ Williams said. ”Given their party loyalty, they're probably holding their noses and hoping that if McCain is elected president, they can – quote-unquote – "work with him' and see if they can't keep their status quo going.“

McConnell did not return calls this week seeking comment.

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Rothenberg: Kentucky House seats safe for now

If the Rothenberg Political Report is right, Kentucky's 2008 U.S. House races will be a bore.

The political newsletter says all but one of Kentucky's six House seats pose "limited risk" for the incumbent party.

The only exception is in Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District, where first-term Democrat Rep. John Yarmuth faces a challenge by Republican Erwin Roberts, a former aide to Gov. Ernie Fletcher. The Louisville race is in Rothenberg's "Democrat Favored" category.

- John Stamper

Liberal group labels McConnell and Rogers 'most corrupt'

Washington— U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Hal Rogers are among the 22 congressmen cited as “most corrupt” in a new report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

For the most part, the liberal government watchdog group’s report retreads ground first covered in the Herald Leader’s investigative reports by reporter John Cheves, including Roger’s steering of millions of dollars in Homeland Security funds to both his district and companies that have donated to his campaigns.

The report also cited Federal Election Commission reports and stories previously published in the Washington Post and New York Times that showed a financial connection between Rogers and such companies as NucSafe, which specializes in radiation detection technology used in airports.

According to the Washington Post and FEC reports, between 2004 and 2005 Rogers’ campaign and leadership PAC received at least $9,200 from NucSafe executives. In 2005, the company netted a $1.8 million grant from a Homeland Security Department agency. 

The report also reiterated the senator's connection to former McConnell chief-of-staff turned lobbyist Gordon Hunter Bates, and clients who received earmarks through the senator’s efforts.

“The only way they’ll fix it is campaign finance reform,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Until they don’t need campaign contributions there will continue to be corruption.”

- Halimah Abdullah

Campaigns aid Rogers' family, too

Some of you may have noticed a new byline in the Lexington Herald-Leader lately on stories involving Kentucky congressional delegation. We're very excited to tell you that Halimah Abdullah is the paper's new Washington correspondent.

Abdullah is new to the McClatchy Company's Washington Bureau, where she will report for the Herald-Leader and two other newspapers in Georgia. She will also be contributing to Pol Watchers, probably beginning later this week.

Here's a story she had in today's paper about the family connections found in Congressman Hal Rogers' campaign and fund-raising activities.

By Halimah Abdullah
HABDULLAH@MCCLATCHYDC.COM

WASHINGTON -- For U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, campaigns and fund-raising are full of family connections.

During the last election cycle, Rogers' campaign committee paid the Washington, D.C.-based Levatino Group, which once employed his wife Cynthia, $16,892 for the company's fund-raising efforts.

In 2004, Senture, a call-services center, hired Rogers' son, John, just after the lawmaker helped the company net a $4 million contract to field calls from truckers, according to an article published last year in The New York Times. Since 2004, Senture has contributed $12,000 to Rogers' campaigns.

And every election cycle since 2002, Rogers' campaign committee has paid his daughter-in-law, Tracy Rogers, $24,000 to maintain a donor database or perform contract work, according to federal campaign finance documents and a report by a government watchdog group.

"I think people are surprised when they learn that the money they think is going to the campaign might be going into the lawmaker's family's pockets," said Melanie Sloan, executive director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal government watchdog group that recently released a report outlining how the families of some ranking House members were paid through campaign funds.

"It's a lot of money. In some ways Rogers is not unusual in that several members of his family have benefited," she said.

If it becomes law, an ethics reform measure passed last week by the House would prevent campaigns from hiring spouses and would require disclosure when lawmakers' other family members are hired.

McConnell has more in the bank than NRSC

The seven members of Kentucky's congressional delegation who are up for re-election next year hauled in more than $2 million over the last three months, according to reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission.

The most prolific fund-raiser in the bunch was U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader. He took in $1.25 million between April 1 and June 30 and has $5.7 million in the bank heading into next year's election.

To put that in perspective, McConnell has more cash on hand than the National Republican Senatorial Committee -- the organization aimed at helping all Republican Senate candidates. That group shows less than $4.3 million in its account.

As for the others, Republican Rep. Geoff Davis of Northern Kentucky, has raised $656,788 since April 1 and has $424,560 on hand.

Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth of Louisville kept a similar pace with $603,189 raised in three months and $455,979 in the bank.

Yarmuth, so far, is the only incumbent to draw a challenger. Erwin Roberts, a Republican and former state personnel cabinet secretary, raised more than $43,000 in his first month as a candidate.

Among the prominent donors to Roberts' campaign were Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, former Commerce Cabinet Secretary Jim Host and former GOP state Rep. Gerry Lynn of Brandenburg.

Here's how the rest of Kentucky representatives stack up:

• Fourteen-term U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, a Republican who represents Eastern and Southern Kentucky, has more than $1 million in the bank.

• Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler of Versailles has more than $830,000 on hand.

• Republican U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Hopkinsville is close behind with $825,000.

• Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis of Cecilia, who survived his first serious challenge in a decade last year, has just shy of $250,000.

- Ryan Alessi