“Simply put, Members of Congress should not have the ability to award no-bid contracts” to private firms, Flake said in a statement explaining the 540 proposed amendments he plans to bring up. “Many times the recipients of these earmarks are campaign contributors. The practice has created an ethical cloud over Congress, and it needs to end.” He noted that at least 70 of the earmarks are for former clients of the PMA Group, a lobbying firm close to appropriations subcommittee chairman John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) that is being probed by the Justice Department and the House Ethics Committee.
via http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902676.html?hpid=topnews
