Weiner Steps Down Under Pressure

Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York said Thursday he would resign from Congress, yielding to pressure from party leaders who had called his lewd, online messages to women inappropriate and a distraction.

Ohio DOT bought Expensive Salt

Ohio has overpaid by as much as $59 million for road salt over the past decade because two companies colluded to drive up prices and misrepresented out-of-state salt as being from Ohio, an investigative report concluded yesterday.

"Although we failed to find evidence that the two companies communicated on salt bids, we did find evidence that Cargill's and Morton's practices have created a duopoly in Ohio's salt market," the report said.

Morton Salt said in a statement that the report's conclusions "are not supported by the facts" and that the company conducts business with integrity and within the law.

"In Ohio, and everywhere else, we compete independently and fairly under the bidding procedures set out by the relevant procurement officials," it said.

Cargill called the conclusions disappointing and pointed to the lack of a finding that the companies communicated with each other.

"Cargill never did or would talk with its competitors about bids," Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said.

First for the favors. Service directors in Bedford Heights, Akron, and Twinsburg, along with ODOT assistant maintenance administrator Diana Clonch, got $4,700 worth of Brown’s tickets, meals, and greens fees. Those were supplied by Cargill account manager Tony DiPietro, formerly an ODOT assistant deputy director in Garfield Heights. A Granger Trucking VP, Frank Bianchi, also spent thousands entertaining a variety of public officials throughout northeast Ohio saying it was on Cargill’s behalf. Cargill says it wasn’t.

The Bell City Scandal

The saying goes, you get what you pay for. To the working class citizens of Bell city, California, their hard-earned cash got them a sleazy, overpaid and corrupt government run by Democrats. The government officials got rich.

The money is big!

Shadowed by Tiger Woods' problem

Baucus defends nominating girlfriend
Senator, staffer involved when he recommended her as a U.S. attorney

FILE - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., looks on before speaking to reporters about health care reform legislation, in this Oct. 15, 2009 file photo taken on Capitol Hill in Washington. A spokesman for Baucus said late Friday Dec. 4, 2009 the Montana Democrat was in a romantic relationship with the woman he nominated for U.S. attorney. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

In June, Melodee Hanes accepted a job as a counselor in the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 6, 2009

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the powerful chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, acknowledged Saturday that he was involved in a romantic relationship with a senior staff member at the same time he recommended her to be U.S. attorney for Montana.

Evangelist sentenced to 175 years for sex crimes

By JON GAMBRELL (AP) – 1 hour ago

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Evangelist Tony Alamo was sentenced Friday to 175 years in prison for taking underage girls across state lines for sex, effectively punishing him for the rest of his life for molesting children he took as "brides" in his ministry.

During Friday's hearing, some of Alamo's victims testified about how their families were destroyed while the evangelist took over their lives.

U.S. Senator John Ensign resigned from a party leadership post

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a new setback for the struggling Republican party, U.S. Senator John Ensign resigned from a party leadership post on Wednesday after admitting an affair with a female staffer.

"He's accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents. He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the (Senate Republican) Policy Committee," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Ensign's resignation causes another headache for the Republican Party, which preaches "family values" and has been scrambling to rebuild in wake of losing the last two congressional elections and the White House in 2008.

Ensign, of Nevada, led failed efforts by Republicans to pick up seats in last year's Senate elections, which left Democrats in control of the chamber with 59 of the 99 filled Senate seats.

Christopher Dodd denied lying

Watch Dodd's interview with CNN's Dana Bash »

and apologized.

On Tuesday, Dodd denied to CNN that he had anything to do with adding the language, which has been used by officials at bailed-out insurance giant AIG to justify paying millions of dollars in bonuses to executives after receiving federal money.

He said Wednesday that the "grandfather clause" language "seemed like innocent modifications" at the time. Watch Dodd's interview with CNN's Dana Bash »

"I agreed reluctantly," Dodd said. "I was changing the amendment because others were insistent."

Dodd said he did not speak to high-ranking administration officials and the change came after his staff spoke with staffers from Treasury.

The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

At a town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, California, about an hour after Dodd spoke, President Barack Obama didn't directly address the language change -- but said he'll take responsibility for the bonuses being awarded.

"We didn't draft these contracts. We've got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you're in charge to make sure stuff doesn't happen like this," he said. "So we're going to do everything that we can to fix it."

Dodd said later Wednesday in a written statement that his amendment allows the Treasury Department to review bonus contracts like AIG's and seek ways to get the money back for taxpayers.

AIG's derivatives branch is in Dodd's home state. Many of the bonuses in question were awarded to executives at that branch. But in the written statement, Dodd said he had no idea the legislation would impact the company.

"Let me be clear -- I was completely unaware of these AIG bonuses until I learned of them last week," he said.

Dodd also said in the statement that his comments on Tuesday and Wednesday to CNN did not conflict.

"I answered a question by CNN [Tuesday] night regarding whether or not [an exemption before] a specific date was aimed at protecting AIG," he said. "When I saw that my comments had been misconstrued, I felt it was important to set the record straight -- that this had nothing to do with AIG."

According to a transcript of the Tuesday interview, Dodd was asked about an executive-compensation provision "that exempts everything prior to February 11, 2009 -- any contracts prior to that date."

He said that language was not in the version of the bill that left the Senate and that he was not one of the negotiators who hammered out a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the plan.

"I can't point a finger at someone who offered a change at all," he said.

Asked whether he had later been able to figure out who added the language, he said, "I really don't know."

In Wednesday's interview, Dodd never said his Tuesday comments had been misunderstood.

"Going back and looking, I apologize," he said when questioned about his words from the day before.