As the nation confronts a debilitating national deficit of $1.3 trillion – the second highest of all time – the Federal government must dedicate itself to spend money more responsibly and thoughtfully instead of rewarding special interests and abusing taxpayer dollars in the area of national security.  Austerity must be the goal; however, government cannot shed its responsibility to perform essential functions that keep us safe – but when it does so, it must do so in a way that is above reproach given these difficult financial times.

The latest, most recent example of the careful balance that appears to be falling toward padding special interests over responsibility is the recently-issued draft Request for Proposals (RFP) from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entitled, “Establishing Centers of Innovation for Advanced Development and Manufacturing (ADM) as Public – Private Partnerships.”

Capitol Confidential has learned that this draft RFP is the first step by the Obama Administration to develop and build a national vaccine center with a projected cost of at least one billion dollars.

After the influenza pandemic last year it is fair to question whether the Federal government should take on more responsibility in the area of vaccine production and distribution particularly since there is a vibrant and competitive industry in the private sector, but the real questions here are why is this happening now and who stands to benefit?

We must recall during the presidential campaign, Candidate Obama told voters over and over again that he would change the way business is done in the nation’s capital.  His administration would end the pay to play, special favors, cut off the special interests and shutter the revolving door.  It was a central part of his argument: lobbyists and special interests have corrupted the process and they would have no place in an Obama Administration.

Fast forward almost two years, and we find ourselves in a situation where lobbyists, former and current administration officials, special interests and the corrupting influences have positioned themselves to haul in nearly one billion in taxpayer dollars in what could be one of the most lucrative government payoffs in history and, most disgracefully, they are doing it in a critical area of national and public health security.

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This week, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell will sign his eighth and final state budget (term limits prevent him from seeking re-election).  The budget passed with no tax increase, and represents $1 billion less than Gov. Rendell requested.  However, the budget merely passes the bill onto future years, and future generations, through accounting tricks and borrowing for egregious pork projects.

The budget relies on $2.7 billion in federal aid, including $850 million in Medicaid funds (FMAP) that has yet to pass Congress.  Indeed, no one believes Pennsylvania will get that much, if any, as the legislation doesn’t have enough support in the US Senate.  Gov. Rendell, along with Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, New York Gov. David Paterson and others were in Washington last week to lobby for more federal aid.

The state will use $121 million from Tobacco Settlement Funds for teachers’ pensions, which will then be backfilled, and another $35 million from other one-time sources to balance the budget.   Still unresolved are a projected $4 billion annual pension contribution hike and a $3 billion Unemployment Compensation Fund deficit.

Finally, the budget deal includes increasing the debt ceiling for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) by $600 million.

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The conservative, grassroots movement has successfully shown that gerrymandered congressional districts and state boundaries no longer limit citizen involvement in any campaign regardless of where you live.  In 2010, all politics are still local, but every campaign in the country is now local, as well. This has never been more evident than in the Pennsylvania 12^th Congressional District this weekend.

My business partner and I received a call on Friday May 14, 2010 providing us an opportunity to spend the weekend in Pennsylvania as part of the ground team of the Tim Burns campaign.  We both have extensive military backgrounds, so the trip could only have been made better if we had been allowed to parachute into PA12, unfortunately Southwest Airlines wouldn’t play along.

We arrived in Washington, PA around 2:00 AM Saturday morning and after a few hours of much needed sleep we made our way to the Burns Campaign headquarters. Within moments of arriving we had our instructions and began loading the GPS with polling places in Fayette County, PA, some of which were fact and some fiction.  We spent the majority of the day searching out these obscure, out of the way polling places and reporting the results back to the Burn’s headquarters.  It would seem someone didn’t want us to know where to go to vote.

It is important to note that we were joined by people from New Jersey, Illinois, Montana, Indiana, and Massachusetts. Does this happen often? We don’t think so.

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RightChange.com, Inc. today released “The Attack of the 50-Foot Pelosi” ad in Pennsylvania for the Tim Burns’ special election race.  In a tight race, Tim Burns, the Republican candidate is running against Mark Critz, a former congressional staffer for John Murtha and the Democratic candidate.  The election will be held on Tuesday, May 18th to fill John Murtha’s congressional seat.  Murtha died unexpectedly on February 9, 2010.

The 30-second ad uses new technology for political ads with humor and cutting-edge animation similar to watching a Pixar movie. In the ad, Speaker Pelosi transforms into an enormous menace as she defies the will of the American people by pushing the costly liberal agenda including higher taxes and bailouts.  The Pennsylvania voters fight back to subdue Speaker Pelosi with Tim Burns campaign buttons and save America.

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We’re all about the headlines this week as we’ve got Mark Steyn calling in from Arizona at the white hot center of the immigration debate, author John O’Hara discusses his new book “A New American Tea Party” and his recent appearance on “The Daily Show,” and we talk to Tim Burns the Republican candidate in the hotly contested race for Jack Murtha’s seat in Pennsylvania. Questions? Comments? Write us at podcast@ricochet.com or come join the discussion on or Facebook page.

It has been reported, a company by the name of PharmAthene, which is closely tied to the late Congressman John Murtha and Tara O’Toole, an Under Secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has received preferential treatment by our good friends in the federal governmenat the expense of Joe Taxpayer.

BIG GOVERNMENT has learned that a little known entity named the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is adding millions of dollars to a contract awarded way back in 2003 that PharmAthene inherited, rather than conducting a fair and open competition. In government speak, that means PharmAthene is about to get huge sums of additional cash without ever having competed for it. Coverage of this sole-source award has already received significant news coverage and attention from numerous outlets, including Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

But it’s not as if PharmAthene is hiding it. They’re actually promoting the fact that they’re getting sole-source contracts that do away with any competition and fatten their bottom line.

According to a recent PharmAthene press release:

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From the Associated Press:

Spokesman for Rep. John Murtha says the Pennsylvania Democrat has died at 77.

ED Note: Rep. Murtha was a close political ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was her choice for Majority Leader, but he was edged out in a caucus-wide vote by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). He became a darling of the on-line left as a fierce critic of the Iraq War. For many conservatives, he was a personification of the Congressional earmark system and its potential for abuse. His final months in office were marked by serious questions surrounding his steering of millions of dollars in Pentagon appropriations.

Consider this an open thread.

In recent years, I’ve published too many posts about members of the Armed Forces facing undeserved charges:

• First, it was the so-called “Haditha Marines” who faced trumped-up charges, thanks largely to idiots like Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) declaring them guilty before a mainstream media eager to paint them in a bad light.

• Next, it was Army Ranger 1st Lt. Michael Behenna who was wrongly convicted of executing an Iraqi detainee, Ali Mansur, on May 16, 2008, and is now serving a 25-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

• Now, I’m following the case of three Navy SEALs facing assault charges related to their capture of Ahmed Hashim Abed.  Who is Abed?  He’s the alleged planner of the March 2004 ambush, killing and mutilation of four Blackwater contractors in Fallujah, Iraq.  The SEALS gave this enemy combatant piece of dirt a fat lip while apprehending him.

As my first investigative reporting effort related to the SEALs’ case, I offer six important facts about the case you’re likely not to read about in the mainstream media supplied to me by a source whom I cannot name inside the Pentagon:

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Riding the wave of the GOP’s successful push to have Congress defund Acorn, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) tried to push through another prudential budget matter: killing the John Murtha-Johnstown Cambria County Airport. His effort was not as successful.

On Thursday afternoon, the GOP brought a measure to the Senate floor to end federal subsidies for the airport Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) had built in Johnstown, PA, right in his home district. Over the past few years, the airport has received roughly $150 million in funds from the defense budget, and it got $800,000 in stimulus money.

But it just so happens the airport only sees about 6,700 passengers… a year. Luckily, Murtha is the chairman of that wonderful little defense committee, dutifully guiding money towards the airport build largely so he could get from Dulles back to his home easier.

Tyler Grimm wrote in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month:

The usually barren airport—there were several times during the day I paced the building for 15 minutes and did not see another human being—has a lot of unused advertising space. But you can’t miss the large picture of John Murtha among a collage of Lockheed Martin workers at the airport’s center. It’s a monument to earmarks: “Partnerships Make a World of Difference,” the ad reads.

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