Another Democrat House scandal? This time it’s Maryland Rep. Hoyer over Stimulus pay-for-play
Another Democrat House scandal? This time it’s Maryland Rep. Hoyer over Stimulus pay-for-play: “
Steny Stimulating the pants pockets of suburban DC friends
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is back in the scandal news with a tit-for-tat with CIA Director Leon Panetta. Meanwhile John Murtha close friend and ally Richard Ianieri has agreed to plead guilty to bribery in relation to a Pennsylvania contractor connected with the PA Congressman.
Now, the 2nd in Command in the House is coming under increasing scrutiny for an alleged pay-for-play deal with one of his biggest contributors. Longtime Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer may have pulled some strings to get Muhammed Juvaid and Smartronix of Maryland an $18,000 contract for a Federal Website.
According to Jim Harper at Cato:
The federal government will pay $18,000,000 for one Web site.
A company called Smartronix will get $18,000,000 to redesign Recovery.gov, the federal Web site intended to track where federal Recovery Act spending goes.
The government purchased technology for a similar site (with a somewhat smaller scope), USASpending.gov, from the non-profit group OMB Watch for only $600,000. A private company already provides information on Recovery Act spending to the public for free.
Note – Smartronix is a company headquartered in Hoyer’s District. Juvaid and his partners have given more than $19,000 to Hoyer’s campaigns since the late 1990s.
Meanwhile, one prominent Republican who also calls Maryland home, had some comments about the growing scandal. From RNC Chairman Michael Steele via Skepticians.com:
‘Vice President Biden warned us that there would be ‘waste’ in the stimulus bill. The Obama administration is devoting $18 million dollars to create a government website to show Americans just where their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent. This is unreal and outrageous.’
‘If the Obama administration is willing to devote $18 million in taxpayer dollars to a website, imagine what government-run health care will charge taxpayers for an MRI,’ he said.
CAUTION: There is no evidence yet that Hoyer got the Fed contract in direct return for campaign contributions.
Developing…
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(Via Libertarian Republican.)