Pentagon Junkets and Stimulus Pet Projects

by David Epstein
ProPublica, June 10, 2009, 9:09 a.m.

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Between 1998 and 2007, Pentagon employees accepted $26 million in travel and treats from foreign governments, industry associations and private companies that have interests in influencing U.S. policy or doing business with the military, according to the Center for Public Integrity. A senior Pentagon official told the AP, “We have a fiscal responsibility to take every opportunity to reduce government expenses on travel.”

Also, despite the Obama administration’s claim that stimulus money would not fall prey to the pet projects and earmark habits of lawmakers, 60 lawmakers contacted federal agencies between February and the end of May in an attempt to steer stimulus money to their districts, reports USA Today. Thirteen of those lawmakers had voted against the stimulus package, according to the paper.