Quick Picks: Obama's Elastic Ethics and Stimulus Package Pork — ProPublica

Quick Picks: Obama's Elastic Ethics and Stimulus Package Pork

by Alexandra Andrews

Jan. 29, 2009, 11:33 a.m. EST

Quick Picks focuses on a select few of the day's stories from "Breaking on the Web."

Obama is already navigating some treacherous ethics territory. Having welcomed lobbyists into his White House after pledging not to, he's now hired a new legal adviser on economic affairs who comes straight from a firm seeking up to $3.4 billion in bailout funds, reports McClatchy. A White House spokesman told McClatchy: "It is unlikely he will have any need to address the Hartford [his old firm] specifically in his work in the White House, and if he does he will recuse." For more on lobbyists going the White House, see our Morning Read.
Obama successfully pushed his stimulus bill through the House last night, but it came out the other end laden down with a whole lotta pork, reports the Wall Street Journal. Its price tag is now pushing $900 billion after additions that would benefit special interests ranging from the South Florida yacht-repair industry to California winemakers. (Hey, Wall Streeters need somewhere to spend those bonuses.)

Check out more of our roundup of the best investigative stories around the Web.

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