The Washington Times has a front page piece today reporting that Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has called for an investigation into the $2.25 billion allocated for national parks in the $819 billion stimulus bill passed by the House on Wednesday. The chief lobbyist for the National Parks Conservation Association (which, among other things, advocates for national park funding) is Craig Obey, son of House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.
"It really does beg the question of, is this an earmark, is this a family connection and should it have been disclosed at least in the spirit of what the Democrats said they wanted, and the answer is it should have been disclosed," Issa told the Times.
According to the newspaper, a spokesman for the NPCA said Craig Obey "never lobbies his father," and a spokesman for Rep. Obey said the funding of the parks had nothing to do with the congressman's relationship with his son.
-- Eliza Krigman
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