Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:35 AM

Sessions Earmark Tied To Former Aide

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "Rep. Pete Sessions -- the chief of the Republicans' campaign arm in the House -- says on his website that earmarks have become 'a symbol of a broken Washington to the American people.' Yet in 2008, Sessions himself steered a $1.6 million earmark for dirigible research to an Illinois company whose president acknowledges having no experience in government contracting, let alone in building blimps," Politico reports. "What the company did have: the help of Adrian Plesha, a former Sessions aide with a criminal record who has made more than $446,000 lobbying on its behalf."

• "The AFL-CIO sought to slow momentum on one idea to finance healthcare reform that has been gaining supporters on Capitol Hill by expressing misgivings about a proposal to tax insurance companies that offer the most expensive plans," The Hill reports. "The tax on so-called 'Cadillac' health plans has been seen by Democrats as a compromise that would allow them to to raise revenue for healthcare reform and reduce healthcare spending by discouraging very generous insurance plans without capping the currently unlimited tax exclusion for workplace health benefits."

• "One of the largest sources of campaign contributions to Senate Democrats during this year's health care debate is a physician-owned hospital in one of the country's poorest regions that has sought to soften measures that could choke its rapid growth," the New York Times reports.

• "Natural-gas companies are ramping up their lobbying efforts against a House climate change bill they believe is too generous to the coal industry," The Hill reports. "An alliance of gas producers and pipeline companies formed in March is taking out ads in Washington publications, including The Hill, and staffing up with lobbyists to tilt the Senate version of climate change legislation more in the industry's favor."