Tuesday, November 3, 2009 8:41 AM

Ethics Disclosure Will Not Hurt Earmarks

From this morning's Earlybird:

• "The disclosure that seven House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee members are being scrutinized for their ties to PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that raised money for lawmakers and won earmarks for clients, is not expected to have a chilling effect on negotiations to reach agreement on a final FY10 Defense spending bill," CongressDaily AM (subscription) reports. "According to analysts for watchdog groups that monitor the appropriations process, House-Senate discussions are probably too far along for negotiators to start weeding out earmarks."

• "As the House Financial Services Committee begins its final push today in drafting legislation that will overhaul the banking system, lobbyists are scrambling to get Members of Congress to address specific provisions that would harm their clients' bottom lines," Roll Call (subscription) reports. "Republicans have been pushing the committee's chairman, Barney Frank (D-Mass.), to delay the hearing, citing the need to take more time to review the draft bill that was released late last week."

• "A liberal advocacy group is launching a new Web site" today "that aims to document the financial and political ties of conservative groups, many of which have emerged as major political forces this year in fomenting opposition to President Obama's policies," the Washington Post reports. "The Conservative Transparency Web site... which will be run by the Media Matters Action Network, uses Internal Revenue Service filings to track the major financial backers and beneficiaries of conservative activist groups."