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Its space jobs in jeopardy, Ala. comes a-courtin', Baltimore Sun
"From the Alabama space community, Mikulski received $14,400 from Francisco J. Collazo of COLSA Corp., a contractor on NASA's moon rocket program, and five members of his family, FEC records show. Collazo has also contributed more than $400,000 to Shelby campaigns and committees over the years, Bloomberg News reported in a 2006 article that said Shelby had steered at least $50 million in government earmarks to COLSA. Four members of the 25-member Huntsville task force personally directed $7,300 in contributions to Mikulski's re-election. Three others work for aerospace contractors that have given $14,000 through their political action committees, records show."
Mikulski fundraising shows bipartisan sleaze, Baltimore Sun
"In an excellent expose of how Washington really works, West reveals how President Obama's desire to shut down NASA's program to revisit the moon has turned into a fund-raising bonanza for Maryland's senior senator -- with Republican help."
2010 contributions for Sen. Mikulski, OpenSecrets.org
Keith's note: Hmmm - have a look at this map. After Maryland, ($475,650) the next largest contributor to Mikulski's campaign in 2010 (so far) is Alabama. ($78,610). This places Huntsville as the 4th ranking metropolitan area after Baltimore, Washington, and New York - and ahead of Chicago.
A Closer Look at Sen. Shelby, Money, NASA MSFC, and Lobbyists, earlier post
"Collazo Enterprises is a registered Lobbyist in Washington, spending lots of money to influence Congress, yet it apparently has no employees in Huntsville and is owned entirely by Mr. Collazo. Collazo Enterprises owns Colsa. Colsa Corp is Shelby's 16th ranked donor and contributed $21,300 between 2005 and 2010. Collazo Enterprises is ranked #9 among Shelby's donors and made a total of $26,100 in contributions during the same time period. That's a total of $47,400. A number of Colsa employees made a contribution to Shelby on 11 March 2009 as did other spouses, relatives, etc. and lots of people with the last name "Collazo."
Given the White House activity on this sort of mush/slush funding:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/ethics
Ethics
President Obama has consistently made clear that he will strive to lead the most open, transparent, and accountable government in history. Whether it is reigning in the influence of lobbyists in Washington, bringing unprecedented accountability to federal spending, opening doors to engagement with the American public, or shutting down the "revolving door" that carries special interest influence in and out of the government, the highest standards will be sought in every thing the federal government does.
In accordance with all of these principles, the President signed two Executive Orders and three Presidential Memoranda the day after his inauguration. These five documents represent a bold first step and a guide to every action carried out in the service of the American people.
It will be interesting to watch the upcoming hearing when they happen with Mikulski & Shelby asking questions about the NASA budget this time around.
It is very unclear the Executive can impact the activity directly.