WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Mobile’s congressman, Rep. Jo Bonner, had a very unflattering appearance on the FOX News Channel two weeks ago. Bonner was interviewed by FNC’s Gregg Jarrett about his selection to the House Appropriations Committee and his own earmarks. "You’ve given earmarks – more than a $1 million to clients represented by lobbyists, who have in turn contributed thousands of dollars to your campaign," Jarrett said. "Do you think it’s right?" Bonner, who amazingly maintained his usual mild demeanor throughout the interview, didn’t try to justify why he did it, just maintained he didn’t do anything wrong. "Now, your question makes it suggest what I’ve done is inappropriate or illegal," Bonner replied. For those of you who aren’t sure what an earmark is, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget defines an earmark as "funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents Executive Branch merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Executive Branch to manage critical aspects of the funds allocation process." In other words, it’s Congress pulling the purse strings. Whether or not Bonner will be able to defend future campaign contributions with all the attention on earmarks by so-called watchdog groups ought to make decent fodder. Washington County Democratic Executive Committee Chairman Thomas Fuller, Bonner’s Democratic competition in November, dropped out of the race last week and now Bonner faces only write-in competition from Libertarian Candidate Dick Coffee. According to the Citizens Against Government Waste’s "2008 Pig Book," Bonner had 27 earmarks for $27.9 million. That puts him 156th out of 435 members. That’s nothing compared to Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator, Richard Shelby, who designated 206 earmarks for $464.5 million.

Alabama the woody This rush to mandate alternative energy has put Alabama in a tremendous bind. Two of the most referenced means – solar and wind power – just aren’t feasible in Alabama due to the erratic weather patterns – hot, cold, cloudy, etc. Sen. Jeff Sessions told reporters he’s looking at something Alabama has in abundance – wood. According to the senator, Alabama has been making progress in this area with little fanfare. "And we need to look at, and I have been very interested in seeing the possibility of converting wood products to fuel," Sessions said last week. "This is going better than a lot of people realize. We have a number of plants in Alabama that are about to start up that will take cellulose, wood products, waste paper – heat that, create a gas and convert that gas to a clean liquid that can go into our vehicles." The energy debate has been a focus of the Inside the Beltway news cycle, with gas prices and a global warming/cap-and-trade bill in the forefront. GOP senators killed the Lieberman-Warner-Boxer cap-and-trade bill earlier this month, which Sessions had said would have raised gas prices between $1.50 and $5 a gallon if it were signed into law. Sessions, along with Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) have taken a serious interest in defeating Draconian cap-and-trade proposals. "There’s a host of things we can do that I look forward to working toward, but we certainly don’t need to create in effect a massive tax on energy and a massive bureaucracy," Sessions said. "I do believe that the votes, as they’re proceeding now in Congress, make clear that this Senate has no intention of passing [cap-and-trade legislation.]

Oops – Math Error Will Trivialize Tanker Decision Late last week, Reuters reported the U.S. Air Force made a math mistake in determining the winner of the hotly contested Boeing versus Northrop Grumman/EADS tanker bid. According to Reuters, the Air Forces admitted a mistake of $34 million that worked in Northrop Grumman’s favor in the original bid. That’s just a drop in the bucket in the overall scheme. This is certainly ammunition for Boeing, but a high-ranking bureaucrat that works in the Pentagon told Lagniappe the buzz is this is likely to get nastier in the coming weeks.

McClellan to Be Asked About Siegelman Controversy in House Hearings? Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan’s bombshell tell-all book "What Happened" (a book I’ve struggled to read about half of over the last three days – not exactly a real page-turner) has caught the attention of the House Judiciary Committee and he is expected to be asked about the long and sorted Valarie Plame/CIA leaking episode. McClellan made his first public bookstore appearance in Washington, D.C. last week. One of the members of the audience asked him if there were any new bombshells to be revealed in his testimony that weren’t in his book. Only possibility McClellan raised was the use of the Department of Justice as a political arm of the Bush administration – which is the entire premise of the entire Don Siegelman controversy. McClellan will appear on Capitol Hill on June 20.

NRCC Targets Artur Davis/Alabama Community College Scandal Connection The National Republican Congressional Committee sent out a press release last week alleging an improper connection between Rep. Artur Davis and the Alabama Community College System – something Mobilians are all too familiar with. According to the release, Davis employed the services of Gina Bailey McKell in his district office while she was still employed by Shelton State Community College with a $76,883 annual salary. While McKell was employed, Davis sent money into the state system. "During Bailey McKell’s House tenure, Davis secured $510,000 in earmarks for Shelton State Community College, and $600,000 for Jefferson State Community College, another former employer of Bailey McKell," the release said. The release made sure it was apparent Davis was a supporter of presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). However, on the same day this came out, the Politico newspaper praised Davis as a beneficiary of Obama’s triumph over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) for the nomination. Davis was the first congressman to publicly endorse Obama in his bid for the presidency.