Politics News & Analysis: Exclusive report on Congressional earmarks

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Tuesday, February 07, 2012 Congressional earmarks sometimes used to fund projects near lawmakers' properties David S. Fallis, Scott Higham and Kimberly Kindy EXCLUSIVE | Thirty-three members of Congress have steered more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to dozens of public projects that are next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers' own property, according to a Washington Post investigation. Shelby earmarked money for project near his building David S. Fallis Over the last decade, Sen. Richard C. Shelby has directed more than $100 million in earmarks to revitalization efforts in downtown Tuscaloosa, Ala., where Shelby owns an office building. Romney tries to beat back possible Santorum surge in trio of states Philip Rucker Mitt Romney returned to the campaign trail in Colorado on Monday and trained his focus on President Obama, but his top aides and key surrogates fought to beat back a possible surge by Rick Santorum on the eve of Republican presidential contests in a trio of states. Democrats improve their chances of re-taking the House Aaron Blake Democrats have been saying for a long time that control of the House of Representatives could be in play in 2012, and some trend lines are starting to agree with them. Secret money is funding more election ads Dan Eggen More than a third of the advertising tied to the presidential race has been funded by nonprofit groups that will never have to reveal their donors. Obama to announce new education proposal David Nakamura At a White House science fair, the president will propose spending $100 million to help train 100,000 new educators. Obama gives blessing to a super PAC Dan Eggen Fearing a tide of spending by outside conservative groups, President Obama is giving his blessing to a pro-Democratic "super PAC" that will work to help his reelection, his campaign said late Monday. Ethics committee faults Buchanan in probe Dan Eggen Investigators have "substantial reason to believe" that the Florida congressman violated ethics laws by failing to report his financial ties to and unearned income from a half-dozen firms. Want to 'fix Congress?' There's a caucus for that. Ben Pershing A pair of House Republican freshmen have formed a well-timed new group — the Fix Congress Now Caucus. Revising pension calculations would hurt workers Joe Davidson House Republicans have marched to a steady beat in advancing legislation that would make life more difficult for federal employees. Read more on Post Politics blogs Election 2012 The Fix Fact Checker The Take Behind the Numbers 44 | The White House blog In the Loop Federal Eye 2Chambers Get The Washington Post, your way. Want to stay on top of the latest news, features, commentary and more? Here's how: Mobile: Alerts: Social Media: Applications Web site E-mail SMS RSS Feeds Facebook Twitter SEND TO A FRIEND UNSUBSCRIBE E-NEWSLETTER CENTER GET HELP Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20071 ©2012 The Washington Post Privacy Policy