This should do the trick.

Blackwater Worldwide, the contractor that emerged over the last few years as Exhibit A for ugly Americans in Iraq, has decided that the best response is to ... change its name.

And check out the name they picked: "Xe." (Apparently it's pronounced like the letter 'Z.' Raising the question: Why not just call it "Z"?)

They've also renamed Blackwater Lodge & Training Center, the subsidiary that does much of their controversial overseas operations. It's now the "U.S. Training Center Inc." (Which doesn't exactly mesh with "Xe," but whatever.)

According to the Associated Press, Blackwater (or should we say "Xe"?) president Gary Jackson said in a memo to employees, announcing the changes, that they reflect a shift in the company's focus away from private security and toward operating training facilities around the world.

You can see how "Xe" would be the obvious name to reflect such a shift.

It's not hard to guess why Blackwater (or wait, Xe) wants to get out of the private security business. In 2007, Blackwater guards opened fire in a Baghdad square, killing 17 Iraqis. Five ex-Blackwater guards were charged with voluntary manslaughter and are awaiting trial.

And recently, thanks largely to that incident and other cases where Blackwater has been accused of using excessive force, the Iraqi government declined to renew the company's contract to operate in the country. Soon after, the State Department announced that, in any case, it wouldn't renew Blackwater's contract to operate in Iraq.

No word yet on whether Iraq and State will reconsider now that that the company is called "Xe."

Earlier this week, Keith Ashdown of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, told The Hill that one troubled lobbying firm with ties to some Democratic lawmakers, "will become the majority's Waterloo on ethics."

Ashdown added: "If they do not tackle this example head-on they will look as bad as the Republicans on ethics in government."

Sounds serious! So it's worth taking a broad look at what Ashdown's talking about.

The firm under scrutiny here is the PMA Group, which was founded back in 1989 by Paul Magliocchetti, a former top aide to Rep. John Murtha.

It hasn't been a good week for the firm. On Monday, ABC News reported that, back in November, the FBI had raided the firm's northern Virginia office. The following day, the New York Times revealed that investigators were probing the possibility that Magliocchetti had funneled campaign contributions to Murtha and other lawmakers, in a quid pro quo arrangement. And the same day, The Hill added that the firm was "disintegrating," with several senior lobbyists leaving after being unable to strike a buyout deal with Magliocchetti.

PMA specializes in representing defense firms looking for federal money. And its employees are prodigious political contributors. Over the last three election cycles, they've given a total of more than $1 million to political campaigns, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics

And at the top of its list of recipients over the last two decades are two Democratic lawmakers who sit on the Defense Appropriations subcommittee: Murtha of Pennsylania, Rep. Pete Visclosky of Indiana.

Murtha appears to be most closely implicated. Aside from Magliocchetti, at least one other former Murtha aide, Julie Giardina, also works at PMA. And Dan Cunningham, another PMA staffer, is a former Hill aide who has a close relationship with Murtha, according to The Hill.

Roll Call found earlier this week that, over the last three election cycles, Murtha had received around $1.75 million from PMA and its clients. Last fall, when Murtha faced an unexpected re-election challenge after calling his constituents racist, PMA and its clients came to his aid, contributing $110,000 to Murtha's last-minute fundraising effort.

What did PMA get from Murtha? Roll Call also found that in the last two years, Murtha has steered earmarks totaling around $93 million to PMA clients.

It's also worth noting that a second company linked to Murtha, defense contractor Kuchera Indstries, was raided by the FBI in January. Over the years, Murtha has funneled over $100 million in earmarks to the firm and a related company.

It's not hard to see why Ashdown told Roll Call: "This investigation is moving in the direction of Jack Murtha."

As for Murtha's friend Visclosky, he too has personal ties to PMA. Rich Kaelin, a PMA lobbyist, was Visclosky's chief of staff in 2003.

Visclosky has raked in $196,950 from donors with ties to the firm. PMA has been Visclosky's top donor every year since 2004. And the Post-Tribune of Lake County, Indiana has found that in 2008, the congressman secured more than $20 million in earmarks for the firm's clients -- a quarter of the total earmarks he got.

So that's what we've got. So far, there's no evidence that either Murtha or Visclosky are themselves are focuses of the investigation. What this amounts to, at the moment, is a firm contributing alot of money to certain lawmakers with authority over the sphere it works in -- as well as hiring some of their former aides -- and getting earmarks from those lawmakers.

That's not evidence of a quid pro quo. But it doesn't look good, especially given the president's call for a new kind of politics. And something tells us we haven't heard the last of it.

Could the Feds be closing in on Jack Murtha?

Late last month, federal agents raided the offices of a Pennsylvania defense contractor with close ties to the longtime Democratic congressman.

And now, ABC News has reported that, back in November, the FBI raided the Virginia headquarters of a lobbying firm founded by a former Murtha aide.

The firm, known as the PMA Group, specializes in winning earmarks for its clients.
ABC reports that last year, "it brought in $13.8 million in revenue representing dozens of defense companies and contractors, many of which have donated heavily to Murtha." Murtha has helped the firm win millions in earmarks, according to ABC. And much of PMA's business comes from small defense contractors based in Murtha's district.

The former Murtha aide who founded the firm, Paul Magliochetti, has reportedly been talking to his colleagues about an arrangement that would see him leave. Reports ABC:

Asked whether these discussions were related to the raid, [a PMA spokesman] declined to comment.

And another former Murtha aide, Julie Giardina, also works at PMA.

Last month, the FBI and IRS raided the offices of Kuchera Industries and Kuchera Defense Systems. Murtha has reportedly channeled $100 million in earmarks to those companies.

A spokesman for Murtha denied that his boss had been contacted by the FBI, and said the congressman did not believe he was a target of the investigation.

Still, something tells us we haven't heard the last of this.

Late Update: The Hill reports that PMA is "disintegrating", with several of its top lobbyists telling colleages and associates they plan to leave and start a new firm.

And it looks like the issue of PMA founder and former Murtha aide Paul Magliocchetti's continuing presence at PMA is at the center of the move:

The lobbyists resigned from PMA last Friday after they were unable to strike a buyout deal with Paul Magliocchetti, the founder of PMA Group, who indicated earlier this year he wanted to retire.

The new group is called Flagship Government Relations and is being billed as a business development and lobbying firm, The Hill has learned.

The paper adds:

Among those who are starting the new consultancy are Kaylene Green, a former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer and congressional Navy liaison; Sean Fogarty, a former Senate Navy liaison; Rich Efford, a longtime appropriations staffer who worked for former Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.); and Dan Cunningham, who served as the director for the Army's congressional liaison team and has a close relationship with Murtha, according to multiple K Street sources.