The Daily Muck

The Daily Muck

Natalie Sherman | December 15, 2008, 10:08AM

The Washington Post chronicles yet another example of oversight of the bailout bill. Congress required that executives receive limited bonuses -- but only for those companies that receive federal money through the Toxic Asset Relief Program. Since the Treasury has shifted gears on how to use the money, the pay restrictions "are now all but gone," says Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA). (Washington Post)

"The United States government has in place neither the policies and technical capacity nor the organizational structure that would be needed" to successfully rebuild Iraq, according to the draft of a lengthy government report obtained by the New York Times and ProPublica. When progress was slow, government officials invented evidence, such as inflating the number of Iraqi troops, the report finds. So far the effort has cost $117 billion and done little more than "restore what was destroyed during the invasion and the convulsive looting that followed." (New York Times/ProPublica)

The pharmaceutical company Wyeth has become the focus of an investigation by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) after it came to light that the company pays ghostwriters to author positive journal articles regarding its products. The inquiry focuses particularly on articles encouraging hormone therapy for menopausal women. (The New York Times)

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