Is Wicker the pot to Musgrove's kettle?

Instead of rehashing the fact that former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove has done nothing wrong in relation to the beef plant, I want to throw out a couple of quick reads for a little discussion.

First, let's visit a Jan. 16, 2008, article from the Washington Post:

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican congressman appointed to replace Trent Lott in December, last year obtained a $6 million earmark for a defense contractor whose executives were among his top campaign contributors and were represented in the matter by Wicker's former congressional chief of staff, according to federal records.

Wicker's earmark for Manassas-based Aurora Flight Science fits a pattern that recently attracted bipartisan criticism and gave rise to the most far-reaching ethics overhaul legislation in a generation: The firm retained the services of the congressman's top aide after he passed through the revolving door to become a lobbyist, and its employees helped underwrite Wicker's reelection.

Over the past three years, as Aurora sought defense contracts, the Republican member of the Appropriations defense subcommittee received escalating contributions from the company's executives. Aurora was Wicker's top source of campaign funds in 2006, campaign finance records show. In 2005, the company flew the congressman on a private jet to the ribbon cutting of a manufacturing facility it opened in Wicker's Mississippi district.

And just days after Wicker's chief of staff, John Keast, left his employ in 2006, Aurora began listing the former staffer on public forms as one of its lobbyists in Washington. Wicker placed the earmark in a defense appropriations bill that became law in November 2007.

Now that we're done there, let's mosey on over to this June 8, 2008, article from the Commercial Appeal in Memphis:

Last year, Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, then a member on the House Appropriations Committee, slipped language into the Defense Appropriations Bill that directed the U.S. government to award the research grant to Radiance Technologies.

This type of budget line item has become known on Capitol Hill as an earmark, and few in the 435-member House were better at the practice of earmarking federal dollars than Wicker. For fiscal year 2008, Wicker sponsored 42 earmarks totaling $159 million, ranking him among the House's top spenders.

Some of the companies that benefited from Wicker's earmarks were donors to the Mississippi politician. In addition, two such companies hired lobbyists who once worked as staffers in Wicker's congressional office.

...

For Wicker, fostering relationships with companies that benefit from his earmarks has paid off well. From the $159 million in earmarks Wicker delivered for companies, local governments and other organizations this fiscal year, $113,950 in campaign contributions can be directly traced to those earmark recipients, according to a review of federal records by The Commercial Appeal.

One last stop, this time over at the Center For Responsive Politics:

Wicker Has Received Over $25,000 From Miltec Employees: Over the years, Miltec employees have contributed at least $25,500 to Wicker's campaigns and his leadership PAC, Responsibility & Freedom Work PAC. (Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 1/7/08; Roger Wicker Financial Report. 7/08)

You might be interested in knowing that Wicker obtained $10 million in earmarks for Miltec Research and Technology over the last two years.

This is not to say Wicker has done anything wrong. It's just interesting reading in light of flimsy accusations against Musgrove in the beef plant debacle.