What's $18 mill when you're well connected? Peh.

Promising to be transparent, they continue the arrogance of believing they are accountable to no one. Like the Congresspeople who will NOT take part in the new health care bill being bandied about in the Senate, the rules are written for the underlings, not them.In addition, the company Hoyer chose does not list web development on their website as their areas of expertise. They are, however, donors to Hoyer's campaign. All above board, to be sure.

Reminiscent of the no-bid, cost-plus contracts awarded in the Bush administration to defense contractors, ABC News reported last night the Obama Administration awarded a 5 year $18 million contract to Smartronix, a Maryland-based IT firm with connections to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, for the redesign of Recovery.gov.

Launched in February to track the expenditures of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Recovery.gov was to be the pinnacle of web-enabled transparency, according to President Barack Obama.