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Luke Rosiak

lrosiak@washingtontimes.com

Luke Rosiak was a reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Luke Rosiak

The Maryland Statehouse stands in Annapolis. Maryland state lawmakers were closing in on a $1.6 billion tax increase and $2 billion in budget cuts as their legislative session drew to a close Monday. (The Washington Times) ** FILE **

Conflict of interest in $4 billion government minority program

A $4 billion minority contracting program that places advocates for minority businesses in charge of regulating them is a clear conflict of interest, federal and state audits found, but one state has announced plans to expand its version to one of the most aggressive in the nation

June 9, 2013
The Maryland Statehouse stands in Annapolis. Maryland state lawmakers were closing in on a $1.6 billion tax increase and $2 billion in budget cuts as their legislative session drew to a close Monday. (The Washington Times) ** FILE **

$4 billion program for disadvantaged businesses lacks oversight

The U.S. Department of Transportation distributes some $4 billion a year in contracts reserved for minority-owned and other "disadvantaged" businesses, but conducts virtually no oversight and has no idea if the program is accomplishing any of its goals, a new inspector general's report found.

June 3, 2013
President Obama answers questions during his new conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on April 30, 2013. (Associated Press)

In time of sequesters, federal government posts 27,000 job openings

The budget cuts known as sequestration were supposed to wreak havoc, forcing the shrinking of critical workforces including airport security officers and food inspectors. But since sequestration kicked in March 4, the government is in the market for 27,000 new employees.

May 27, 2013
** FILE ** Election Day bought out hordes of voters in Washington, D.C., but dozens of ballots were cast using the names of people who had moved to Prince George's County years ago. (The Washington Times)

Voter fraud is easy with 13,000 in Maryland still on D.C. records

Washington, D.C., has failed to remove from its voting rolls as many as 13,000 former residents who years ago moved to Prince George's County and cast ballots there, making fraud by voting in two jurisdictions as easy as going to the polls in their old neighborhoods, The Washington Times found in a review of records.

May 19, 2013

Congressman wants oversight of food stamp program

Responding to complaints that food stamps are widely spent on junk food and that the Agriculture Department makes no attempt to even track, much less restrict, what kind of food is being purchased, a Pennsylvania Republican will introduce legislation Friday called the SNAP Transparency Act to create an online, searchable database that uses bar codes to break down how many taxpayer dollars in food stamps are spent on each individual product, from Kit Kat bars to whole milk.

April 25, 2013
President Obama dances with first lady Michelle Obama during the Inaugural Ball at the Washignton Convention Center during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington on Jan. 21, 2013. (Associated Press)

Obama inauguration fueled by corporations, unions

Chevron, Boeing and other companies whose fortunes are heavily dependent on government action or inaction were among the companies that gave $23 million to President Obama for his inauguration party, with the politician who ordinarily demonizes corporate money relying primarily on such sources, rather than individuals, for the $44 million gala in January.

April 21, 2013
Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray (The Washington Times)

D.C. can’t account for $1 billion for development

Despite a booming commercial real estate industry that is the envy of almost every U.S. city, the District of Columbia is unable to account for more than $1 billion of public/private funding in fiscal 2012 intended for local, small- and minority-owned businesses, according to a city report.

April 17, 2013
** FILE ** This is a Dec. 10, 2002, file photo of Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, posing at the sales center at one of his Houston developments. Perry died Saturday night April 14, 2013, former Texas state Rep. Neal Jones, a close family friend, said late Sunday. He was 80. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Melissa Phillip, File)

Republican mega-donor Bob Perry dies at age 80

Bob Perry, a Texas homebuilder and philanthropist who also had an immense influence on politics through his contributions to Republican candidates, has died at his home near Houston, the Texas Tribune reports. He was 80.

April 15, 2013
**FILE** President Obama speaks at the Police Academy in Denver on April 3, 2013. (Associated Press)

Hamstrung by corporate-money reversal, Obama group raises $4.8M

President Obama's presidential campaign's newest incarnation, a nonprofit intended to mobilize volunteers and use their donations to prop up his bully pulpit, raised a paltry $4.8 million, constrained by its reversal under criticism of its intention to collect money from corporations.

April 12, 2013

CBE haven also a home base for Ward 8 politico

A three-bedroom Colonial on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast that houses a dozen businesses and received $3.5 million from the District government since 2010 also serves as a home base for a longtime Ward 8 politico with a history of debt and dubious financial dealings with the city, records show.

April 11, 2013