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Luke Rosiak

lrosiak@washingtontimes.com

Luke Rosiak was a reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Luke Rosiak

Metro gag order at odds with law

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's policy of forbidding employees from speaking to the media is at odds with a law designed to reduce impropriety at transit agencies by protecting insiders who bring concerns to light, an expert said.

April 1, 2012
** FILE ** Metro transit police arrest a suspect at the Columbia Heights Metro station in Washington. (John Muller/Special to The Washington Times)

Metro transit police: Not quite the region’s finest

Records suggest that the the Metro's 600-member police force has conducted little enforcement of the transit system's everyday rules and that the department also counts among its ranks people who have been arrested for violent and predatory crimes.

April 1, 2012
A Red Line train passes through the Farragut North Metro station in Washington. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Even with big salaries, Metro can’t fill its jobs

The mechanics tasked with maintaining the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's chronically broken escalators start at $81,000 a year. Bus driver pay goes as high as $114,000 for anyone with a driver's license and a GED.

March 27, 2012
** FILE ** D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (The Washington Times)

Campaign money orders to cease?

Nearly a quarter-million dollars in money orders have helped keep D.C. campaigns flush with cash in recent years, benefiting some of the same city politicians now considering all but banning the donations after a raid on the office of a prominent political patron.

March 26, 2012
Rescue workers arrive at the crash site where two Metro trains collided head-on near the Fort Totten Metro Station in June 2009. "When the accident happened in 2009, I called a supervisor and said, 'Is this the one we all dreaded?' " said Christine Townsend, who sued Metro for discrimination and won. (The Washington Times)

Metro derailed by culture of complacence, incompetence, lack of diversity

Ninety-seven percent of the bus and train operators at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority are black, with only six white women out of more than 3,000 drivers, according to Metro documents — a lack of diversity at one of the region's largest employers that has led to an acknowledgment of failure in affirmative-action documents and spawned a series of lawsuits.

March 26, 2012
GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich ended February with more debt than cash and raised only $2.6 million, campaign-finance reports show. (Lake Charles (La.) American Press via Associated Press)

Romney’s super PAC still outraising his rivals’

Fifty wealthy persons and companies gave at least $100,000 each to affect American politics last month, overwhelmingly to Republican super PACs, making the attack-ad weapons far stronger than that of their Democratic counterparts, new disclosures show.

March 21, 2012
** FILE ** This May 16, 2011 file photo shows U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in Chicago. Jackson faces a Democratic challenge from former one-term congressman and state legislator, Debbie Halvorson in Illinois' 2nd Congressional District in the March 20 primary. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Super PAC aims to wrest grip of incumbents

When it comes to Congress, the only number higher than voters' disapproval of its members is the rate at which they re-elect those same lawmakers. With sitting members of Congress backed by cash from Washington-based trade groups and party leaders, running against an incumbent traditionally has seemed like an exercise in futility.

March 5, 2012
Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at the Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner at Bowling Green State University, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Bowling Green, Ohio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Pro-Romney super PAC solely targets Santorum

With a fresh infusion of cash from a single benefactor, a group running advertisements for presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is back, allowing the candidate a presence before Super Tuesday even as the official campaign lacks resources.

March 4, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum greets diners Tuesday at New Beginnings Restaurant in Kentwood, Mich. In an attempt to defeat Mitt Romney in the state, Mr. Santorum's campaign actively solicited votes from an unlikely source: registered Democrats in Michigan. The AFSCME union is helping him with ad buys in Ohio. (Associated Press)

Labor unions push for Santorum win

Rick Santorum has not run as a friend of labor unions, going so far as to reverse himself and embrace a national right-to-work law, yet the social conservative got a major boost Monday in Ohio from the big-money intervention of an unlikely source: one of the country's premier unions.

February 28, 2012
GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has benefited from a super PAC accepting million-dollar contributions to support him. But it cannot coordinate with him. (Associated Press)

Romney camp, super PAC share high-level aides

Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and the super PAC accepting million-dollar contributions to support him are barred by law from coordinating, yet they share many of the same top-level workers, a fact both groups have helped mask by paying high-level aides through companies that appear to exist largely as conduits to avoid disclosure.

February 26, 2012
Romney

Former Romney aide’s company paid $2 million by super PAC

The pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future has spent $25 million in donated funds on ads excoriating Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, but with the exception of two advertising firms, the biggest recipient of its money has been a top Romney aide who left the presidential campaign to oversee the super PAC's finances.

February 23, 2012
** FILE ** Newt Gingrich (Associated Press)

Gingrich campaign warned 2nd time for financial dealings

Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign has received a second warning from the Federal Election Commission for widespread financial irregularities, saying it must disclose why nearly $1 million was paid to Gingrich, the staff and a small group of fundraising consultants for questionable reimbursements.

February 22, 2012
** FILE ** President Obama speaks at the Old Executive Office Building on Tuesday to urge Congress to extend the payroll-tax cut and unemployment insurance through the end of the year. (Associated Press)

Pro-Obama super PAC a bust in January fundraising

The big-money vehicle intended to raise astronomical sums to serve as the Democratic counter to similar action by Republican-funded super PACs and outside groups is failing miserably, federal documents filed Monday showed.

February 20, 2012
Presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, shakes hands with Army Cpl. Jesse Thorsen during his January caucus night rally, in Ankeny, Iowa. Mr. Paul has been getting extensive campaign-contribution support from enlisted people and civilians in the military, far exceeding his GOP rivals for the nomination. (Associated Press)

Paul, Obama collect most military donations to run

Enlisted personnel and civilian military employees are donating more to presidential campaigns than in previous elections, and they overwhelmingly prefer two candidates: Ron Paul, the long-shot Republican presidential contender opposed to using U.S. forces as the "world's police," and President Obama.

February 9, 2012

The super PAC to end all super PACs?

In a sign that super PACs are the new normal, two highly unlikely groups established the vehicles known for unlimited corporate contributions last week: an Occupy Wall Street super PAC and another created to run ads opposing — super PACs.

February 5, 2012
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan is now chairman of American Crossroads, which raised $51 million to aid GOP candidates. (Associated Press)

GOP super PACs outpace Democrats

In the battle of unlimited-money political groups that will play a major role in the 2012 general election, Republican groups have stockpiled far more cash than their Democratic rivals, and a tiny group of people is set to have a dramatic influence on the electoral process.

February 1, 2012
Huntsman

Huntsman funding primarily from dad

Two-thirds of the money from the main group advancing a presidential bid for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. came from the candidate's father, disclosures filed Tuesday showed.

February 1, 2012