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washingtonpost.com — Bush made more than 100 end-of-term appointments to a constellation of presidential boards and panels, many of which will outlast President Obama's current term. Nearly half of Bush's appointments after Election Day were filled by donors who gave a total of nearly $1.9 million to Republicans since 2003, according to an analysis of the postings. At least 20 of the positions were filled by former Bush aides. Most of the positions are unpaid and are valued more for their status than for monetary compensation. Yet the appointments show how political connections matter even for the most obscure Washington jobs, and they illustrate the extent to which presidents have an impact well after they leave the White House.

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forbes.com — Bernard Madoff has chalked up another victim in his alleged $50 billion swindle: the Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement chief who failed to detect it. Linda Chatman Thomsen announced she will leave the agency, less than a week after members of the House Financial Service committee lambasted her over the SEC's bungling of the Madoff affair and for appearing uncooperative during a hearing on the matter. New SEC Chairman Mary Shapiro has promised to overhaul the agency's enforcement efforts in light of the Madoff scandal, which erupted in December. At a speech in Washington, she said the SEC would do some "serious self-evaluation." Its inspector general is already investigating the missteps that allowed the Madoff ponzi scheme to go on undetected even after several near misses.

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money.cnn.com — The Securities and Exchange Commission and disgraced investor Bernard Madoff made permanent a partial judgment, one that could eventually force Madoff to pay a civil fine and return investors' money. Under the terms of the deal, Madoff will keep a previously reached agreement to freeze his assets and not to violate any other securities laws. The agreement does not require Madoff to admit or deny any allegations against him. It also leaves the issues of any fines and repayments to be imposed against Madoff for a later time. Separately, Madoff faces one count of securities fraud brought by the Justice Department for which could face 20 years in prison.

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nytimes.com — With Congressional leaders hoping to deliver legislation to President Obama by next Monday, staff workers for the appropriations and tax writing committees in both chambers were not waiting for the Senate to act before comparing the two measures. Formal talks will not begin before the Senate passes its $827 billion version of the plan; the House bill costs about $819 billion. The Senate agreement on a scaled-down bill was reached on Friday when three Republicans signaled that they would back the legislation. Their support would give the Democratic majority the 60 votes needed to clear a procedural hurdle. But Congressional Democrats and the White House were still hoping to pick up more Republicans.

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usatoday.com — A massive effort to fix public works destroyed more than three years ago by the Gulf Coast hurricanes remains largely stalled, leaving more than $3.9 billion in federal aid unspent and key repairs far from complete. The scale of that job is enormous. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has promised $5.8 billion to repair everything from flooded libraries and schools to sewer systems and roads that were ruined when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita obliterated huge sections of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005. Nearly 3½ years after those storms hit, new FEMA accounting reports show two-thirds of the money to pay for permanent rebuilding work still has not been spent, the latest bottleneck in a recovery long beset by criticism that it has been too slow and inefficient.

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iht.com — The conditions at the Blakely, GA, peanut plant were more 1955 than 2009. But they were only one element in the salmonella outbreak and subsequent food safety train wreck that started here and swept through the country — claiming eight lives, sickening an estimated 19,000 people in 43 states and spurring an array of recalls. An examination of the Blakely case reveals a badly frayed food safety net. Interviews and government records show that state and federal inspectors do not require the peanut industry to inform the public — or even the government — of salmonella contamination in its plants. And industry giants like Kellogg used processed peanuts in a variety of products but relied on the factory to perform safety testing and divulge any problems.

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news.bbc.co.uk — A peanut supplier blamed for a U.S.-wide outbreak of salmonella poisoning sold nuts it knew were infected, the Food and Drug Administration says.The FDA was revising an earlier report it had issued saying the Georgia-based firm Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) had waited for negative results. A criminal inquiry was launched last month. The corporation denies any wrongdoing and says it is co-operating. The outbreak has been linked to eight deaths and more than 500 illnesses. The FDA carried out an inspection of the corporation's plant in the town of Blakely in January, after it was identified as a possible source of the contamination. The inspection found that the factory was "not compliant with Current Good Manufacturing Practices required by the FDA."

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google.com — The Agriculture Department shipped possibly contaminated peanut butter and other foods to schools in at least three states under a contract with the Georgia company blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak. The government abruptly suspended all business with the company, as officials defended their efforts to halt the outbreak that has sickened at least 575 people in 43 states. At least eight have died. It's become one of the largest food recalls ever, including more than 1,300 products. The potentially contaminated products went to school free lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho in 2007, the Department of Agriculture said. None of the states reported illnesses as a result of students eating the recalled peanut products.

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washingtonpost.com — Lawmakers gave officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission a severe tongue-lashing over investment fund manager Bernard L. Madoff, accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Members of a House Financial Services subcommittee were angry at the SEC officials for two reasons: failing to catch Madoff before he defrauded investors despite detailed and ample warnings from whistleblower Harry Markopolos, yesterday's star witness, and failing to answer specific questions about Madoff, citing a form of executive privilege. Time and again, SEC enforcement chief Linda Chatman Thomsen and acting general counsel Andrew N. Vollmer said they were unable to answer the panel's questions because the agency itself is being investigated by its inspector general for the way it handled Markopolos's tips, which came to the SEC nearly a decade ago.

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washingtonpost.com — A Senate committee has launched an investigation into potential abuses of a 2004 law that granted a one-time tax holiday to multinational corporations returning foreign earnings to the United States. The probe is intended to dampen enthusiasm for tucking a similar provision into the Senate's $884 billion economic stimulus package. Sen. Carl M. Levin, chairman of the Senate permanent subcommittee on investigations, has instructed the panel to determine whether companies used the cash to create jobs, as Congress intended, or used it for other purposes. Under U.S. tax law, multinational firms headquartered in the United States are not required to bring home profits earned overseas, creating an incentive to stockpile cash in low-tax jurisdictions such as the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands.

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