Roll Call reports that Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) has decided to return campaign cash that he received from the indicted former Majority Leader. The Ohio Congressman has donated $13,000 to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

LaTourette has not commented publicly on the donation, but in a response to constituent/Democratic congressional candidate Palmer Peterson wrote:

So much to read this morning!

The Washington Post's Jeffrey Smith has this as a lede (emphasis added):

Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bragged two years ago that he was in contact with White House political aide Karl Rove on behalf of a large, Bermuda-based corporation that wanted to avoid incurring some taxes and continue receiving federal contracts, according to a written statement by President Bush's nominee to be deputy attorney general.

Tom DeLay and the Republicans, shamed by DeLay’s comments that the federal budget was "pared down pretty good," have come forward with “Operation Offset” to propose a number of cuts to help pay for hurricane relief. The New York Times’ Carl Hulse covers it this morning, listing the following items as ones on the chopping block:

Glenn Smith of DriveDemocracy.org hit the Hammer on the head with a post at Blogging of the President. Think about the difference between the federal response to DeLay's request that Texas lawmakers get tracked down in Oklahoma versus the federal response, and DeLay's, to Hurricane Katrina. In Glenn's words:

The Houston Chronicle reports that Cindy Sheehan, mother of Casey Sheehan who was slain in Iraq, plans to shift her focus from President Bush's Crawford ranch to Congress. The mother, who has held a vigil outside the ranch for the past several weeks, will lead a bus tour from Crawford to the White House on Thursday.

And her first stop along the way might be embattled Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay's district office.

Cindy Adams at the New York Post has this today:

Democrat and Iraq War Veteran Paul Hackett may have lost the incredibly close race for the open Congressional seat in Ohio's second district, but there is much speculation over what it might mean for Congressional candidates in 2006. Bush won the district in 2004 with 64% of the vote. Republican Candidate Jean Schmidt won with 52%.

The folks over at MSNBC's First Read wrote this:

The New York Times reports today that Senate and House negotiators have reached an agreement on broad energy legislation that is expected to be up for votes in the House Wednesday and the Senate Thursday.

All's Clear on the FEC Front?

The Federal Elections Commission plans to release the report of an audit that was done on Tom DeLay's political action committee ARMPAC, according to Philip Shenon of The New York Times. The audit looked into allegations of "illegal contributions" received in 2001 and 2002.