Sunlight Foundation apologizes for erroneous report on Rep. Costello

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Sunlight Foundation has changed their story with regard to Congressman Jerry Costello (D-Belleville) asking for $1.4 billion in earmarks for the Illinois 12th District.

A spokesman for the nonpartisan and nonprofit Washington, D.C. think tank said the group's report implied the requests and Costello's vote on the health care bill were directly connected. We were wrong, the spokesman added.

Last week the Sunlight Foundation reported that Costello, along with five other House members aligned with Congressman Bart Stupak, a pro-life Michigan Democrat, had requested nearly $5 billion in earmarks the day after switching their votes on the bill.

It has since been learned, the spokesman said that the requests for earmarks for congressional districts had been scheduled to be released on that day prior to the last minute scheduling of the Sunday House vote on the healthcare bill by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Costello was reported to have sought the biggest share of the so-called Stupak 11's requested earmarks. However, $1.35 billion of his request was to fund a federal program to assist educational agencies near military bases, a measure joined in by 44 other representatives.

The health care bill, which has now become law, was controversial since polls showed the majority of Americans opposed it.

Stupak and his group had reportedly been the object of intense pressure from Pelosi and other Democrat leaders to support the bill, which passed by a narrow 219-212 margin, with 34 Democrats voting against it, as did every House Republican.

Prior to the voting, Costello had told reporters he would vote against the bill because it contained language allowing for taxpayer funded abortions and for his concerns over the bill's costs.

Costello said he changed his mind when President Obama promised to issue an executive order banning federal funding for abortion. He stated: "With the presidential executive order approving the Hyde abortion language and the fact that H.R. 4872 eliminates the 'Cornhusker Kickback' and other state-specific promises, combined with assurances from the Senate that H.R. 4872 will pass that body, I feel I can now support the Senate bill as amended."

The Sunlight Foundation said over the weekend that it had discovered the spreadsheet it based its research on contained erroneous data.

Sunlight has apologized to Costello for the mistake.