A new Super PAC claiming to support Republican candidates from Congress is drawing suspicion from those very candidates. The issue? Some Republicans think the web sites it has created soliciting donations to help candidates it supports are misleading donors.

The Coalition of Americans for Political Equality PAC, or CAPE PAC, was founded early in 2011. Its stated mission is “restoring conservative values in the politicians elected to represent all citizens of the United States of America.” It is chaired by Jeff Loyd, a marketing consultant and conservative activist from Arizona, and had mostly stayed under the radar until recently. To date, the Super PAC has raised just $90,000, mostly in small increments.

What got lawmakers’ attention was 39 web sites the Super PAC created to support candidates. These sites encourage people to support these specific candidates, but many Republicans say that it is unclear where the money is actually going. To many, the web sites look very similar to a candidate’s web site, giving the impression that money donated goes straight to the candidate’s campaign, and not to the Super PAC. GOP Congressmen are uneasy about possibly losing campaign donations to a Super PAC that may or may not follow through on supporting those candidates. Read 

For many, the GOP primary race is all but over, but don’t tell Ron Paul that. Along with Newt Gingrich, the Texas Congressman has continued fighting the good fight in the face of the longest of odds.

Proof that Paul is still actively campaigning comes from his campaign fundraising numbers. In March, Paul raised $2.6 million, bringing his total haul for the first quarter of 2012 to $10.4 million. Paul currently has $1.8 million cash in hand and (not surprising considering his fiscal policies) zero debt. These numbers exclude a one-day fundraising event that raised $1.4 million.

That isn’t to say that Paul hasn’t had a harder time raising money as the campaign has progressed. That $2.6 million is a decrease from his January and February efforts. He netted $4.5 million in January and $3.3 million in Februrary. Read 

A pilot program that allowed competitive bidding for power wheelchairs, diabetic supplies, and other personal medical equipment saved nearly $200 million for Medicare in the past year, and reduced Medicare fraud.

The program, tested in nine cities including Miami, Cincinnati, and Riverside, Ca., differed from how Medicare usually handled these sorts of expenses. In a non-competitive system, Medicare frequently paid more than private insurers for comparable equipment and occasionally had suppliers committing Medicare fraud by ordering expensive and unneeded equipment for beneficiaries.

In the pilot program, though, a limited number of suppliers in the tested areas competed to fill orders for Medicare patients. Implemented more widely, and the government estimates that $26 billion can be saved from 2013-2022. The pilot will be expanded next year to 100 cities, with hopes for an eventual national rollout. There will also be a national mail order plan for diabetes supplies like testing strips next year. Read 

Eleven Secret Service agents visited a brothel in Colombia last Wednesday while preparing for President Barack Obama’s visit to the South American nation, according to a recently released report.

While visiting the brothel, which was located in a part of Colombia where prostitution is legal, the agents allegedly bragged about working for Obama, claimed that they protected him, drank whiskey, and hired prostitutes.

They might have gotten away with it, too, if there hadn’t been a dispute over how to settle the group’s tab. This argument spilled out into the street, which led to the police being called. Read 

As if things weren’t already bad enough for beleaguered presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, now it seems like even Mother Nature is turning on him.

Gingrich was touring the St. Louis Zoo last Friday when he was taken behind-the-scenes to meet with two Magelllanic penguins. One of them apparently didn’t take too kindly to the former House Speaker, and bit him on the finger. Not to worry, though. The injury was minor and required only a small bandage to treat, according to a zoo spokesperson.

Why might the penguin have bitten Gingrich? Maybe it was its animal instinct, or maybe it was a supporter of gun control. Gingrich was in St. Louis last week to speak during the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting. Read 

After a lot of time spent discussing the dire straits the U.S. Postal Service is in, Congress looks poised to toss the post office a life line.

Any attempts to close the huge deficits the postal service has run in recent years are bound to be painful, though. With losses surpassing $5.1 billion last year, there’s a lot of red ink to clean up. Congress is also in a bit of a no-win situation. If they do nothing to alleviate the deficit by May 15, the day that a moratorium on closing postal facilities expires, the current Postmaster General has stated he will close 223 postal plants.

Still, any solution Congress comes up with will likely involve some facilities closing. In addition, they hope to buy out some employees’ contracts, cut worker compensation benefits, and end Saturday service in two years’ time. A bill that passed a Senate committee in November would also allow the post office to join competitors like FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and UPS (NYSE:UPS) in shipping beer, wine, and liquor through the mail. Tens of thousands of jobs would likely be cut in the process. Read