Friends in high places, II.

The Education Department's inspector general released a report that exposed favoritism, conflicts of interest, and mismanagement at "Reading First," a billion-dollar program created by the No Child Left Behind Act, notes The Washington Post. Then-program director Chris Doherty reportedly wrote a memo to his staff regarding one company that was not part of the department's in-crowd: "They are trying to crash our party and we need to beat the [expletive] out of them in front of all the other would-be party crashers who are standing on the front lawn waiting to see how we welcome these dirt bags."