The Democrat-run Washington D.C., government has been caught with its hand in the taxpayer-funded cookie jar. Jim McElhatton of the Washington Times reports:

The D.C. government employees tasked with providing care to the city’s poor have taken home nearly half of the more than $1 million in bonus money awarded by the District during the first half of fiscal 2005.

Nearly 400 employees in the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) received approximately $479,000 in extra money in their paychecks from Oct. 1, 2004, to March 31, 2005, according to D.C. Office of Personnel records.

Citywide, the D.C. government awarded 565 bonus payments for $1.06 million.

D.C. City Council member Adrian M. Fenty, chairman of the council’s Committee on Human Services, which oversees the Department of Human Services, yesterday said he’s going to conduct an inquiry of the department’s bonuses.

“The Department of Human Services is not one of our better-running agencies right now,” said Mr. Fenty, Ward 4 Democrat and mayoral candidate. “We’re going to do a full scrubbing of this.”

Meanwhile, Hurricane Farrakhan is on schedule and slated to blow into town tomorrow for a weekend of Bush-bashing, race-baiting, and tinfoil-rattling.

No word on whether the race hustlers will address local D.C. government corruption.

But convicted Death Row cop-killer Mumia abu Jamal has already issued his welcome letter. And they’ll be plenty of hip-hop to distract the crowds.

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Captain Ed noticed the story, too.

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