Eye on Washington

The Washington Post has been doing some great investigative work lately. Last week in "HHS Secretary's Fund Gave Little to Charity," staff writer Jonathan Weisman revealed that Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt and his family have taken more than $1 million in tax write-offs since 2000 by creating a foundation that loans more money to business interests connected to Leavitt than it gives to charity.

Two days earlier Gilbert M. Gaul, Sarah Cohen and Dan Morgan shined in "Aid to Ranchers Was Diverted for Big Profits." They reported that taxpayers have shelled out at least $400 million in an emergency powdered milk program intended for drought-stricken ranchers that instead has created millions of dollars in profits and sent milk to states with no drought, Mexico and other countries.

And "It Looked Weird and Felt Wrong" by Thomas E. Ricks in Monday's Post took a hard look at the Army's 4th Infantry Division, whose tough tactics in Iraq may have backfired by alienating large parts of the population.