Mitt Romney’s super PAC, Restore Our Future, outspent that of Rick Santorum 2-1 in order to secure the slim margin of victory in Romney’s home state of Michigan yesterday. According to the Federal Election Commission, super PACs spent $5.8 million on TV ads, direct mail, and robocalls to voters in Arizona and Michigan leading up to yesterday’s primaries – with nearly 85 percent of that money spent in Michigan.
Restore Our Future was the big spender in this race (which would have been especially damaging for Romney to lose) – it spent $2.9 million in Michigan. $1.67 million …
Last week, Republic Report noted that six governors from both political parties attended a secretive trade talks conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by a number of multi-national corporations, including Philip Morris International. These governors apparently were comfortable with allowing themselves to be wined and dined by some of the world’s most powerful corporate entities while pushing for a new NAFTA-style trade agreement for the Pacific region.
While U.S. politicians have grown accustom to this sort of stealth corporate lobbying, it appears that some of our overseas neighbors have not. The Australian embassy actually withdrew the Australian ambassador from the conference …
Utah Rep. John Mathis (R) has introduced a bill that would criminalize individuals who take undercover video footage at factory farms, a practice which is often done to expose the abuse of animals and conditions that would make food unsafe for human consumption. The bill would make this filming a Class A misdemeanor and a third-degree felony on the second offense, the same as assaulting a police officer.
At a hearing about his bill that took place earlier this month, Mathis praised the presence of individuals from the agriculture industry. “It’s fun to see my good Ag friends in …
Last Friday at the California Republican Party’s spring convention in Burlingame, CA, Republic Report caught up with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has been leading the investigation into the massive Countrywide bribery scandal. To Issa’s credit, his subpoena requests have revealed that members from both parties received heavily discounted mortgages, waived fees, and other special deals from Countrywide, the troubled subprime lending company that is now owned by Bank of America.
Before, the scandal was almost entirely a Democrat-only affair. Former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) received a discounted mortgage, and the news may have led to his decision to …
Last weekend, Congressman Tim Holden sat down for an interview with the Sam Lesante Show to talk about an array of issues facing voters. Holden, a member of the pro-big business Blue Dog coalition of Democrats, faces a primary challenge from the left in his recently redistricted seat in eastern Pennsylvania.
At one point during the discussion, Lesante brought up the controversial horizontal natural gas drilling method known as fracking. Pennslyvania’s Marcellus Shale formation has lured a number of fracking companies to the state. After heavy lobbying, the legislature recently passed a law that removes the right of state …
The process of hydraulic fracking, or fracking, has come under fire in recent years as it has become apparent that this gas extraction technique poses significant risks to the environment and human health. Facing increasing pressure from environmental watchdogs and community groups, the oil and gas industry has spent millions of dollars to lobby against nationwide regulations on fracking, and gave large payments to former Sen. Rick Santorum while also apparently cooperating with the Koch Brothers.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) is now being prominently featured in a new radio ad promoting fracking. Remarkably, the ad is being …
A look at recent political advertising reveals a reoccurring trend this election cycle: attacks on politicians for being too close to K Street. The Republican-affiliated Americans for Prosperity group has featured lobbyist donations from energy companies in attack ads against President Obama. Similarly, Mitt Romney’s allies have launched attacks on Newt Gingrich for accepting lobbying fees from Freddie Mac.
Indeed, anger at the influence of lobbyists can been seen in both the Occupy and Tea Party movements, and politicians from both parties are not immune criticism. As voters take aim at K Street, the question becomes, how …
On Sunday, the Wikileaks revealed a massive trove of e-mails from the intelligence firm STRATFOR. Republic Report covered yesterday how these files showed that Dow Chemical was monitoring Occupy Wall Street rallies out of the concern that activists trying to hold the corporation responsible for the Bhopal chemical disaster were joining the movement.
Interestingly, a batch of e-mails from 2009 also show that STRATFOR’s analysts went to work researching the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on behalf of beverage giant Coca Cola. The correspondence between Coca Cola Senior Manager Van Wilberding — …
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