Last night, Campaign for Liberty, an organization set up to promote Ron Paul and his political goals, sent out an e-mail to its list urging members to contact the Senate and urge the defeat of the DISCLOSE Act. The bill would force secret money groups to reveal donor information in the same way PACs or Super PACs must report their funds to the public. The legislation would curb crony capitalism by allowing the American people to know which wealthy individuals, unions, or corporations are trying to buy favor with powerful politicians.
But the Campaign for Liberty, ostensibly a nonprofit set up …
The Countrywide VIP scandal has rocked Capitol Hill. Initial reports showed that Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) were the most high profile politicians to accept special cut-rate mortgages from the troubled subprime lender. Now, it has become clear that dozens of lawmakersand high-ranking officials were recipients of these bribes.
The scandal has been centered on the efforts by now-disgraced Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, who courted the influence of lawmakers using these preferential loan deals. In most cases, Countrywide waived fees and provided reduced interest rates and “no doc” mortgages to powerful senators and congressman. Mozilo, however, has …
Thanks to what is being called “Rhode Island’s DISCLOSE Bill,” Super-PACs and other political groups in Rhode Island are now required to report donors and expenditures. Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill, known as the Transparency in Political Spending Act (TIPS), to increase the information available to voters.
State Representative Chris Blazejewski, a co-sponsor of the bill, is quick to point out that the legislation does not limit expenditures or donations in any way:
“Without infringing on anyone’s right to express their views, this legislation provides the public with information about whose message it is that they’re hearing… This …
New York Times: Inquiry Looks Into a Shield for Donors in Elections
Important story on secret money funneled to influence elections by outside groups: “Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York has begun investigating contributions to tax-exempt groups that are heavily involved in political campaigns, focusing on a case involving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has been one of the largest outside groups seeking to influence recent elections but is not required to disclose its donors.”
National Journal: How Congressional Veep Possibilities and K Street …
On Tuesday, the federal government released information about which career training programs and for-profit colleges are passing — and which are flunking — its new “gainful employment” rule. The Obama Administration watered down this regulation last year after a massive lobbying campaign by the for-profit college industry, and the rule imposes only the most minimal standards. In order to lose eligibility for federal student financial aid, a program must flunk three different tests, so that, for three years in a row:
66 percent of the program’s former students are not repaying their loans.
The estimated annual loan payment of a …Continue Reading »
Two weeks ago, we were the first news site to report that Mercury Public Affairs, acting on behalf of its client Wal-Mart, sent a senior associate to spy on organizing workers in Los Angeles. The same day, we confronted Mercury at its Washington, D.C. headquarters and were met with tight lips and few details from firm executives. Shortly after our reporting, Mercury apparently fired the associate who conducted the spying.
We then reported last week that the Warehouse Workers United, the group that was spied on, planned to file charges against Mercury and Wal-Mart.
Now it appears that Mercury is …
When reporters in Iowa asked Mitt Romney last fall what he planned to do about higher education in America, he praised by name Florida’s Full Sail University and the University of Phoenix, and for-profit colleges in general, which he said used innovative strategies to “hold down the cost of their education.” Romney said, ”You are going to find students, saying ‘You know what? That’s not a bad deal. I’m not willing to come out of college with $100,000 in debt.’” But newly released information reaffirms how wrong — factually and morally — Romney’s assertion was.
1. Today, the Department of Education …
Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that helped bring even more corporate money into politics, has already made history. Outside groups have spent record amounts influencing the 2012 election already propelling unlikely candidates like Newt Gingrich to remain in the race for far longer than actual voters seemed to want them around. People on the right and left have called for the Supreme Court to overturn this decision, and the Court has an opportunity to do so. It’s currently deciding whether to hear a Montana Supreme Court case which ruled that Montana could use a century-old state law …
Help follow the money
tips@republicreport.org
Bad Behavior has blocked 387 access attempts in the last 7 days.
