June 28, 2012

A ‘Fast And Furious’ Hypocrisy: Members Behind Holder Contempt Vote Receive Lots Of Campaign Cash From The National Rifle Association

Eric Holder is implicated in the Fast and Furious scandal thanks to the influence of corporate lobbyists.

One person who is probably happy about the attention the Supreme Court is getting for its pending Obamacare decision is Attorney General Eric Holder, who, by any measure, is having a really bad week. Later today, the House of Representatives is likely to hold him in contempt of Congress because he has refused to hand
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June 21, 2012

Why Are a Former President of the MacArthur Foundation, and Former Governors Kean and Rendell, Paid By a For-Profit College Group?

Why would a leader with a good reputation affiliate himself with an industry that has a bad reputation?  If you’ve visited this website before, you might suspect that money is involved. And you’d be right. On May 29, the New York Times published an editorial calling for government action to address spiraling college debt. The Times
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June 14, 2012

We Know One Thing About The 30 Senators Working To Repeal EPA Mercury Safeguards: They’re In The Pocket Of Big Energy

Before June 18, the Senate is expected to vote on a proposal to repeal recently-issued safeguards on mercury and other toxic chemicals released by U.S. power plants. Senator James Inhofe (R-Ok.) claims to have the support of 29 of his colleagues in undoing these Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates — 30 being the magic number
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June 5, 2012

Washington Lobbyist Mobilized Against Paycheck Fairness Act, Celebrated When It Went Down

Today, the Paycheck Fairness Act — which seeks to help close the pay gap between men and women in the United States — suffered a defeat in the U.S. Senate. Although much of the opposition to the bill is being summed up as ideologically driven, some Big Money interests also oppose it — fearing that
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May 17, 2012

Fla. Rep. Hastings Tied To FastTrain, For-Profit College Raided by FBI

  The FBI raided campuses of Florida-based FastTrain College on Wednesday. The for-profit school has multiple ties to Representative Alcee Hastings (D-FL), who has been a fervent backer of for-profit education companies. This industry has lobbied Congress fiercely in recent years to avoid accountability for waste, fraud, and abuse at the expense of students and
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May 3, 2012

After Obama Moves To Protect Vets From Predatory Colleges, Some In Congress Run To Their Defense

Last week, President Obama made headlines when he signed an executive order designed to protect U.S. troops, veterans, and their families from the predatory abuses of some for-profit colleges. The executive order takes aim at some deceptive recruiting practices by these colleges — which soak up taxpayer dollars with little accountability — and requires them
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April 30, 2012

Congressman Pushing Spying Law CISPA Got 15 Percent Of His Campaign Funds From Companies Who Want It

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) allows private corporations, security firms, and the government to peek into and share your online information without you ever knowing about it or having any legal recourse against it. These intrusions are so severe that the Obama administration has threatened to veto the version of this bill
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April 9, 2012

For-Profit Colleges: Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old

Since former Congressman Steve Gunderson (R-WI) was named in January as the new head of the largest for-profit college association, APSCU, there has been talk that he might take a “kinder, gentler” approach to leading the troubled industry, which has pursued a take-no-prisoners lobbying approach in Washington. But having read Gunderson’s pronouncements in recent months, and
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