While President Obama and his campaign allies have now embraced big money politics as their savior in the 2012 election, a surprising voice argues that the people-powered Occupy Wall Street has the most potential to disrupt the race. At a talk last month in Washington DC, veteran Republican campaign operative Steve Schmidt, who managed John
Continue Reading >>>

Last night, Mitt Romney’s campaign raised an estimated $1 million from a “policy” fundraiser in Washington DC. Attendees paid at least $10,000 each to hobnob with the men and women helping to write Romney’s policy plans (view an invitation here). The behind closed doors event has been assailed by the press already for featuring a
Continue Reading >>>

Interview conducted by Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani and Suzanne Merkelson. Yesterday at CPAC, the conservative convention held this week in Washington D.C., Republic Report ran into retired police officer and anti-drug war activist Howard Wooldridge. We were interested in his take on the role of money in politics in the government’s crusade against marijuana. He
Continue Reading >>>

Following the Costa Concordia disaster near Italy, cruise line business practices have generated headlines from NPR to the New York Times and beyond. In addition to safety concerns, the wake of the Concordia shipwreck has stirred debate around a whole host of cruise line issues: from abusing workers to avoiding regulations while operating in international
Continue Reading >>>

Over the past few weeks, there has been chaos in the West African country of Senegal. Senegalese citizens have been rioting as protests turned violent over the disputed high court ruling that president Abdoulaye Wade can seek a third term of office. This ruling has been viewed as flawed by many because the country’s constitution
Continue Reading >>>

This week’s Washington Post series on earmarks concretizes what we all essentially knew: they’re still at it. “A U.S. senator from South Dakota helped add millions to a Pentagon program his wife evaluated as a contract employee. A Washington congressman boosted the budget of an environmental group that his son ran as executive director. A
Continue Reading >>>

Today, Republic Report inaugurates a regular feature: Sell Out Of The Week. Our weekly feature will highlight lobbyists, politicians, and political operatives who have betrayed their values, and betrayed the public interest in pursuit of special interest money. Although we had a lobbyist in mind for our first week of this series, President Obama’s decision
Continue Reading >>>

The ‘original Tea Partier,’ a gentlemen who has organized and participated in Tea Party rallies in colonial garb since early 2009, spoke to us at CPAC about the corrupting influence of lobbyists. We asked him what the founding fathers would think of all the K Street money flowing to politicians in exchange for earmarks and
Continue Reading >>>