Earlier this week, the House and Senate Ethics committees released their report summarizing activity from 2011. Roll Call reports that the committees looked into very few ethics issues. In the Senate, out of the five that were pursued, none resulted in any disciplinary action: The Senate’s annual report shows that its Ethics panel received 77
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Last August, two teenagers handling a large grain auger had their legs severed while working at the Zaloudek Grain Co. in Oklahoma. The Department of Labor has proposed rules that might have prevented this tragedy. The rules, designed to curb dangerous child labor in agriculture, were finally unveiled after a long delay. The labor changes
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Two days ago, the STOCK Act, bipartisan legislation to ban insider trading by members of Congress, passed the Senate by 96-3. The Senate bill now includes a provision to cover some federal employees, a 30 day disclosure requirement for lawmakers, and forces covered officials to disclose the details of their mortgage. Senator Tom Coburn of
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Wealthy private equity managers pay a lower tax rate than many middle income Americans because of the “carried interest” tax loophole. With the revelation that Mitt Romney, through his investments in private equity firm Bain Capital, receives a windfall profit every year that benefits from the loophole, Wall Street lobbyists are stepping up the campaign
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Most child labor was prohibited in 1938, but there are a few exceptions for certain industries where children are still allowed to work. One of the biggest loopholes is the agricultural industry. The Department of Labor recently issued new proposed regulations restricting child labor on farms, regulations which are drawing intense opposition from politicians and
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Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) has a very powerful role in the House of Representatives. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he controls billions of dollars of government spending, much of it going to the military-industrial complex. Thus, it’s no surprise that the defense industry donated more than $339,000 to his 2010 re-election campaign, with
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Hi, everyone. I’m new to blogging, so this is an exciting experiment for me. I’ll be posting more serious pieces next week. But, for now, I just want to say how honored I am to join Nick Penniman, Josh Silver, and the gang at United Republic in the vital effort to effect real reform in Washington. It is a
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Though President Obama lashed out at the influence of lobbyists in his State to the Union address, a current advisor to his campaign and administration, former White House communication director Anita Dunn, runs one of fastest growing corporate “public affairs” firms in Washington DC. Dunn left her post as a public servant in late 2009
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