Today, 2012’s Fortune 500 list was revealed. The list ranks the largest American corporations by revenue and profits, in an attempt to label the country’s most successful businesses. In an America where Big Money buys access and power in our politics, it’s important to realize that the companies that top the Fortune 500 list not
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On Monday, Latino members of Congress held their annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus fundraising event at a golf course near Andrews Air Force Base. The caucus serves as a forum for Latino members of both the House and the Senate, but often functions as an avenue for corporate lobbyists to funnel cash to lawmakers under the
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On Tuesday afternoon, Senate Republicans blocked a measure that would have prevented a big hike for student loan interest rates. The legislation would have kept “subsidized Stafford loans at 3.4 percent for an additional year, rather than doubling automatically for new loans starting July 1.” While the vote yesterday was certainly a partisan battle, a
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Last night, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the longest serving GOP member of the U.S. Senate, lost his primary election to Richard Mourdock. Though it’s possible Lugar may mount an independent bid for the general election, many prognosticators have already said that his elected career is probably over. (Although Lugar has been compared to Lisa Murkowski’s
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After years of bipartisan policymaking, veteran lawmaker Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) is expected to go down in defeat in his primary election today. With the likely defeat of Lugar, political observers are sure to start speculating over the meaning of the election. Is it a rebound for the Tea Party? Is bipartisanship dead? Was Richard
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One of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, D.C. is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The organization, which has opposed everything from the Americans with Disabilities Act to various attempts to fix the American health care system, uses its enormous lobbying dollars to push both Democrats and Republicans to tow its Big Business line. It
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The corporate front group American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) likes to claim that it’s about “free market” ideas. But if that were true, it wouldn’t be fighting against conservative lawmakers to manipulate tax policy to harm mom and pop stores in favor of giant corporations (who just happen to be their corporate donors). Here’s how
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Today, Indiana voters will go to the polls to decide the political fate of Senator Dick Lugar. The Republican primary, as many observers have noted, has been rocked by the influence of outside spending groups. Richard Mourdock, Lugar’s right-wing opponent, has been boosted by some $3 million in outside spending by gun industry groups and
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