When lobbyists ask them to jump, lawmakers often ask how high. We’ve documented many examples of how corporate interests manipulate members of Congress like marionette dolls. But a recent letter from Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS), signed by 55 of his colleagues, takes the cake. At issue is a pitched lobbying battle between makers of toxic
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While much of the buzz around Facebook has been geographically centered on Wall Street, perhaps just as lucrative for the company are the ties it’s creating in Washington. The social media giant has upped its lobbying game, spending a record amount on federal lobbying in the first quarter of 2012. But everyone knows that the
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When oil companies need help in Washington, they call Jack Gerard. But in January of next year, assuming he wins the presidency, Mitt Romney may be dialing Gerard for political support. According to media reports in his native Idaho, Gerard is on the shortlist to become Romney’s White House chief of staff. Gerard is the
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Here’s a great catch from the Environmental Law & Policy Center in Chicago. A coal group posted a Craigslist ad offering people $50 to wear pro-coal t-shirts at an upcoming EPA meeting in Illinois. The posting has been deleted, but here’s a screenshot: A local Sierra Club blog took pictures of people wearing the shirt
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Today, at Amazon.com’s shareholder meeting in Seattle, organizers from groups including Color of Change, CREDO, People for the American Way, and Working Washington delivered petition signatures from over half a million people calling on Amazon.com and other corporations to stop funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the corporate front group responsible for pushing an
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Politico’s Ben White yesterday reported that a lobby group for the private equity industry is unleashing an effort this week to “push back” against criticism of Mitt Romney’s record at the private equity firm he founded, Bain Capital: FIRST LOOK: PRIVATE EQUITY FIGHTS BACK – The Private Equity Growth Capital Council is releasing a new
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Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican leader of the Senate, and in all likelihood, the next Senate Majority Leader, thinks corporations deserve the right to spend limitless amounts in American elections. He was the point person in Congress fighting campaign reforms in the late 90s, and now, he’s begging the Supreme Court not to reverse
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Standing before soldiers at Fort Stewart, Georgia, last month, President Obama signed an executive order to protect U.S. troops, veterans, and their families from predatory abuses by some for-profit colleges. Obama delivered powerful remarks, charging that such for-profit schools “aren’t interested in helping you…. They are interested in getting the money.” He called the schools’ conduct “disgraceful” and
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