(Cross-posted from The Nation) The Washington Free Beacon, a new website on the right, has a particular fascination with promoting weapon sales to Taiwan. In addition to daily hits on the Obama administration and Democrats, the Free Beacon has multiple posts calling for more F-16 fighter jet sales to the island nation, and has branded skeptics of militarization
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The following is a joint investigation of In These Times and Republic Report. By Mike Elk and Lee Fang As labor seeks to communicate its message in the media and influence policy, many unions are looking to outside consultant firms. These groups sometimes provide the technical expertise, media suaveness, and necessary connections for unions to get
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Huff Post: Nancy Pelosi Escalates Call For Constitutional Amendment Speaking at the Campus Progress national conference, the top House Democrat called for “citizen-funded elections” rooted in low-dollar contributions. She told members of the progressive advocacy organization that independent groups obscure political dialogue. Bloomberg: How to Break NRA’s Grip on Politics Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican
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Two more major companies have joined the exodus of corporations, organizations, and politicians fleeing the American Legislative Exchange Council, the corporate front group responsible for pushing Stand Your Ground and voter ID laws in states across the country. Yesterday, General Motors and Walgreens confirmed that they will no longer continue their membership in ALEC, according
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On Tuesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing called “Taking Back Our Democracy,” examining special interests’ increasing grip on American politics and policy, especially focusing on the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Two panels of witnesses, including both current lawmakers and activists, testified to a friendly panel of Democratic senators (no Republicans appeared to
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You’d think that if there’s anyone who should be for curtailing the influence of lobbyists and other ethics reforms, its the chair of the ethics committee in the legislature, right? In Georgia, you’d be wrong. A trans-partisan coalition of tea partiers and progressives have been pushing for a cap of $100 on gifts that lawmakers
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GOP lawmakers huddled with fossil fuel industry lobbyists on Monday to lay the “groundwork for the party’s official energy platform at August’s national convention.” The Hill quotes Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) as explaining, “Everyone just kind of threw in a pitch. There were a lot of different people up there.” By everyone in this “small group discussion,” he meant
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In the wake of the tragic shooting in Aurora, some have called for a renewed debate on gun control. While there is likely strong evidence on both sides of this debate, the curious thing is that one institution is not having any debate whatsoever: Congress. I ran the numbers to see what the various Big
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