Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that helped bring even more corporate money into politics, has already made history. Outside groups have spent record amounts influencing the 2012 election already propelling unlikely candidates like Newt Gingrich to remain in the race for far longer than actual voters seemed to want them around. People on the
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Special interests don’t always get their way by just spending money on campaign contributions or lobbying. Sometimes these Big Money interests just directly have candidates for office on their payroll. Richard Carmona is a former U.S. Surgeon General and sheriff running for the Arizona Democratic Party nomination for U.S. Senate. In recent weeks, there have been a
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The jobs report released this morning by the federal government is discouraging, with unemployment hanging around 8.2 percent.  Americans expect their government to take action and work to fix the economy. Freshman congressman Tim Scott (R-SC) claimed to be doing that yesterday, when he hosted a “Revitalizing America” forum on Capitol Hill. My colleague Lee
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Fox News has taken flak for airing a four-minute political attack ad against President Obama during its regular programming this week. The ad wasn’t purchased by any outside group; it was simply produced by the network and aired as part of regular Fox News content. Though the network has tried to deflect criticism for the
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Republic Report attended a conference for “entrepreneurs” and small businesses today on Capitol Hill hosted by Congressman Tim Scott (R-SC). Although it was advertised as a lively discussion about economic policy, we witnessed staffers for Scott violently grabbing the mic from the only reporter who asked a critical question during the forum. Mike Elk, a
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In July, Georgia’s Democratic and Republican Party voters will get a chance to tell their respective political parties that there needs to be lobbying reform. Ballots for both parties will ask “questions about limiting the value of meals, tickets and other gifts lobbyists give to state legislators. The questions are nonbinding but will give policymakers
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Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) are leading an effort to keep more secret money in our election system. Two weeks ago, a Senate panel approved a bill that would prevent the public from learning about which taxpayer-funded companies are funneling money into political campaigns. As Mother Jones’ Gavin Aronsen notes, the legislation
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Corporate front group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has faced increasing scrutiny for secretly passing off corporate-written laws to state legislatures, including the controversial Stand Your Ground gun law. Late last night, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer and biggest seller of firearms in the country, announced it was suspending its membership in ALEC,
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