In February, we broke an exclusive story on how the drone industry had worked to shape a new law that will allow thousands of unmanned aircraft to fly over America in coming years. A powerpoint we recovered from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVS), a drone trade group, boasted that drone company lobbyists’
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America’s embrace of alcohol prohibition from 1920-1933 generally ranks among the biggest mistakes in public policy in the 20th century. It was a period that resulted in a profound loss of personal liberty that gave rise to criminal syndicates that often used violence to control the black market of liquor sales. But if you ask
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Can Congress effectively police itself and stop corruption? We visited the Senate Ethics Office, and found a pretty blatant example of how lawmakers exploit a loophole in a rule designed ostensibly to stop revolving door bribery. In 2007, in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal, in which it became obvious that many lawmakers and
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Corporations often seek to elect their own politicians and set policy, but are nervous about public backlash from engaging directly in politics. That’s why so many corporations hide behind layers of front groups and dummy nonprofits to run ads and other electioneering efforts. Aetna, the health insurance company, was recently exposed for secretly financing at
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Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican leader in the Senate, is one of the most dedicated opponents of campaign finance reform. Going beyond many of his colleagues on the right, McConnell opposes even the disclosure of many types of campaign spending and funding. McConnell spent much of his day Friday giving speeches on Fox News
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Last year, Arkansas Representative Mike Ross was the Democratic co-sponsor of an amendment to delay the US Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing the Cross-State Air Pollution rule, which would curb the amount of soot and other dangerous chemicals released by industry. Regulators estimate that the rule could prevent 520 premature deaths in Arkansas every year, particularly because the
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If you live in Florida, Ohio, Montana, or Missouri, you’ve probably seen attack ads from the 60 Plus Association, a group that touts itself a “non-partisan seniors’ advocacy group” and the “conservative alternative to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).” Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) alone has faced $2.3 million in ads all financed by
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Yesterday, Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani was the first to report that Wal-Mart’s public relations and lobbying firm in Los Angeles, Mercury Public Affairs, was caught sending an employee to an event posing as a student reporter. The Mercury staffer, Stephanie Harnett, told warehouse workers protesting Wal-Mart’s labor practices that she was “Zoe Mitchell,” a USC student. She
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