The Supreme Court opened up the gate for corporations to spend unlimited amounts in campaign advertisements this election, but most businesses have opted to spend using undisclosed front groups, particularly the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber spends early and often to elect pro-big business candidates across the country. The ads, however, can be misleading.
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Here’s a refreshing voice in support of overturning Citizens United, the disastrous Supreme Court decision that enables unlimited corporate and union spending in elections. Republic Report clipped a recent presentation on campaign finance laws, and found Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, voicing approval for an effort to reform the system. Steele
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Pink slime, the ammonia-treated filler substance made with beef scraps, was once reserved for dog food before corrupted regulators changed the rules. But a recent media firestorm has reignited the controversy, leaving many people asking why the U.S.D.A. does not require groceries, school cafeterias, or restaurants to disclose which products contain the mystery meat. Now
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In recent weeks, Republic Report joined a coalition of other groups to demand that companies withdraw affiliation with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a front group that helps lobbyists pass pro-corporate legislation in states across the country. [See our letter to ALEC board members here] Republic Report’s Suzanne Merkelson covered how the Bill and Melinda
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Congressmen Michael McCaul and Kenny Marchant of Texas and Richard Hanna of New York all have two things in common. One, according to their personal financial disclosures, they own stock in defense contractor Pratt and Whitney. Two, they are all members of the F-35 Caucus, a group of Congressmen dedicated to awarding more contracts to
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Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has plenty of views that one might consider pro-corporate, including his calls for Social Security privatization and across-the-board deregulation of industry. But even DeMint, a committed budget-cutter, acknowledges that the root of the problem in Washington D.C., from wasteful spending to laws that trample on individual rights, are a product of
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Mitt Romney announced yesterday that Ed Gillespie, a corporate lobbyist and former Republican Party chair, will become his senior advisor. Gillespie joins a kitchen cabinet of other “senior advisors” to the Romney campaign who double as influence peddlers. But in Gillespie’s case, he no longer discloses the names of his clients, which raises the question:
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The coal lobby just kicked off a $40 million campaign to manipulate the election cycle. In 2008, the industry planted questions in town hall events to coerce candidates like John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama to support coal-friendly policies. This year, the effort seems quite similar — but the first ad of
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