About: Suzanne Merkelson
Bio: Suzanne Merkelson is the former Associate Web Editor at United Republic. She previously worked at Foreign Policy magazine, where she was a web producer. She has also interned at The Atlantic and NPR’s On Point with Tom Ashbrook. Suzanne has written for the Chicago Tribune, Foreign Policy and The Atlantic, among others.
VIDEO: The Constitution Is Pretty Clear — It’s ‘We, The People,’ Not ‘It, The Money’
We all know how the Founders wanted lawmaking to work — but lately, the democratic process has been upended by a flood of Big Money. From our friends at unPAC, here’s how a bill(ionaire) becomes a law(maker)…and what we can do to take back our democracy!
LOL Campaign Finance
Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are out with a new movie that looks like it will be a hilarious skewer of the modern political campaign. The Campaign, out on August 10, gets one thing a bit too right — campaign finance. Watch this clip…so funny because it’s so true.
For-Profit College Recruiter: Goal Was To “Demoralize Potential Applicants” And Get “Asses In Classes”
Yesterday at Sen. Tom Harkin’s press conference on the release of his new report on the predatory nature of the for-profit college industry, one of the most illuminating testimonies came not from the senator or his colleagues, but from a former active and knowing participant in the abusive system. Laura Brozek worked for ITT Technical
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GM, Walgreens Dump ALEC; Organization Meets In Salt Lake City Amid Protests
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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Whitehouse At Senate Judiciary Hearing: If We Can Ask Soldiers To Go To Afghanistan, We Can Ask The Koch Brothers To ‘Put Up With Some Impolite Blogging’
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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LINKS: DISCLOSE Act Fails — Again — In The Senate
Politico: DISCLOSE Act fails again in Senate Senate Democrats on Monday lost another attempt to pass legislation forcing donors of groups that bankroll most election ads to be revealed. But Democrats, led by New York Sen. Charles Schumer, pledged to hold the Senate floor hostage and continue the debate well into the night. The DISCLOSE Act,
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United Republic Searches For Citizen Reporter To Cover Money In Politics At 2012 Conventions
United Republic, which sponsors Republic Report, has partnered up with Link TV to send one citizen reporter to the 2012 Republican and Democratic national conventions in Tampa and Charlotte on August 29 and September 3. The chosen citizen reporter will be a volunteer who will report on the conventions through the lens of money in
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LINKS: Expose The Fat Cats
iWatch: Vote set for quixotic bill that would reveal attack ad funders A bill designed to reveal the donors behind anonymously funded political attack ads is scheduled to hit the floor of the Senate Monday — however, the legislation has virtually no chance of passing, and even if it did pass, it still wouldn’t go
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