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.

February 14, 2012

#SuperPacValentines

Now trending on Twitter – odes to everyone’s favorite independent organizations that can raise and spend unlimited amounts on political campaigns. Follow along here and check out some of our favorites below:

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February 13, 2012

Herman Cain’s Campaign Manager to Corporate Lobbyists: ‘Get a New Job’

Interview conducted by Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani and Suzanne Merkelson. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend, Republic Report ran into Mark Block, Herman Cain’s campaign manager and cigarette-puffing star of one of the most infamous ads of the 2012 election so far. We asked him about Cain’s signature “9-9-9 plan” to reform and
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February 9, 2012

GOP Congressman Steve King Talks Transparency, Gripes That His Leadership Didn’t Allow His Sunlight Bill

Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani contributed to this piece. Republic Report is here at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. today, where thousands of conservative activists and politicians are gathering to discuss politics and policy. We’re curious to find out what conservatives think about the issue of money in politics and were excited
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February 7, 2012

Big Business Aligned Pro-Citizens United Group Applauds Obama’s Reversal

Many of the reactions to President Obama’s blessing of his affiliated super PAC, Priorities USA Action, have been predictable. Including, in a sort of Twilight Zone way, Bradley A. Smith, former Federal Elections Commission chairman and founder of the Center for Competitive Politics, a conservative organization that promotes the deregulation of campaign finance law and
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February 7, 2012

Obama Feigns Helplessness With Citizens United; In Reality, He Could Issue A Disclosure Executive Order Today

Last night, President Obama’s campaign manager Jim Messina disappointed reform advocates by announcing that the president has decided to embrace the pro-Democratic Party super PAC, Priorities USA Action. The super PAC was founded by two former White House aides, Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney. The email from Messina, entitled “We Will Not Play By Two
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February 6, 2012

Anti-Occupy Wall Street Lobbyist Whines That Disclosure Laws Sound Like “Big Brother”

Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford

K Street has been reacting to Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley’s amendment to the anti-insider trading STOCK Act passed in the Senate last week that would force D.C. influence peddlers who collect political intelligence and sell it to corporate clients to register under the lobbying disclosure law. National Journal’s Influence Alley reports that some lobbyists have
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