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.

May 21, 2012

Just Who Are The Students For-Profits Lobbying Group APSCU Is Committed To Putting First?

The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities is the primary lobbying group for the for-profit college industry. As we’ve reported before on Republic Report, some APSCU member schools have a record of fraudulent practices: targeting veterans and low-income people for recruitment while maintaing atrocious drop-out and loan default rates. APSCU and its members spend thousands of
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May 20, 2012

Its Customers Are Decimated By Foreclosure, But Wells Fargo Lobbies Against Increased Oversight

Norman Rousseau, a Newbury Park, California resident, spent last Saturday trying to fix an old RV. His house was being foreclosed upon by Wells Fargo and he apparently wanted to make sure his family had somewhere to live. But Sunday mid-morning, he shot and killed himself, CBS Los Angeles reports. The Rousseau family has been
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May 16, 2012

Chicken S@#*: Big Agriculture’s Close Friendship With Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley

Maryland is home to 296 million broiler chickens. That many chickens means just one thing — lots of chicken manure, some of which is used to fertilize fields. According to a Waterkeepers study reported on by Grist, “billions of pounds of chicken litter have flowed into the bay in the decades since international poultry conglomerates
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May 15, 2012

This Is Why You’re Fat: The 2012 Farm Bill And The Real Obesity Lobby

Nearly half of all Americans will be obese by 2030, researchers reported at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of the Nation conference in Washington earlier this month. 42 percent of us are projected to be obese, placing a huge strain on our already compromised health care system. Brian Fung at The Atlantic points
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May 11, 2012

Bill McKibben On The $146 Million Spent By Big Oil Lobbying Each Year: ‘We’re Going To Fight’

Yesterday, climate change pioneer Bill McKibben and his organization, 350.org, joined with Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Keith Ellison to launch a new bill that would cut $113 billion in subsidies to the coal, oil, and gas lobby over the next decade. The oil industry received about $7 billion in tax breaks in 2011, despite
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May 7, 2012

What Do UFO Sightings And Super PACs Have In Common?

Just as many Americans who have personally witnessed a UFO think super PACs don’t corrupt democracy. I know, I know…it’s hard to believe anyone believes super PACs aren’t hurting our democracy, as they enable the mega-rich, corporations, and unions to pour unlimited amounts of money anonymously into our elections. And the vast majority of Americans do agree
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May 5, 2012

Could Text Message Campaign Contributions Help Small Donors Get Their Voices Heard?

Ten organizations, including Public Campaign, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Demos, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG, as well as United Republic, sent a letter to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) endorsing an earlier request by two companies to allow text message campaign contributions to better let small donors participate in elections. The
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May 3, 2012

Wisconsin Recall Election A Preview Of 2012 Big Money To Come

Scott Walker

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) is facing a recall election after he pushed through legislation last year that limited public workers’ bargaining rights. And now a special Wisconsin state law that allows recall targets to raise unlimited amounts of money in the early days of the campaign has helped Walker raise an unprecedented amount of
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