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.
‘I’m About To Earmark This Cake For My Mouth’: S#@* Lobbyists Say
There are 12,200 registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. right now. And they earn $3.3 billion each year influencing Congress – mostly by way of talking with a silver tongue. Our friends at SofaPundit.com, Ryan and Sean Kleier, were incensed by the undue role lobbyists have over democracy, so they applied for a Fund for the Republic grant
Continue Reading >>>
GRAPH: The Long Shadow of the Super PAC
The rise of the super PAC has been one of the defining trends of the 2012 election. These non-campaign organizations which, thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, can raise and spend unlimited amounts influencing elections have had a staggering impact on how candidates and campaigns get their messages to voters.
Continue Reading >>>
69 Percent of Americans Agree: Super PACs Should Be Illegal
With 91 percent of campaign ads in Mississippi and Alabama in the past month funded by super PACs, Americans have one thing to say to these political spending monsters: Get off my TV. A new poll finds that the majority of all Americans and registered voters alike say super PACs, the non-campaign organizations that can
Continue Reading >>>
VIDEO: Occupiers Protest In Support Of Libertarian Think Tank Outside Of Koch’s Lobbying Headquarters
Today, United Republic and Republic Report were joined by a passionate group of activists outside Koch Industries’ downtown Washington lobbying headquarters to criticize the petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers’ attempt to take over the Cato Institute. Cato has a long history of fierce libertarian beliefs, widening the debate in Washington on everything from civil liberties to
Continue Reading >>>
During Super Tuesday, State’s Voters Showed “Broadest Grassroots Uprising Yet Against the Citizens United Ruling”
There’s a lot to like about the state of Vermont: cheddar cheese, Chubby Hubby, maple syrup, and the Green Mountains. And now, a thorough rejection of corporate personhood. Yesterday, in what the Associated Press called “the most concerted effort” to amend the U.S. Constitution to declare that corporations are not people, 58 Vermont communities voted
Continue Reading >>>
Bending Foreign Policy: Hawkish AIPAC’s Education Arm Spent $2 Million On One-Sided Congressional Trips To Israel In 2011
Over the weekend, the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) hosted its 2012 annual policy conference in Washington, D.C. The conference, which advocated the organization’s hawkish views on the Middle East conflict, drew 13,000 attendees, including hundreds of members of Congress, President Obama, and Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney. In 2001, AIPAC was named the fourth most powerful
Continue Reading >>>
The 7 Men Who Bought Michigan
Mitt Romney’s super PAC, Restore Our Future, outspent that of Rick Santorum 2-1 in order to secure the slim margin of victory in Romney’s home state of Michigan yesterday. According to the Federal Election Commission, super PACs spent $5.8 million on TV ads, direct mail, and robocalls to voters in Arizona and Michigan leading up
Continue Reading >>>
Super PAC Slow Jam
Last night on his show, Jimmy Fallon was joined by Brian Williams and the Roots to slow jam on President Obama’s decision to embrace super PACs. He sang: “Aww yeah, sounds like the president goes both ways on this issue. I ain’t mad. There ain’t nothing wrong with a campaign getting an insertion of backdoor
Continue Reading >>>