Two months ago, the Obama administration and 49 state Attorneys General announced a settlement with the Big Banks that engaged in fraudulent lending practices that abused homeowners and often left taxpayers with the bill. This settlement was made final last week. Today, the highly influential conservative newspaper the Washington Examiner editorialized against this settlement, saying
Continue Reading >>>

Pink slime, the ammonia-treated filler substance made with beef scraps, was once reserved for dog food before corrupted regulators changed the rules. Many Americans are demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture force food dealers to reveal which products include pink slime. But the beef industry’s lobbyists are fighting back, as my colleague Lee Fang explained. One
Continue Reading >>>

At least six major corporations and foundations — Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Kraft, Intuit, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — have now left or have pledged to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a secretive corporate front group that works to pass legislation in all fifty states. The corporations are leaving largely thanks to
Continue Reading >>>

On March 29th, the New England Council — a “non-partisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England” that bills itself as “New England’s voice on Capitol Hill for more than 85 years” — held a private breakfast inside one of the buildings that houses the offices of
Continue Reading >>>

This morning it was abruptly announced that Ozzie Guillen, the  first-year manager of the Miami Marlins, would be suspended for five games following comments he made where he offered some mild praise for former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Guillen was forced to take the unpaid suspension after he came under intense verbal attack from area interest groups.
Continue Reading >>>

Whether it’s paying for long distance calls or expensive data plans, we all groan when it comes time to pay our cell phone bills. But what if your cell phone company was charging you for something you wanted no part in — like denying the existence of global warming? That’s exactly what AT&T does. The
Continue Reading >>>

In recent weeks, the American Legislative Exchange Council  (ALEC) — a powerful and secretive corporate-funded organization that writes legislation and gets state legislatures to pass its bills — has come under increasing scrutiny. As media outlets and commentators from the left, right, and center have come to scrutinize the organization, they have frequently referred to
Continue Reading >>>

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the most powerful corporate front group you’ve never heard of. The group, sponsored by some of America’s largest corporations, writes legislation that tends to benefit its donors and ships these template bills to state legislatures for compliant lawmakers to pass. ALEC has pushed for legislation doing everything from attacking workers’
Continue Reading >>>