Selling out pays. Members of Congress who retire to become lobbyists get huge paydays. We looked at just a dozen federal lawmakers who went through the revolving door and found that they get, on average, 1,452% raises. That’s why we sent a letter to the 36 retiring Members of Congress to publicly disclose any negotiations
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Earlier this week, Republic Report was the first to note that Tea Party Congressman Scott Rigell (R-VA) promised a crowdof constituents recently that he would not become a lobbyist after he retired, and that lawmakers should all take a pledge to impose a lifetime ban on influence peddling. “Lead by example,” Rigell exclaimed, to a
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Representative Martin Heinrich is a Democratic Party member of Congress who is running for Senate this year. On Monday, he blasted the Republican 2013 budget proposal on Twitter, writing that it must have “thrilled” Big Oil: But the very next day, Heinrich held a fundraiser — where individuals attended at $500 a person and PACs
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Being a sellout pays when you’re a member of Congress. We unveiled last week that retired congressmen and congresswomen got 1,452% raises for becoming lobbyists for powerful special interests. So we sent a letter to the 36 retiring members of Congress asking them to disclose any job negotiations they’re having for their post-congressional careers —
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If he’s auditioning to be Mitt Romney’s running mate, then perhaps Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) just swung at a pitch and missed. But if he meant to stand up for honest government and for America’s veterans, which apparently he did, then Rubio just hit a home run. And, as a result, a high-priced team of
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For-profit colleges like ITT, DeVry, Kaplan, and the Art Institutes — sometimes called subprime schools because they leave many students deep in debt while taking billions of dollars from taxpayers — continue an expensive lobbying push to influence Congress and avoid accountability. Republic Report has received a 2011 draft strategy memo by the biggest for-profit college
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Today, Republic Report announced that we are asking all 34 retiring members of Congress to make a simple, common sense commitment: “I will disclose any negotiations or offers for jobs on the front page of my congressional website.”  This afternoon we are delivering letters to all 34 congressional offices seeking this commitment. We want you
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Update: Republic Report has launched an effort to bring transparency to the revolving door. See our letter to retiring lawmakers here; David Halperin explains why here. Selling out pays. If you’re a corporation or lobbyist, what’s the best way to “buy” a member of Congress? Secretly promise them a million dollars or more in pay
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