In the wake of the tragic shooting in Aurora, some have called for a renewed debate on gun control. While there is likely strong evidence on both sides of this debate, the curious thing is that one institution is not having any debate whatsoever: Congress. I ran the numbers to see what the various Big
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Last week, the oil and gas lobby group the American Petroleum Institute (API) held a red carpet film screening at the Warner Theatre in Washington. Such fancy film events are held regularly in DC, but few come with as sexy a title as this one: the “hydraulic fracturing event of the summer.” Attendees, presumably there for the
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Google prides itself as a company that goes out of its way to address climate change. An entire website is devoted to Google’s efforts to achieve a “zero” carbon footprint, from energy efficient servers to CO2-reducing investments. But Google’s green PR campaign doesn’t seem to be coordinating its message with Google’s DC advocacy and campaign
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As we’ve shown here at Republic Report time and time again, the U.S. political system’s rules for disclosure, well, suck. It’s very difficult to know who is actually lobbying the government — a lot of people do it without ever registering as lobbyists — or exactly how and when money changes hands. That’s a huge
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High-priced lobbyists representing for-profit colleges, an industry largely created by K Street pressure over a decade, continue to do everything possible to avoid accountability for that industry’s waste, fraud, and abuse with $32 billion a year of your tax dollars. Many on Capitol Hill do the bidding of these wealthy companies and get campaign contributions in
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Corruption comes in many forms. Sometimes special interests attempt to buy influence through disclosed campaign donations, but too often, influence is purchased through unorthodox giveaways to our politicians, from discounted mortgages, to free yachts, and promises of future jobs. And in some cases, special interests gain a foothold by exploiting a lawmaker’s childhood fantasies. Senator Pat Leahy
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On Sunday’s CNN “State of the Union,” Mitt Romney senior advisor Ed Gillespie explained how a second Obama Administration would reward its rich friends: “If you’re a political donor to Barack Obama, you’re going to do fine, because you’re going to get a payoff.” This statement was pure hypocrisy: “a feigning to be what one is
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Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has faced years upon years of scandal: FBI investigations over corrupt land deals, ties to the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal, pay-to-play earmarks, and even a small controversy over his attempt to solicit lobbyists to finance his official portrait. Later this month, American League of Lobbyists is hosting an event on “Effecitve
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