The Courier Journal reports today about the huge amounts of money that a drug industry group is spending to fight regulation of certain cold and allergy medications in the state of Kentucky. For years, public health advocates have pushed for tougher regulation of these medications because they are commonly used to produce methamphetamine. Kentucky Senate Majority Leader
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This is interesting. In December, 2011, the month before signing on to the mortgage fraud settlement, the entity charged with electing Republican Attorneys General called the Republican State Leadership Committee collected a bunch of large checks from big banks. As this IRS disclosure form shows, on December 19, 2011, it received a $10,000 donation from
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I believe President Obama’s proposed tax hikes — including the massive “bank tax” — are a prescription for economic calamity. But I do understand that the “tax the rich” frenzy finds resonance with many Americans. Throughout history, banks — and bankers, in particular — have been identified with the worst elements of societal greed. They
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President Obama’s health reform law forced health insurance companies to largely stop canceling medical coverage to patients after being diagnosed with a disease. Rescissions, as they are known, allowed insurers to cancel individual market policies by finding spelling errors or minor mistakes in coverage applications as an excuse to halt treatment for patients. An investigation
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By Josh Silver, CEO This week, climate blogs including DeSmogBlog and ThinkProgress Green uncovered a leaked documentprecious to public interest advocates: a confidential memo and fundraising plan from the “conservative” Heartland Institute that lists its corporate donors, as well as the group’s strategic plans. Heartland is one of many so-called “conservative” think tanks that “promote[s] free-market solutions to social and economic
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Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani contributed reporting to this piece. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), last week, Republic Report caught up with Glenn Addison, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas. We talked to him about the problem of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and lobby shops and how it impacts
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Republic Report’s Suzanne Merkelson contributed writing and research to this article. The Huffington Post published an excellent piece yesterday by reporter Chris Kirkham describing how the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) wants to buy up state prisons, all under the guise of helping state governments deal with their budget shortfalls. Called the Corrections Investment Initiative
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The ways in which industry advances a policy agenda are multifaceted, and often extend far beyond the realm of traditional “inside lobbying.” To influence policymakers, industry will often try to manipulate public opinion. In the case of greenhouse gas pollution, industry has taken to new levels of influence peddling to suppress the science of global
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