One think tank defense analyst has been repeatedly either quoted in the media or given space to write op-eds blasting defense cuts and any other significant reductions of spending on the military: the Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano. Here’s just some of the times Carafano was given space to oppose defense cuts in just the past
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The pharmaceutical industry utilizes its immense lobbying operation to win various protections and subsidies from the federal government. One of these protections is a federal prohibition on allowing Americans to freely buy pharmaceuticals re-imported from countries like Canada, where drugs are much cheaper. Thanks to this protectionist barrier, the pharmaceutical industry  effectively stifles competition, which helps
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As Ricksanity intensifies, Mitt Romney’s upstart challenger, Rick Santorum, appears ready to compete on yet another plane. Call it the For-Profit College Primary, with no delegates but lots of campaign cash up for grabs. Romney certainly has staked his claim to be the For-Profit Education President. He has gushed on the campaign trail about for-profit
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The Palm Beach Post secured a rare interview with David Koch. The petrochemical billionaire opened up on a number of topics, including his recent political spending. Koch told reporter Stacey Singer that he would “spend more” to oppose the recall of Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who busted the public sector unions in his state.
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Earlier this week, bloggers at ThinkProgress and De Smog Blog obtained leaked documents detailing the fundraising plan of the Heartland Institute think tank, which says its “mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.” The documents, among other things, lay out complicated plans to court corporate donors and to
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As reports revealed this week, the 50-state attorney general settlement with the five largest mortgage banks has been finalized. The federal government negotiated a deal that delivers approximately $26 billion dollars worth of aid to states and homeowners in exchange for broad immunity for many for fraudulent foreclosure processes allegedly perpetrated by the banks across
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Recently posted financial disclosure reports reveal that David Koch now contributes to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the big business lobbying federation. The disclosure shows that Koch’s foundation gave $100,000 to the Chamber for its “Free Enterprise” public relations campaign in 2010 (view full document here): In recent years, the Chamber, which represents large companies
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The Huffington Post’s Dave Jamieson reports on the case of a powerful lobby pushing to actually lower the minimum wage for a group of workers in Florida. The state senate’s tourism and commerce committee has written a bill, SPB 7210, that would allow restaurants to pay servers as low as $2.13 rather than the current
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