On Wednesday, a group of members of Congress, local and state lawmakers, and activist groups met in a Capitol Visitor Center hearing room to do something unusual for its loftiness: they announced and signed a “declaration for democracy,” pledging their support to an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens
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Here’s a refreshing voice in support of overturning Citizens United, the disastrous Supreme Court decision that enables unlimited corporate and union spending in elections. Republic Report clipped a recent presentation on campaign finance laws, and found Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, voicing approval for an effort to reform the system. Steele
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Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has plenty of views that one might consider pro-corporate, including his calls for Social Security privatization and across-the-board deregulation of industry. But even DeMint, a committed budget-cutter, acknowledges that the root of the problem in Washington D.C., from wasteful spending to laws that trample on individual rights, are a product of
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Republic Report’s Lee Fang Discusses Backdoor Bribery on MSNBC Campaign asks retiring members of Congress to share future plans United Republic’s senior investigator, Lee Fang, went on The Dylan Ratigan show to talk about the Backdoor Bribery campaign. Republic Report has sent a letter to every retiring member of Congress asking them to disclose any
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It’s important to know about lawmakers’ conflicts of interest. For example, if they are for building expensive fighter jets produced by Boeing while at the same time owning Boeing stock, the public should know about this financial incentive. But many states currently lack strong disclosure laws that make it easy for the public to learn
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Republic Report investigates political corruption of all types, and we’ve become increasingly concerned about retiring lawmakers. A study we produced earlier this month found that, out of the members of Congress who have become lobbyists and disclosed their salary, lawmakers moving through the revolving door can expect a 1,400% raise on average. The multimillion-dollar salaries
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On Meet the Press last weekend, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) harshly rebuked Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that unleashed unlimited corporate spending in American elections. McCain was the original author of McCain-Feingold, the legislation partially voided by the decision which placed limits on how much candidates could raise and spend. Though he remained
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Last week, Republic Report sent a letter to 35 retiring Members of Congress asking them to reject backdoor bribery and publicly disclose negotiations they’re having with lobbyists and others for jobs after they leave office. Current disclosure laws are full of loopholes, leaving constituents in the dark about these negotiations. We’re outraged that Members of Congress are
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