As the campaign against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has shown, sometimes the best way to tackle corporate influence in our politics is to name and shame corporations that are secretly financing front groups to manipulate our democracy. Dozens of corporations have left ALEC thanks to this tactic. On a recent national call with
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87% percent of Americans find, “reducing corruption in the federal government,” to be “extremely,” or, “very important” according to a new Gallup poll on American’s top priorities for the next president.  This is the #2 issue, following only job creation. Corruption in government usually ranks as an important issue when it is asked about specifically, though it is not
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The Partnership for a Secure Financial Future is working on image rehab for the financial industry. They released a lovely video that features a slew of financial services employees talking about how they help their community and why they like their jobs.The Partnership is supported by the Consumer Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association, Financial Services Institute, and The Financial Services Roundtable. Directly next
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The following is a joint investigation of In These Times and Republic Report. By Mike Elk and Lee Fang As labor seeks to communicate its message in the media and influence policy, many unions are looking to outside consultant firms. These groups sometimes provide the technical expertise, media suaveness, and necessary connections for unions to get
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GOP lawmakers huddled with fossil fuel industry lobbyists on Monday to lay the “groundwork for the party’s official energy platform at August’s national convention.” The Hill quotes Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) as explaining, “Everyone just kind of threw in a pitch. There were a lot of different people up there.” By everyone in this “small group discussion,” he meant
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Last night, Lee Fang joined a panel on Thom Hartmann’s television program to discuss the failure of the DISCLOSE Act, legislation designed to bring transparency to the election system. Under current law, much of the electioneering in our political system is undisclosed. The legislation, which was filibustered twice last week, would have forced secretive 501(c)
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Last night, Campaign for Liberty, an organization set up to promote Ron Paul and his political goals, sent out an e-mail to its list urging members to contact the Senate and urge the defeat of the DISCLOSE Act. The bill would force secret money groups to reveal donor information in the same way PACs or
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Thanks to what is being called “Rhode Island’s DISCLOSE Bill,” Super-PACs and other political groups in Rhode Island are now required to report donors and expenditures.  Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill, known as the Transparency in Political Spending Act (TIPS), to increase the information available to voters. State Representative Chris Blazejewski, a co-sponsor of the
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