Republic Report has been highly criticalof the watering down of the STOCK Act, the recently enacted law to curb insider trading in Congress. New disclosures show that a group of well-connected lobbyists helped weaken the bill. Senators talked a good game about reform, but managed to water down the legislation so much so that it
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Republic Report has learned that the Washington Post Company’s Kaplan for-profit college division, was, last year, a member of the controversial business advocacy group the American Legislative Exchange Council. Other major for-profit education companies also joined ALEC. Republic Report has obtained a July 2011 document showing Kaplan Higher Education and other for-profits as members of
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There have been complaints in states like Minnesota that the American Legislative Exchange Council violates state lobbying laws, particularly with gifts for state lawmakers and undisclosed meetings with corporate lobbyists. ALEC, as we’ve reported, is the secretive bill-writing front group responsible for risky privatization schemes, massive taxpayer giveaways to big business, and dozens of other
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The for-profit college industry gets about $32 billion of its approximately $35 billion annual revenue from federal financial aid. Fifteen of the largest for-profits get 86 percent of their money from federal student aid programs – such as Pell grants, student loans, and the G.I. Bill. Yet every time someone proposes making their schools more
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All over the country, the agriculture industry is pushing “Ag Gag” bills that would criminalize people who take undercover videos at factory farms to expose the abuse of animals and unsanitary conditions that could sicken people. On Tuesday, the Missouri House of Representatives passed an “Ag Gag” bill. Rep. Casey Guernsey (R), the chief sponsor of
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We’ve all seen them. Television commercials from Big Pharma promising love and happiness if we take the products being advertised. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, a former 10 year Pharma sales rep, in 2009 explained how the industry manipulates consumers with its advertising: “We’ve seen the industry medicalizing so many different things throughout your life. If you’re shy, take
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The Republic Report’s story on how Intuit lobbies to make filing taxes annoying has sparked a fascinating conversation on Reddit.  We still haven’t heard from the White House on why they haven’t implemented their campaign promise to make pre-filed tax forms a reality, but we did hear just how easy it is to file in other countries
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