Shakespeare’s Juliet told her Romeo, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  The star-crossed lovers could not have known that centuries later those words would be invoked by one of America’s most controversial industries in a manner more worthy of Orwell’s 1984. A
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Earlier this week, Republic Report investigated legislation being pushed by Utah Rep. John Mathis (R) to criminalize the documentation of farm abuse in his state. Mathis has been rewarded lavishly by campaign contributors for the bill, and he even invited them to testify in its favor, calling them his “good friends.” Similar “Ag Gag” bills
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 Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) runs the Mountaineer Political Action Committee (PAC). The Mountaineer PAC is a leadership PAC, and is used by Rockefeller to support fellow Democratic Party candidates. Last night, Rockefeller hosted a fundraising party for the Mountaineer PAC at his mansion in Rock Creek Park.  The Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time obtained a copy
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A few weeks ago, Congressman John Kline (R-MN) was confronted by voters over congressional insider trading. Like many lawmakers who have tried to deflect the issue, Kline claimed that no such problem exists. “I don’t know that it’s being done,” said Kline, seemingly unaware of insider trading allegations against Spencer Bachus, Lamar Smith, and other
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In the 19th Century, the term lobbyist was popularized to describe the professional political influence peddlers. As the story goes, President Ulysses S. Grant would often relax at the Willard InterContinental Washington, a Washington D.C. hotel. People hoping to gain special favors would stand in the hotel lobby, hoping to speak with Grant. Since Grant
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Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) just released new Defense Department data showing that the troubled for-profit college sector — which has left many American deep in debt — received half of all military Tuition Assistance dollars last year — $280 million out of $563 million for college grants for active duty military.  During their decade of explosive
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The Huffington Post’s Chris Kirkham travelled to the “palatial Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe resort” for the “senior executive management seminar” of the for-profit college trade group APSCU. As Kirkham notes, the vast majority of for-profit college revenue (more than 90 percent for many schools) comes from federal financial aid, so we all paid for the for-profit execs
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Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of the start of the pro-democracy protest movement in the Kingdom of Bahrain. As demonstrators took to the streets to speak out against the government, police attacked protesters and detained a number of people, including American citizens Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath. After media pressure forced their release, both Americans were
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