Armed Services Committee Chairman Congressman Buck McKeon (R-CA) is best known today as the weapon industry’s go-to lawmaker for expanding the use of domestic drones in America. But in 1998, the congressman accepted a discounted mortgage from subprime mortgage giant Countrywide as part of the company’s wide-ranging efforts to bribe public officials. (No one has
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Momentum continues to grow in the state of Georgia, as both tea partiers and progressives are pushing hard to enact a lobbyist gift cap that would cap lobbyist gifts to lawmakers at $100. Recently, Rep. Don Parsons (R) called the cap “silly,” and refused to sign on to a pledge to push for such a
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The New York Times recently ran a very important story showing that opponents of health reform, mostly industry-funded groups, overwhelmed the airwaves with negative advertising against the law. The reported numbers, $235 million against health reform versus $69 for it, only show part of the picture, since the Times decided to quantify only the money spent
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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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Tomorrow is Independence Day, the holiday where Americans celebrate declaring independence from the British Empire. And the joy of hot dogs and fireworks. But Independence Day shouldn’t just be a day where we’re all glad we drive on the right side of the road and perplexingly still don’t use the metric system. It’s also a
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As the election approaches, the public has been inundated by millions of dollars of television commercials intended to sway them one way or another in the upcoming races. While much of the media focus has been on Super PACs — new entities formed after the Citizens United decision — it’s important to remember two things about
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Over the weekend, a federal trial judge in Washington, DC, upheld the power of the federal government to issue its “gainful employment” rule, a provision aimed at channeling federal financial aid away from college and career training programs that leave students deep in debt. But the judge, Rudolph Contreras, held that the U.S. Department of Education failed
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Freshman Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) received a great deal of help in his first election two years ago. Though he took on one of the most senior Democrats in office at the time, Budget Committee chair John Spratt (D-SC), Mulvaney had help from thousands of dollars from the Koch Industries political action committee, and hundreds
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