Northrop Grumman Lobbyist On Staff With Armed Services Committee Also Owns Stock In His Former Firm
Republic Report has broken a series of stories this month showing that a surprising number of high level congressional staffers either maintain a financial relationship with a lobbying firm, or were paid six-figure bonuses by lobbying firms shortly before becoming staffers last year. We’ve reported on Senator Marco Rubio’s chief of staff, Speaker John Boehner’s
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Drone Lobby Group Brands Itself As “Academic” Organization; But Funds Come Primarily From Weapons Makers
In February, we broke an exclusive story on how the drone industry had worked to shape a new law that will allow thousands of unmanned aircraft to fly over America in coming years. A powerpoint we recovered from the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVS), a drone trade group, boasted that drone company lobbyists’
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VIDEO: Grover Norquist Struggles To Explain Taking Big Pharma Money, His Fannie Mae Lobbying Past
Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) head Grover Norquist is one of the most powerful men in Washington. His anti-tax pledge has won over hundreds of elected officials, and he regularly gets meetings with powerbrokers in D.C. But there’s one thing even he’s afraid of. And that’s answering questions about how his organization gets cash from
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Wal-Mart Ends Relationship With PR Firm That Spied On Warehouse Workers
Two weeks ago, we were the first news site to report that Mercury Public Affairs, acting on behalf of its client Wal-Mart, sent a senior associate to spy on organizing workers in Los Angeles. The same day, we confronted Mercury at its Washington, D.C. headquarters and were met with tight lips and few details from
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Bush Gaffe — Telling For-Profit Colleges That Govt Should Demand Results For Taxpayer Money — Is Met With Silence
The annual convention of the biggest association of for-profit colleges, APSCU, concluded last Friday in Las Vegas. Republic Report wanted to cover the event, because we all helped pay for it: Taxpayers provide $32 billion a year to this industry — for some schools, over 90 percent of their revenue. These corporations could strive to
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The Supreme Court Just Struck Down Montana’s Law Banning Corporate Political Spending
SCOTUSblog reports that in a 5-4 decision, the court decided to reverse the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling that the state’s ban on corporate money in political campaigns is constitutional. In essence, the Supreme Court just struck down Montana’s ban on corporate political spending, in a move that is sure to have dire consequences for the
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Big Soda Hires PR Flack Behind “Harry And Louise” Ad To Fight Bloomberg Soda Ban
Late last month, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed banning soda sales larger than sixteen ounces in the city’s restaurants, movie theaters, and street carts. This proposed ban has been highly controversial, and deserves a healthy debate (no pun intended). But as with any other issue in modern American politics, big corporations and their
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The Human Cost Of Corruption In The U.S. Senate: Cutting Food Stamps While Giving The Sugar Lobby Billions
The everyday corruption of our government by Big Money has real consequences for Americans, many of whom are struggling to feed their families. Take the farm bill that Congress spent time working on this week. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced an amendment to restore $4.5 billion in funding for the food stamp program, which assists
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