For-Profit College Chieftains in Tahoe: Skiing, Steams, and Signature Cocktails
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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After Rep. Bishop Calls For ‘New Jersey’-Sized Mining Near Grand Canyon, Industry Throws Him Fundraiser
Late last year, Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) — Chairman of Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands of the Natural Resources Committee — raised eyebrows when he began aggressively advocating for mining on and selling off public lands. He even told ThinkProgress reporters that he favored mining in an area around the Grand Canyon
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ABRAMOFF: Deploying the Grassroots Army to Battle Laws You Don’t Like
I believe President Obama’s proposed tax hikes — including the massive “bank tax” — are a prescription for economic calamity. But I do understand that the “tax the rich” frenzy finds resonance with many Americans. Throughout history, banks — and bankers, in particular — have been identified with the worst elements of societal greed. They
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Golden Rule Insurance Funneled Cash To Front Group That Defended Business Practice Of Denying Care To Sick Patients
President Obama’s health reform law forced health insurance companies to largely stop canceling medical coverage to patients after being diagnosed with a disease. Rescissions, as they are known, allowed insurers to cancel individual market policies by finding spelling errors or minor mistakes in coverage applications as an excuse to halt treatment for patients. An investigation
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How Corporate Lobbyists Stole the Conservative Brand
By Josh Silver, CEO This week, climate blogs including DeSmogBlog and ThinkProgress Green uncovered a leaked documentprecious to public interest advocates: a confidential memo and fundraising plan from the “conservative” Heartland Institute that lists its corporate donors, as well as the group’s strategic plans. Heartland is one of many so-called “conservative” think tanks that “promote[s] free-market solutions to social and economic
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Texas GOP U.S. Senate Candidate Calls for Tougher Lobbying Laws
Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani contributed reporting to this piece. At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), last week, Republic Report caught up with Glenn Addison, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Texas. We talked to him about the problem of the revolving door between Capitol Hill and lobby shops and how it impacts
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Selling Out The Internet: Heartland Institute Took $285,000 From Telecoms, Opposed Net Neutrality
Earlier this week, bloggers at ThinkProgress and De Smog Blog obtained leaked documents detailing the fundraising plan of the Heartland Institute think tank, which says its “mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.” The documents, among other things, lay out complicated plans to court corporate donors and to
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The Taste of a Super PAC
At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held in Washington last week, Republic Report had the opportunity to attend a very special event: the birth of a super PAC. We joined about 50 others (14 had RSVPed yes to the Facebook event) packed into a small conference room at the Marriott Waldman Hotel, seduced by
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