Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) has a very powerful role in the House of Representatives. As chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he controls billions of dollars of government spending, much of it going to the military-industrial complex. Thus, it’s no surprise that the defense industry donated more than $339,000 to his 2010 re-election campaign, with
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Hi, everyone. I’m new to blogging, so this is an exciting experiment for me. I’ll be posting more serious pieces next week. But, for now, I just want to say how honored I am to join Nick Penniman, Josh Silver, and the gang at United Republic in the vital effort to effect real reform in Washington. It is a
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Though President Obama lashed out at the influence of lobbyists in his State to the Union address, a current advisor to his campaign and administration, former White House communication director Anita Dunn, runs one of fastest growing corporate “public affairs” firms in Washington DC. Dunn left her post as a public servant in late 2009
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  At a retreat last weekend, dozens of wealthy donors convened in a large golf resort in Indian Wells, California for a four day conference to raise money and plot out election year strategy, the Republic Report has confirmed. We traveled to the conference, and spoke to a few of the attendees. The summit, organized
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  The Washington Post Company seems on the verge of turning its flagship newspaper into a brochure for the company’s controversial, taxpayer-funded for-profit college division, Kaplan. The latest participant in this process is one of the world’s most accomplished men, Bill Gates. At a time when veterans groups, state attorneys general, and others are seeking reforms
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In a classic case of a special interest carving out an exemption for itself in the law, large online retailers like Amazon.com have for years avoided charging the same state sales taxes that brick-and-mortar stores are required to levy. This “Amazon Loophole” has denied states much-needed revenue. As one example, in 2011 alone, Wisconsin lost
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  For-profit colleges continue their effort to avoid accountability for high-cost, low-quality programs, programs paid for by U.S. taxpayers and struggling students. They have spent big money on lobbying, public relations, and campaign contributions – and have engaged in some highly questionable tactics. Now a Washington DC political consultant and the Washington Post have double-teamed
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As the New York Times reports today, on the campaign trail Mitt Romney has been praising for-profit educational institutions – colleges and trade schools that operate as business corporations rather than nonprofits or state institutions. Romney said at an Iowa event in November that such schools give students lower-cost alternatives to traditional colleges. At a December town
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