Headlines

Kochs Form "Business League," Will Keep Political Spending In the Shadows

The right-wing network funded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers is being revamped after the 2012 elections, starting with a new nonprofit called the "Association for American Innovation" that will act as a hub for funnelling undisclosed spending towards the Kochs' political projects. With ambiguous IRS rules and a deadlocked Congress, they might get away with it.

"Business Climate" Rankings Bogus Says New Report

Six influential state tax studies by anti-tax organizations including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), are "deeply flawed," include "highly inconsistent findings" and constitute "ideologically charged pseudo-social science published to further the interests of corporations and rich people," according to a major new report released by Good Jobs First, titled "Grading Places: What Do the Business Climate Rankings Really Tell Us?"

ALEC Covering Tracks in Advance of Oklahoma Meeting

What's on the agenda for this week's meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in Oklahoma City?

Hard to say.

Despite ALEC trying to spin itself as a "transparent" organization, ALEC records have miraculously been disappearing from legislative offices and the organization is engaged in a box drop dodge to avoid disclosure. But while ALEC legislators are meeting behind closed doors with corporate lobbyists, citizens will be rallying in the streets raising awareness about how ALEC's agenda favors large corporations at the expense of average Americans.

Did Backlash Against GOP Voter Suppression Increase Black Voter Turnout?

Black voter turnout in the 2012 elections surpassed white turnout for the first time in history, despite -- or perhaps because of -- a concerted effort to enact new voter restrictions that would have disproportionately affected communities of color.

End Too Big to Fail: New Bipartisan Bill Aims to Prevent Future Bailouts, Downsize Dangerous Banks

  • Topics: Banking
  • Last week, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced the first bipartisan legislation aimed directly at putting an end to "too big to fail" financial institutions and preventing future bailouts of America's behemoth banks.

    Art Pope Groups Push Extreme ALEC Tax Agenda in North Carolina

  • Topics: Economy
  • Projects: ALEC Exposed
  • An array of right-wing organizations in North Carolina are arguing loudly for Governor Pat McCrory to radically alter how corporations and people pay taxes in the state -- and the not-so-hidden hand behind the effort is North Carolina millionaire Art Pope, a close ally of the Koch brothers, who funds the groups and has been appointed as North Carolina's Budget Director.

    Madison Joins "Fossil Free" Divestment Effort

    Mayor Paul Soglin threw his support behind 350.org's "Fossil Free" campaign, pledging to keep Madison free of fossil fuel investments and working to convince other units of local government to do the

    Over a Million Comments Filed on GE Salmon as New Evidence Emerges of Deeply Flawed Review

    The extended comment period on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review and approval of AquAdvantage genetically engineered (GE) salmon ends April 26. As more comments flood in, the Center for Food Safety (CFS) reports that documents disclosed through a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) "raise serious questions about the adequacy of the FDA's review of the AquAdvantage Salmon application."

    Report by Progress Missouri Highlights ALEC Infiltration in MO

    -- By Drew Curtis

    More than forty bills introduced in the Missouri state legislature echo American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation, and at least 60 legislators are ALEC members, according to a new report from Progress Missouri.

    Anti-Worker "Paycheck Protection" Bills Moving in Missouri

  • Topics: Democracy, Labor
  • Missouri is the latest front in the attack on organized labor with so-called "paycheck protection" bills moving through the legislature, with backing from the usual array of corporate interests. But according to the Washington D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, the bills primarily disadvantage workers while preserving privileges for corporations.

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