var _NTW_file_metadata = {"listing_topic":"Business","timespan":"","listing_type":"Most Recent Stories","listing_url":"http://www.newstrust.net/subjects/business/most_recent/opinion/independent","sources_type":"Independent","source_name":"","hdr_story_type":"Opinion","min_reviews":3,"title_prefix":"","local_site":null,"site_base_url":"http://www.newstrust.net/"}
var _NTW_stories = [{"rating":"4.4","num_reviews":"1","title":"Why Is the ACLU Helping the Richest Americans Buy Our Elections?","url":"http://www.alternet.org/rights/154184/why_is_the_aclu_helping_the_richest_americans_buy_our_elections/","date":"2012/02/21","id":8574553,"story_type":"Opinion","quote":"The American Civil Liberties Union has earned its reputation as the nation\u2019s foremost legal opponent of government censorship and defender of First Amendment political speech. But increasingly, this national organization with 500,000 members and a $70 million annual budget has another legacy\u2014helping the wealthiest Americans and institutions spend unlimited sums on elections.","authors":"Steven Rosenfeld","source":{"rating":"3.7","name":"AlterNet","framebuster":false,"id":"alternet","ownership":"ind","type":"online","is_public":true}},{"rating":"4.3","num_reviews":"3","title":"Billionaire Bigot Bankrolling Mitt Romney","url":"http://www.alternet.org/story/154206/billionaire_bigot_bankrolling_mitt_romney/","date":"2012/02/19","id":8573042,"story_type":"Opinion","quote":"In a column sure to rain lawsuit threats down upon him, Glenn Greenwald exposes many of the scandals surrounding Mitt Romney's national finance co-chair, Idahoan Frank VanderSloot. VanderSloot is a billionaire whose deep pockets have funded no small number of Idaho's political figures. As Greenwald details, his business practices have drawn plenty of unwanted attention, as has his involvement in numerous far-right causes, particularly his anti-gay activism, including running a billboard campaign against Idaho Public Television for running a documentary about teachers talking about lesbian and gay issues in age-appropriate ways. His wife, Belinda, donated $100,000 to California's Prop 8 campaign.","authors":"","source":{"rating":"3.5","name":"Daily Kos","framebuster":false,"id":"daily_kos","ownership":"ind","type":"blog","is_public":true}},{"rating":"1.0","num_reviews":"1","title":"Phoenix rising: Can \u201cthe world\u2019s least sustainable city\u201d go green?","url":"http://grist.org/cities/phoenix-rising-can-the-worlds-least-sustainable-city-go-green/","date":"2012/02/13","id":8562948,"story_type":null,"quote":"What was the most surprising thing that came out of Andrew Ross\u2019s two-year research stint in Phoenix, Ariz.? For my money, it\u2019s this: People who live there (weirdly) don\u2019t expect their desert civilization to collapse around them at any moment. \u201cOne of Ne","authors":"Greg Hanscom","source":{"rating":"3.6","name":"Grist","framebuster":false,"id":"grist","ownership":"ind","type":"online","is_public":true}},{"rating":"3.8","num_reviews":"2","title":"\"MyFacts\"","url":"http://doonesbury.com/strip/archive/2012/02/06","date":"2012/02/12","id":8573707,"story_type":"Cartoon","quote":"This week, the Doonesbury comic strip takes on \"MyFacts\", a fictional online service that packages \"faux facts\" to support anyone's ideology, from creationism to 9/11 conspiracy theories.","authors":"Gary Trudeau","source":{"rating":"0.0","name":"Doonesbury","framebuster":false,"id":null,"ownership":"","type":""}},{"rating":"3.3","num_reviews":"1","title":"Komen Fundraiser Calls for CEO Nancy Brinker to Quit","url":"http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/328-121/9883-komen-fundraiser-calls-for-ceo-nancy-brinker-to-quit","date":"2012/02/10","id":8557908,"story_type":"Opinion","quote":"Ellis refers to her disappointment even as Brinker reversed the funding decision. \"Brinker's words struck me as vague and hollow \u2013 no future commitment to Planned Parenthood and no specific apology to the low-income women who would have become the collateral damage from the defunding,\" Ellis wrote.\n\n\"I also don't believe Brinker and her board when she claims that Komen's decision wasn't political.\"","authors":"Karen McVeigh","source":{"rating":"0.0","name":"readersupportednews.org","framebuster":false,"id":"readersupportednews_org","ownership":"","type":""}},{"rating":"1.0","num_reviews":"0","title":"League of Conservation Voters: George Allen Named to Dirty Dozen","url":"http://action.lcv.org/site/PageNavigator/AllenDDShare.html","date":"2012/02/10","id":8557909,"story_type":"Press Release","quote":"Former Virginia Senator George Allen earned an abysmal 1% LCV lifetime score during his time in the Senate. Additionally, Allen has received nearly $500,000 from oil and gas interests. This is Allen's 3rd time on the Dirty Dozen, having been named to the list in 2000 and 2006.","authors":"","source":{"rating":"0.0","name":"action.lcv.org","framebuster":false,"id":"action_lcv_org","ownership":"","type":""}},{"rating":"3.8","num_reviews":"2","title":"\"Gasland\" Director Josh Fox Fires Back at Republicans After His Unfair Arrest","url":"http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/769681/\"gasland\"_director_josh_fox_fires_back_at_republicans_after_his_unfair_arrest/","date":"2012/02/02","id":8545138,"story_type":"Interview","quote":"Gasland director Josh Fox, ... was arrested this week, in violation of his first amendment rights, while covering a Congressional hearing on fracking. In the interview, Fox fires back at the Republicans who have been targeting him","authors":"Ed Schultz","source":{"rating":"3.7","name":"AlterNet","framebuster":false,"id":"alternet","ownership":"ind","type":"online","is_public":true}},{"rating":"1.0","num_reviews":"0","title":"Washington Is Rigged","url":"http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/9739-focus-washington-is-rigged","date":"2012/02/02","id":8545143,"story_type":"Opinion","quote":"Many people who work for a living pay 25, 28, or even 33% of their hard earned money on taxes. We should get rid of the special protections that allowed Mitt Romney to pay only 14% of his income in taxes. That's what the Buffett Rule is all about: making sure those who have already made it pay their fair share to help the folks behind them get ahead.","authors":"Elizabeth Warren","source":{"rating":"0.0","name":"readersupportednews.org","framebuster":false,"id":"readersupportednews_org","ownership":"","type":""}},{"rating":"1.0","num_reviews":"0","title":"Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy on the VAT","url":"http://www.tradereform.org/2012/01/brian-oshaughnessy-on-the-vat/","date":"2012/02/02","id":8545144,"story_type":"Opinion","quote":"The question is not whether we have new taxes, high taxes or low taxes.  The question is whether we have smart or dumb taxes in relation to promoting economic growth and international competitiveness.","authors":"Brian O'Shaughnessy","source":{"rating":"0.0","name":"tradereform.org","framebuster":false,"id":"tradereform_org","ownership":"","type":""}},{"rating":"4.7","num_reviews":"1","title":"Reagan\u2019s Road to Climate Perdition","url":"http://consortiumnews.com/2012/01/29/reagans-road-to-climate-perdition/","date":"2012/01/30","id":8539462,"story_type":null,"quote":"Reagan\u2019s Road to Climate Perdition","authors":"Consortiumnews.com","source":{"rating":"3.8","name":"Consortium News","framebuster":false,"id":"consortium_news","ownership":"ind","type":"online","is_public":true}}]