NewsTrust - Lobbying - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Independent)

Take the Money and Run for Office

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

This American Life - By Ira Glass - Apr. 22 (Editorial) - For anyone who has ever heard the term "Washington insider" and felt outside — we are with you. So this week, we go inside the rooms where the deals get made, to the actual moment that the checks change hands — and we ask the people writing and receiving the checks what, exactly, is the money buying?

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Republic, Lost (my favorite version)

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

YouTube - By Lawrence Lessig - Oct. 26 (Opinion) - In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government—driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission—trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature.

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God Supports The AT&T T-Mobile Merger - AT&T's Merger Support Hijinks Still Making Waves

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

dslreports.com - Oct. 14 (Opinion) - Using lobbyists, hired consultants, fake consumer groups, think tanks and an unlimited number of advocacy groups willing to repeat whatever they're told in exchange for cash donations -- AT&T has created a "sound wall" of support for their planned acquis

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HuffPost Goes Deep On Google : CJR

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Columbia Journalism Review - By Greg Marx - Sep. 27 (Editorial) - The Huffington Post trio of Ryan Grim, Zach Carter, and Paul Blumenthal dropped their 6,800-word take on “Google, Microsoft, and the War for the Web” Sunday night, and like all of HuffPost’s deep dives, the piece was chock-full of good reporting. Among the nuggets of news large and small: • Google’s influence-buying spree has pushed the number of lobbyists in its employ up to ninety-three, spread across eighteen firms. (An antitrust investigation of the company led by the Senate Judiciary Committee is jokingly known as the “Leahy Full Employment Act,” after committee chairman Pat Leahy.) And the company’s new commitment to bipartisanship means that not only GOP-aligned lobbying shops but conservative think tanks like Heritage Foundation and AEI are now getting Google cash.

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Law Professors Come Out Against PROTECT IP

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

techdirt.com - Jul. 13 (Opinion) - Although the problems the Act attempts to address -- online copyright and trademark infringement -- are serious ones presenting new and difficult enforcement challenges, the approach taken in the Act has grave constitutional infirmities, potentially dangerous consequences for the stability and security of the Internet's addressing system, and will undermine United States foreign policy and strong support of free expression on the Internet around the world.

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Chevron Banks on Profitable Political Agenda

Thu, 26 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - May. 26 (Opinion) - With 43 lobbyists and a federal influence-peddling budget of at least $35 million this past election cycle, Chevron must have an ambitious agenda for the politicians in Washington, DC.

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Obama and the Israel Lobby

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - May. 22 (Opinion) - Regardless of Obama's intentions here -- and that remains unclear -- a prerequisite to any meaningful change in U.S./Israel policy is the defeat of those who want to suppress the debate entirely.

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The Incapacitated State

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Think Progress - By Matthew Yglesias - Mar. 16 (Opinion) - However unimpressed you may be by the wisdom of the United States Congress, it’s very difficult for me to think up complicated issues where pushing the issue down to under-resourced state legislators is likely to radically improve policymaking.

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The Chamber of Carbon

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - Feb. 23 (Opinion) -

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The Insurers’ Real Agenda for Change

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Center for Public Integrity - By Wendell Potter - Feb. 08 (Opinion) - .... But most of the press paid virtually no attention to a potentially much more important development - a multi-pronged effort by five major insurers to strip from the law key regulations and consumer protections that aren't to their liking.

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Senate Democrats ‘likely’ to pass new 9/11 health bill

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Raw Story - By Eric W. Dolan - Dec. 20 (Opinion) - Legislation to improve health care services to rescue workers who became ill as a result of breathing dangerous fumes and dust at the World Trade Center may receive a second chance after being blocked by Senate Republicans last week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to bring up a scaled-down version of the 9/11 first responders health bill for another vote during the lame-duck session. The bill is expected after the Senate votes on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) on Tuesday. Forty-one of the 42 Republican Senators voted against considering the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 last week, with one Republican, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kentucky, abstaining. At the last minute, Democrat Sen. Reid also voted against the bill in a parliamentary move which allowed him to bring the legislation up for a second vote.

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'Naked scanners': Lobbyists join the war on terror

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Examiner - By Timothy P. Carney - Nov. 12 (Opinion) - The degradations of passing through full-body scanners that provide naked pictures of you to Transportation Security Administration agents may not mean that the terrorists have won -- but they do mark victories for a few politically connected high-tech companies and their revolving-door lobbyists.

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A “Progressive Hero?” Time to Think Outside of the Boxer

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Common Dreams - By Stephen Zunes - Oct. 20 (Opinion) - The failure of progressives to make major inroads in electoral politics in the United States today could not be better illustrated than a recent decision by Democracy for America, a million-member political action committee founded by former Vermont governor Howard Dean which claims leadership in the support for progressive candidates for office, regarding a veteran U.S. senator facing re-election in November.

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Mike Green: An industry unaffected by America's economic crisis

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Mike Green - Apr. 16 (Opinion) - At the same time President Barack Obama was insisting the nation needed a stimulus plan to save the drowning economy, one industry was swimming in dough, spending more than $3.4 billion on luxury.

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Industry Interests are Not in Their "Twilight"

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - Mar. 21 (Opinion) - ... to pretend that this bill represents the "Twilight of the Interest Groups," that special interests have been "neutralized," that this bill is some sort of great victory over the health insurance and drug lobbies, is just hagiography and propaganda. Being able to force the Government to bribe and accommodate you is not a reflection of your powerlessness; quite the opposite. Everyone would love to be forced into a "twilight" like that. It's one thing for the Obama administration and the DNC to issue self-serving claims like this (we've stood up to the insurance and drug companies!), but those who hold themselves out as independent commentators ought to keep their feet on their ground.

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Anti-Defamation League Goes After Gen. Petraeus

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Independent - By Spencer Ackerman - Mar. 18 (Comment) - The Anti-Defamation League takes the unexpected step of criticizing Gen. David Petraeus, the widely respected commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East and South Asia, for his recent comments to the Senate Armed Services Committee that lack of progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace sets the “strategic context” for U.S. security fortunes in the region. “Gen. [...]

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U.S.-Israel rift undermining some long-standing taboos

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Salon - By Glenn Greenwald - Mar. 16 (Opinion) - he rather extraordinary dust-up between the U.S. and Israel has, among other benefits, shined a light on two of the most taboo yet self-evidently true propositions: (1) our joined-at-the-hip relationship with Israel is a significant cause of anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world, fuels attacks on Americans, and entails a very high price for the U.S. on multiple levels; and (2) many American neoconservatives have their political beliefs shaped by allegiance to Israel.

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Richard (RJ) Eskow: A College Test for Washington: Help Young People in Need, or Kowtow to Bank Lobbyists?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - By Richard (RJ) Eskow - Feb. 09 (Opinion) - t should be, as the President once called it, a "no-brainer": Overhaul our broken system for distributing federal student loans. Stop giving banks undeserved profits for administering these loans (an estimated $80 billion over ten years), since they take no risk and have managed the program poorly. Make sure our money goes directly to the young people that need them the most. Who could be against that? In fact, the student loan reform bill has already passed the House.

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Golden Throne Awarded to Tim Ryan Spinmeister for U.S. Securities Industry

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Center for Media and Democracy - By Mary Bottari - Feb. 02 (Advocacy) - The Golden Throne Award salutes the lobbyists and spinmeisters who have managed to hold off meaningful financial services reform since the Wall Street meltdown. The award is being presented to SIFMA as the largest lobbying conference for the securities industry gets underway in Washington, D.C. this week at the Gaylord National Hotel. The award invokes fond memories of the $1.2 million bathroom renovation ordered by Merrill Lynch's CEO, John Thain, shortly before the firm lost $27 billion and collapsed into the arms of Bank of America.

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A Contractual Solution to Citizens United

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Balkinization - By Ian Ayres - Jan. 31 (Opinion) - Now that the Supreme Court has freed corporations to expressly advocate for the election or defeat of federal candidates, many pundits feel that is simply beyond the power of Congress to constitutionally curtail the corrosive potential of corporate speech. But Bruce Ackerman and I just published a piece in the Washington Post arguing that Congress can constitutionally prohibit corporations that are federal contractors from paying for ads “endorsing or opposing a candidate for public office.” A 2008 Government Accountability Office study found that almost three-quarters of the largest 100 publicly traded firms are federal contractors. If Congress endorsed our proposal, these companies — and tens of thousands ...

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The audacity of Barack Obama's populist posturing

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

washingtonexaminer.com - By Timothy P. Carney - Jan. 27 (Opinion) - In his weekly address last Saturday, Obama condemned the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC as a "huge victory [for] the special interests and their lobbyists" that would be "devastating to the public interest." But the facts indicate that Obama's statement was either hollow political rhetoric or downright deception.

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Obama Nominates Pesticide Executive to Be Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the US Trade Representative

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Marcia Ishii-Eiteman, Amy Goodman - Nov. 17 (Interview) - President Obama’s nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative, Islam Siddiqui is currently a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto, and Dow Chemical.

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Newsweek And Oil Lobby Team Up To Host Climate Change Event With Lawmakers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Talking Points Memo - By Zachary Roth - Nov. 05 (Opinion) - Newsweek magazine is teaming up with an oil-industry lobbying group to host an event on climate-change and energy issues involving lawmakers, just as the Senate gets set to take up legislation on the subject. The panel discussion, entitled "Climate and Energy Policy: Moving?," will feature Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, and, as moderator, Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman, according to an email invitation sent by a Newsweek business staffer and obtained by TPMmuckraker. "Newsweek is pleased to be co-hosting this panel discussion with API," says the email, which adds that "notable members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate" have been invited. The event is scheduled to be held December 1 in a Senate meeting room.

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Newsweek And Oil Lobby Team Up To Host Climate Change Event With Lawmakers

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Talking Points Memo - By Zachary Roth - Nov. 04 (Opinion) - Newsweek magazine is teaming up with an oil-industry lobbying group to host an event on climate-change and energy issues involving lawmakers, just as the Senate gets set to take up legislation on the subject.

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The Washington Post Writers Group

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

postwritersgroup.com - By Michael Bugeja - Sep. 17 (Opinion) - For months now we have heard about another impending pandemic and the frantic production of vaccines to prevent it. Apart from that, we know little else. Reporters covering the H1N1 flu typically recite what health officials tell them without investigating obvious questions. ...

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