Statement from Bob Hall, Executive Director, Democracy North Carolina, September 25, 2015 The bill that changes the date of the 2016 primary election includes an unrelated, terrible section that will greatly expand pay-to-play politics in North Carolina. This last-minute addition allows the top four legislative leaders to create political slush funds that can receive unlimited donations [...]
Here’s an excerpt from a New York Times story that includes frank talk from the money suppliers (“we are hopeful that investment produces a return”) and from the money raisers, i.e., Members of Congress. The National Journal also writes about the corrupting money chase, with this quote from former NC Congressman Brad Miller: "The only [...]
What do the Koch brothers and Halliburton have in common? Well, a lot of things, but most recently both are dolling out mega bucks to the lobbying firm Shockey Scofield Solutions (S3) to fight environmental regulations. The Kochs hired S3’s Mike Ference, a former aide to both Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Sen. Jim Inhofe [...]
Gov. Pat McCrory is expected to sign the monster anti-voting bill any day now. H-589 began in the state House as a photo ID bill but in the final days of the session, the state Senate rolled out a harsher version of the ID requirement, plus 40+ new provisions, including dozens that had never been discussed [...]
Imagine speed dating adapted to the world of political fundraising and policymaking. It’s happening here in North Carolina routinely, thanks to the courtship of lobbying firms with wealthy clients and politicians eager for their cash. In identical front-page stories, the Charlotte Observer and Raleigh News & Observer described one such event on May 10, 2012: [...]
The consumer lending industry in North Carolina finally achieved its goal of raising interest rates and fees on small loans, despite opposition from the NC Banking Commissioner, NC Attorney General, and numerous consumer groups. The Associated Press says the industry paid about $1.5 million for an army of 20 lobbyists to sell its message to General [...]
Why does the beer industry spend so much money on political campaigns in North Carolina? There aren’t nearly as many breweries as, say, auto dealerships but the beer boys pour in the money way out of proportion to their size in the state’s economy. The NC Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association PAC handed out $204,000 [...]
On Monday morning, April 22, Democracy North Carolina’s executive director Bob Hall filed a formal request with the State Board of Elections to investigate possible illegal behavior related to campaign contributions by donors connected with the sweepstakes café industry. The call for investigation follows two research reports released by Democracy NC on March 18 and March [...]
Time is running out to register for the NC Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar on April 11. As the registration form and program announcement says, “The full day of workshops is led by expert presenters and offers opportunities for progressive people of faith to learn about critical issues facing the General Assembly. Grassroots activists working [...]
The man at the center of a national gambling scandal that caused Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll of Florida to resign last week played a surprisingly large – and mysterious – role in financing North Carolina politicians in 2012, according to new research by the election reform group Democracy North Carolina: ● Chase E. Burns, owner [...]