Here are recent links for those of you interested in the money behind the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for President, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and the favors he’s done for his big donors. As with other candidates, his new Super PAC could dwarf what he raises himself for the nomination. The Washington Post weighs [...]
The video by Brave New Films about the Wake schools controversy is creating it own tussle. The video says Americans for Prosperity, led nationally by the billionaire Koch brothers, spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to promote resegregation and elect a conservative school board in 2009. Dallas Woodhouse, head of the NC chapter of Americans [...]
The Center for Responsive Politics continues to monitor the development of Super PACs, the post-Citizens United creatures that can accept gigantic donations to “independently” support or oppose candidates. CRP says that liberal Super PACs (like those gearing up to support Obama’s re-election) have taken in nearly $8 million in the first half of 2011, with [...]
California Republican US Rep. Darrell Issa is a . . . , Issa is a, is a . . . what? At the moment, he’s the heavyweight chair of a key Congressional committee with a mission to gut regulations that big businesses don’t like, even though they may benefit consumers. News stories keep revealing Issa’s [...]
The political system is so blatantly tilted to help the super-rich and powerful that even they are embarrassed. They know it’s wrong, and it's great when they speak out and call for change. In a singularly important op-ed, Warren Buffett, the second richest man in the US, is lambasting Congressional leaders for not making the [...]
A powerful new video from Brave New Films documents the Koch brothers’ takeover of the Wake County school system through Americans for Prosperity and the 2009 school board election. It reveals the links to past segregation rhetoric and the upheaval created by the Koch agenda to destroy public education, equal opportunity, diversity in schools. With [...]
The so-called Super Congress – the six Democrats and six Republicans charged with coming up with a plan to reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion – all come “with a history of political patrons and connections with special interests,” according to their portraits painted by the Center for Public Integrity's iWatch News. The Associated Press [...]
Titan America is back in the news, winning a draft air pollution permit for its proposed cement factory near Wilmington. Citizens in southeastern NC have kept up a vigorous campaign to force the company to play fair, but Titan apparently believes the free market means its competitors should shut up and trust them to do [...]
Almost out of nowhere, a Wilmington couple jumped to the top of the list – just below Art Pope and his family – as the largest campaign donors in North Carolina’s 2010 legislative elections. Democracy North Carolina compiled the list of their $242,500 in donations to state political parties and 17 Republican legislative candidates in [...]
Rep. Steve LaRoque’s home newspaper in Kinston got him to talk about the Policy Watch investigation of his use of two government-funded nonprofits to benefit himself, his family, and his political associates. The paper is owned by the Libertarian-leaning Freedom Communications chain, so it is noteworthy that the story didn’t end when LaRoque dismissed everything [...]