The National Rifle Association might be misrepresenting the extent of its political activity, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). The ethics watchdog filed a new complaint today with the IRS calling on the agency to investigate alleged discrepancies in political spending disclosures. According to the complaint, the reported $12.6 million in […]
Justin Miller
Justin Miller covers politics and state government for the Texas Observer. He is a former Prospect writing fellow, and has also written for The Intercept, The New Republic, and In These Times. Follow @by_jmiller
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Is Obama Finally Getting Real on Money in Politics?
Campaign-finance reform advocates were on high alert during President Obama’s final State of the Union address Tuesday night, looking for any indication that Obama might finally take steps to curtail the influence of money in the political system. For months, reform advocates have been running a pressure campaign aimed at pushing the White House to […]
Posted inWorking in America
The Labor Prospect: Friedrichs’s Fate
What losing Friedrichs could mean, the impact of $15 in New York, and investigation discrimination at temp agencies.Â
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Winners and Losers in the Impending Ad Blitz
The presidential candidates and the outside groups backing them are opening up their wallets in a very big way leading up to the Iowa caucuses on February 1. The ad blitz means a windfall for some businesses and a financial loss for others. The big winners are local TV stations in the early primary states. […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
How Political Consulting Became a Multibillion Dollar Racket
An interview with Adam Sheingate, whose new book explores the lucrative business of political consulting.Â
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Why California’s Citizens United Ballot Initiative May Not Matter
Voters in California-the most populous state in the union-have won the right to voice their collective opinion on whether Congress should pass a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, the infamous Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to unlimited outside political spending in 2010. The issue could make it onto the state’s 2016 ballot thanks […]
Posted inMoney, Politics, and Power
Presidential Ads and the Legality of Lying
As presidential campaigns enter offensive mode leading up to the Iowa caucus, candidates-as well as their personal super PACs and supportive dark-money nonprofits-are starting to launch their respective ad blitzes. And not surprisingly, many of them feature fast and loose interpretations of facts. The presidential election is an open race with over a dozen Republican […]
Posted inWorking in America
The Labor Prospect: What to Watch in 2016
After a banner year of labor victories, 2016 may have an even bigger impact on workers. Â
Posted inEconomic Policy
No Raise This Year? These Four Charts Explain Why
New data show just how wide the productivity-pay gap has become.Â
Posted inEconomic Policy
Democrats Beat Back Anti-Labor Riders
There’s nothing business-friendly Republicans won’t try in their effort to dismantle organized labor. The recent budget showdown was no exception. However, rather surprisingly, organized labor avoided a shellacking. “We’re relieved,” says Bill Samuel, the AFL-CIO’s director of government affairs. “There was a whole laundry list of rollbacks on worker rights and to the [Department of […]
