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 […]
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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 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
Planned Parenthood Endorses Hillary Clinton
On Sunday, January 10, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Planned Parenthood Action Fund will formally endorse Hillary Clinton for president-its first-ever primary endorsement. Planned Parenthood says it plans to spend at least $20 million on this election. The national women’s health organization has thrown itself ever more forcefully into politics since its president, Cecile Richards, took […]
Posted inLaw and Justice
Obama Orders More Research on Gun Violence. But Will Congress Interfere?
For years, one of the federal obstacles that has most frustrated gun safety advocates is an old prohibition on gun violence research. Without robust data on the impact of guns, safety advocates say, policymakers are unable to respond effectively to the epidemic of gun violence plaguing the nation. On Tuesday, President Obama issued an executive […]
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 inElection Night Blog
Last-Ditch House Bill Would Defund Planned Parenthood
In a last-ditch effort, House Republicans are set to vote Wednesday on a bill that would include a provision to defund Planned Parenthood. The vote comes just weeks after Congress passed its $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that included no cuts to Planned Parenthood, despite months of conservative pledges to defund the abortion provider. House […]
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 inEducation in America
In Free Speech Turnabout, Public Officials Seek to Silence Students
A spate of student protests over racial discrimination on college campuses this fall and winter has triggered a backlash from critics who cast student demands as an affront to free speech. But a dustup this week over legislation introduced in the Missouri legislature suggests that students’ own First Amendment protections may be at risk. On […]
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 […]
