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What Will Scott Walker Lift from the ALEC Agenda in 2013?

by Brendan Fischer — January 9, 2013 - 9:33am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Wisconsin's 2011-2012 legislative session saw the introduction of 32 bills or budget provisions reflecting American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation -- including Governor Scott Walker's contentious attack on public sector collective bargaining, voter ID legislation, and bills that make it harder for Americans to hold corporations accountable when their products injure or kill -- and 19 of those proposals became law.

    Op-Ed

    That Bad Ceiling Feeling: Unlike the Fiscal Cliff the Debt Ceiling Is the Real Deal

    by Mary Bottari — January 8, 2013 - 11:06am
  • Topics: Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Missing the fiscal cliff? Don't know what to talk about at the dinner table?

    Get ready, the Bipartisan Policy Center has predicted that on February 15, 2013, the U.S. Treasury will take in an estimated $9 billion in revenue, but is committed to pay out $52 billion.

    News

    CoalSwarm: A Clearinghouse for Shared Information on King Coal

    by PRW Staff — January 6, 2013 - 12:13pm
  • Topics: Energy, Environment

    • The article below was written by Ted Nace, who founded CoalSwarm. Since 2008, the Center for Media and Democracy has been hosting the CoalSwarm wiki project on CMD's SourceWatch.org website. SourceWatch is a sister site of this site, PRWatch.org, and other sites of CMD, which include ALECexposed.org and the FoodRightsNetwork.org.

    News

    CMD Joins Amicus Brief Asking U.S. Supreme Court to Allow All Americans to Access Public Records

    by Brendan Fischer — January 4, 2013 - 10:33am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Democracy, Politics

    • The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has joined an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the right of all Americans to access public records, regardless of which state they call home.

    Guest Contributor

    Corporations in Illinois: What Have You Got to Hide?

    by PRW Staff — January 3, 2013 - 6:57pm
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Secrecy

    • -by George Goehl, National People's Action

    Tax fairness has become a centerpiece of national debate, from the president's reelection to the recent deal surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff. In Illinois, taxpayers want to make sure corporations in the State are paying their fair share as well. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the federal corporate tax rate from 1952-63 -- a period of prosperity and a significant rise in the middle class -- was 52 percent. Today it's 35 percent. By working loopholes and exceptions many corporations are able to reduce their effective tax rate to as low as zero. As it stands corporations doing business in Illinois do not have to disclose to the public what taxes, if any, they contribute to the state.

    News

    $12M Donation to FreedomWorks Laundered through a "Shell Corporation" May Have Violated Federal Law

    by Brendan Fischer — January 3, 2013 - 9:14am
  • Topics: Election 2012, Corporations, Democracy, Politics

    • New details are emerging about how a multi-millionaire used shell corporations to funnel money to the Super PAC associated with embattled Tea Party group FreedomWorks for America -- and how those laundered contributions may have violated federal law.

    News

    It Ain't Over Till It's Over: Wall Street Gears Up for Austerity Battles of 2013

    by Mary Bottari — January 2, 2013 - 9:53am
  • Topics: Astroturf, Corporate Campaigns, Public Relations, Real Economy Project

    • For better or worse, a bill passed Congress in the wee hours of 2013 averting the much-hyped "fiscal cliff" for now and raising taxes on couples making over $450,000 and extending a lifeline of unemployment benefits to 2 million Americans.

    News

    King Coal Gets a Boost through ALEC

    by Jill Richardson — January 1, 2013 - 10:28am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed

    • As Americans experienced epic droughts, freakish hurricanes, and other extreme weather over the past few years, many are eager to see our nation secure a sustainable energy supply for the future that won't break our climate. But others -- most notably the polluting fossil fuel industries -- are eager to double down on the same old technologies that are responsible for the climate crisis in the first place.

    Editorial

    A New Year's Message to Our Readers

    by Lisa Graves — December 31, 2012 - 11:04am
  • Topics: Campaign Finance, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Media, Politics

    • You helped make the world a better place this year. You helped expose corruption and thwart efforts to distort our democracy.

    1. You helped force 42 major corporations and 70 legislators to do something they did not want to do, leave the American Legislative Exchange Council.

    News

    The Latest Effort to Fix Election Results: Rig the Electoral College

    by Brendan Fischer — December 31, 2012 - 9:27am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Democracy, Politics

    • Despite Wisconsin residents overwhelmingly voting for Democrats in the 2012 elections -- sending progressive powerhouse Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate and reelecting President Barack Obama by 6.8 points -- five of the state's eight newly-drawn congressional districts voted out of sync with the majority of Wisconsinites and went for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This is largely because the GOP reworked congressional maps to their party's benefit during the redistricting process that followed the 2010 census and elections. Now, Republicans in Wisconsin are discussing plans to allocate the state's electoral college votes according to these new Congressional districts, giving the GOP a chance for victory in a state that has elected Democrats in each of the past seven Presidential elections.

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