PRW Staff's News Articles

The Media's Disgraceful Acquiescence to Larry Summers' White House Boosters

-- by Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Selling Larry Summers as the successor to Ben Bernanke as chair of the Federal Reserve Board is a tough job. The basic problem is that Summers has a dismal track record to overcome, while his main competitor, Janet Yellen, the current vice-chair, has an outstanding record.

Scott Walker Backs Down, Rescinds $500,000 Grant

  • Topics: Democracy
  • Last week, CMD reported that a small GOP lobby shop tied to the Tea Party and David Koch's Americans for Prosperity group was awarded a $500,000 grant in a backdoor, sweetheart deal cooked up by ALEC leadership in the State Legislature and sanctioned by the Walker administration.

    The Other NRA: How the Insidiously Powerful Restaurant Lobby Makes Sure Fast-Food Workers Get Poverty Wages and Have to Work While Sick

    -- by Steven Rosenfeld

    While thousands of fast-food workers were preparing to walk off their jobs earlier this summer to seek raises to $15 an hour, the industry's corporate lobbyist, the National Restaurant Association, was celebrating a string of political victories blocking state minimum wage increases and preempting local sick day laws.

    Executive Excess 2013: Bailed out, Booted, and Busted

    -- by Sarah Anderson, Scott Klinger, Sam Pizzigati—Institute for Policy Studies

    Nearly 40 percent of the CEOs on the highest-paid lists from the past 20 years were eventually "bailed out, booted, or busted."

    This 20th anniversary Executive Excess report examines the "performance" of the 241 corporate chief executives who have ranked among America's 25 highest-paid CEOs in one or more of the past 20 years.

    What the Assault on Whistleblowers Has to Do with War on Syria

  • Topics: War / Peace
  • -- by Norman Solomon, RootsAction.org

    Every president who wants to launch another war can't abide whistleblowers. They might interfere with the careful omissions, distortions and outright lies of war propaganda, which requires that truth be held in a kind of preventative detention.

    Stop the CEO March on Washington

    -- by Scott Klinger, Institute for Policy Studies

    Millions of people acting together can still beat millions of dollars.

    In these closing days of summer, a growing number of news stories have interrupted our final days at the beach and asked us to pause and remember the 50th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington that occurred on August 28, 1963.

    CMD Fights Back Against ALEC's Effort to Evade Open Records Law in Texas

  • Topics: ALEC Exposed
  • For First Time, ALEC Is Formally Requesting Open Records Immunity

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 15, 2013
    CONTACT: Harriet_Rowan@prwatch.org

    The Center for Media and Democracy filed a letter with the Texas Attorney General on Thursday refuting efforts by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to declare itself immune from the state's open records law. Texas is the first known state where ALEC has formally asked an Attorney General for an exemption from sunshine-in-government laws, and it marks a new low in the organization's attempts to advance its legislative agenda in secret and avoid public accountability for facilitating special interest influence.

    ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress

    New Report Identifies 466 ALEC Bills in 2013 That Reflect Corporate Agenda

    For Immediate Release: August 8, 2013
    Contact: Harriet_Rowan@prwatch.org

    Today, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a new report: "ALEC at 40: Turning Back the Clock on Prosperity and Progress." The report identifies and analyzes 466 American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) bills introduced in 2013.

    ALEC's Chicago Conference Incites Protest, Multiple Arrests

    -- by Ashlee Rezin, published from Progress Illinois

    Six people were arrested Monday when protesters descended upon the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago to push back against the impending visit of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), whose conservative agenda, activists say, promotes policies and legislation that protects corporate interests and disenfranchises workers and voters.

    Groups Charge ALEC with Tax Fraud over Secretive "Scholarship" Fund that Finances Junkets for State Lawmakers

  • Topics: ALEC Exposed
  • As Legislators Converge on Chicago, Watchdogs Urge Full Disclosure of Travel Slush Fund Spending and Tough Enforcement of State Gift Laws

    For Immediate Release: August 5, 2013
    Contact: Harriet Rowan, harriet_rowan@prwatch.org

    The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is running a secretive, multi-million dollar slush fund that finances lavish trips for state legislators and has misled the Internal Revenue Service about the fund's activity, two government watchdog groups charged today.

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