PRW Staff's News Articles

Guest Contributor

Views on the OCCUPY Amendment

by PRW Staff — November 21, 2011 - 11:55am
  • Topics: Corporations, Election Protection, Politics, U.S. Government

    • This is a guest op-ed by Greg Colvin, a partner at the firm Adler & Colvin, originally published at OurFuture.org.

    As the struggle in the streets intensifies, and Occupy Wall Street refuses to remain silent, it's good to know there are champions in Congress who have stepped up to the challenge of amending the US Constitution. It's called OCCUPIED: Outlawing Corporate Cash Undermining the Public Interest in our Elections and Democracy, here.

    Guest Contributor

    Occupy Wall Street: Crafting A Constitutional Amendment To Stop The 1%

    by PRW Staff — November 16, 2011 - 2:21pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Election Protection, Politics

    • This is a guest post on Citizens United by Greg Colvin, who is a partner at the firm Adler & Colvin. It was originally published on OurFuture.org.

    We've seen the signs and heard the chants: "Abolish Corporate Personhood!"

    I'm very sympathetic to the cause of reducing the power of big business corporations to control our government, our economy, our consumer culture, our society, and our lives. We can't have democracy without a major shift of power into the hands of the people.

    But would an amendment to remove all rights of corporations from the US Constitution accomplish that? Would there be unintended consequences?

    There are two problems with a constitutional amendment that abolishes corporate personhood. One, it does too much, and two, it does too little.

    News

    CMD's Quick Guide to the Mark Block "Blocktopus"

    by PRW Staff — November 8, 2011 - 12:06pm
  • Topics: Election 2012, Corporations, Election Protection, Ethics, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • By Brendan Fischer and Sara Jerving

    The Center for Media and Democracy filed a letter this week requesting that the Internal Revenue Service investigate Prosperity USA, a charity founded by Herman Cain's Chief of Staff Mark Block, for potentially violating the Internal Revenue Code by fronting tens of thousands of dollars worth of Mr. Cain's campaign travel expenses. But Prosperity USA is only one node in a network of charities and nonprofit organizations associated with Mr. Block, the former head of the Wisconsin arm of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.

    Guest Contributor

    How the Austerity Class Rules Washington

    by PRW Staff — October 24, 2011 - 12:41pm
  • Topics: Politics

    • By Ari Berman, a contributing writer for and an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation magazine, where this article was originally published on October 19, 2011.

    Guest Contributor

    Rep. Cantor - Bought and Paid for by Wall Street Investors

    by PRW Staff — October 18, 2011 - 7:16am
  • Topics: Corporations, Politics

    • by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) blog

    The Center for Media and Democracy is re-posting this article from the CREW blog as part of our efforts to expose the influence of corporate money in politics. Eric Cantor is also an alumnus of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which the Center has been investigating through ALECexposed, and he has introduced federal legislation that parallels the ALEC agenda. CMD is also helping to raise awareness of alternatives to the Cantor/ALEC agenda to starve government and slash government services, namely how a tiny tax on Wall Street could help. Cantor's efforts to smear Occupy Wall Street protesters and his receipts from Wall Street firms are documented below.

    Op-Ed

    Gaming American Democracy: A Perfect Storm in Which Republicans Disenfranchise Voters While Giving Corporations Unchecked Powers

    by PRW Staff — October 17, 2011 - 6:06am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Democracy, Lobbying

    • by John Dean

    The Center for Media and Democracy is re-posting this article from John Dean at Justia's Verdict website as part of our efforts to expose the American Legislative Exchange Council. The original can be found here.

    Guest Contributor

    Hiding the Sausage: How a Well-Funded Right-Wing Organization is Grinding Out State Laws

    by PRW Staff — September 16, 2011 - 12:21pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations

    • -- by Billy Manes

    The Center for Media and Democracy is re-posting this article from Billy Manes at the Orlando Weekly as part of our efforts to expose the American Legislative Exchange Council. The original can be found here.

    When Jeff Wright walked into the lobby of the New Orleans Marriott on Aug. 3, he wasn't sure what to expect. As the director of public policy advocacy for the Florida Education Association -- a prominent teachers' union that had been bearing the brunt of legislative attacks from Florida Republicans throughout the 2011 legislative session -- he wasn't there for your standard Mardi Gras-themed party. The American Legislative Exchange Council, a national nonprofit organization made up of elected officials and private interests who gather regularly to try to directly influence the substance of public policy, was holding its annual four-day meeting there, so any "partying" would probably be a little more conservative, and -- going by a recent glut of press coverage pointing out ALEC's clearinghouse mentality of privately linking big corporations with the state legislators willing to pursue their bottom-line agendas in the form of "model legislation" -- slightly more nefarious. Nevertheless, he wanted to see it for himself.

    News

    CMD and The Nation Magazine Win the Sidney Award for Investigative Journalism

    by PRW Staff — September 14, 2011 - 10:31am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Front Groups, Corporations, Democracy, Labor, Lobbying

    • The Sidney Hillman Foundation selected the Center for Media and Democracy and The Nation magazine for its prestigious "Sidney Award" this month.  The award recognizes our investigative journalism exposing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which the Foundation called "an obscure but powerful conservative group that brings state legislators and corporations together to write laws."

    Guest Contributor

    Koch's "Response" Agrees with Parts of Greenpeace Toxic Koch Report

    by PRW Staff — August 31, 2011 - 7:16am
  • Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Terrorism, Environment

    • By John Deans of Greenpeace, August 26, 2011.

    On August 25, 2011, Koch Industries issued a response to the Greenpeace report that CMD cross-posted last week, via KochFacts.com. Below is Greenpeace's August 26, 2011, counter-response to Koch. The original can be found here.

    Op-Ed

    The Lewis Powell Memo: Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy

    by PRW Staff — August 25, 2011 - 10:02am
  • Topics: Corporations

    • The Center for Media and Democracy is reposting a new in-depth report by Greenpeace's Charlie Cray about the corporate blueprint, known as the "Powell memo," for the "corporate takeover" of public institutions through the creation of entities like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). This is part of CMD's effort to report on and gather reporting about these activities through our ALECexposed.org work. This story was originally published by Greenpeace.

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