PRW Staff's News Articles

Bill Moyers: United States of ALEC — A Viewers Guide

  • Topics: ALEC Exposed
  • A new episode of the Moyers and Company television program by the legendary broadcaster Bill Moyers aired on public television stations across the U.S. over the weekend. The program was packed with new material about ALEC's latest moves and relies heavily upon the research and reporting of CMD’s award-winning "ALEC Exposed" project. The program features interviews with CMD Executive Director Lisa Graves, Deputy Director Mary Bottari and Director of Research Nick Surgey. Madisonians John Nichols of the Nation, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and University of Wisconsin professors Joel Rogers and Julie Underwood are also interviewed about the expansive ALEC agenda.

    Buzz off, Monsanto

    -- by Paul Towers, Pesticide Action Network

    Last week, the term "bee-washing" emerged in public conversation. It doesn't refer to some new bee cleaning service, but to the insidious efforts of Monsanto and other pesticide corporations to discredit science about the impacts of pesticides on bees -- especially neonicotinoids -- by creating public relations tours, new research centers and new marketing strategies.

    What Do Guns Have to Do With Immigration? For Gun Owners of America, Everything

    -- By Katie Lorenze

    Gun Owners of America (GOA) has declared immigration reform a gun issue, warning that under the "scamnesty bill" currently in the U.S. Senate, "you can say buh bye to your guns and buh bye to the rest of your freedom."

    Join CMD for ALEC Exposed Panel at Netroots Nation 2013

  • Topics: ALEC Exposed
  • Join the Center for Media and Democracy at this year's Netroots Nation conference in San Jose, California. On Friday, June 21, CMD is hosting a panel called "ALECexposed: Strategies and Tactics for our 2013 Campaign" taking place at 10:30am in the Town Square. See the panel description here.

    Scaife-Funded Network Works Hard to Kill Immigration Reform

    -- By Katie Lorenze

    With immigration reform advancing through Congress, an anti-immigrant network funded by a small group of right-wing foundations is trying to kill reform by pressuring moderate Republicans and appealing to the party's xenophobic wing. The groups could stymie efforts by some Republicans to appeal to the country's growing Latino population by moving to the center on immigration.

    NFIB and AHIP: Hidden influence-peddling in Washington

    -- by Wendell Potter, The Center for Public Integrity

    I was not among those who believed the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision would open the floodgates of corporate money to influence elections and public policy. While the decision enables corporations to call for the election or defeat of federal candidates, those expenditures have to be reported and few corporations will take the risk of losing customers by getting involved in politics so publicly.

    Dissent or Terror: New Report Details How Counter Terrorism Apparatus Was Used to Monitor Occupy Movement Nationwide

    MADISON, WI -- DBA Press and the Center for Media and Democracy today released the results of a year-long investigation: "Dissent or Terror: How the Nation's Counter Terrorism Apparatus, In Partnership With Corporate America, Turned on Occupy Wall Street."

    The report, a distillation of thousands of pages of records obtained from counter terrorism/law enforcement agencies, details how state/regional "fusion center" personnel monitored the Occupy Wall Street movement over the course of 2011 and 2012. Personnel engaged in this activity at fusion centers include employees of municipal, county and federal counter terrorism/homeland security entities. Such entities include local police departments, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (including U.S. DHS components such as the Transportation Security Administration).

    Fighting Forward: A Labor & Working-Class Summit Comes to Madison This June

  • Topics: Labor
  • The 2013 National Conference of the Working Class Studies Association is a gathering of working people, community and labor activists, students and educators focused on building a revitalized movement in support of labor and the working class. This year the conference is taking place at the Madison College Downtown Education Center from June 12-15.

    On Gun Safety, Determined Activists Are Keeping Up the Fight

  • Topics: Politics
  • by Jason Snyder

    Gun safety advocates are not backing down after bipartisan legislation to expand background checks failed in the Senate, and are promising a new push to gain the five votes necessary to pass legislation supported by overwhelming public majorities. Are the political winds shifting in favor of gun safety?

    New Report Exposes ALEC's Influence In Nevada

    Bills introduced in Nevada to allow machine guns on the Vegas strip, privatize public education, and thwart federal healthcare reform can be tied back to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), according to a new report from ProgressNow Nevada detailing ALEC's influence in that state.

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