Secrecy

News

Senators Introduce Legislation to Restore Americans' Privacy, Limit Data Collection

by Rebekah Wilce — June 24, 2013 - 7:03am
  • Topics: Secrecy, War / Peace

    • U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mark Udall (D-CO), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) have introduced two pieces of legislation that would limit the ability of federal government intelligence agencies to track and collect data on Americans.

    News

    Blockbuster Reports Reveal Widespread Surveillance of Phone and Internet Records by Obama Administration

    by Rebekah Wilce — June 7, 2013 - 9:15am
  • Topics: Human Rights, Media, Secrecy

    • In a series of blockbuster reports published in the Washington Post and in the British newspaper The Guardian, sources reveal that the National Security Agency (NSA) is running a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows federal officials to collect material including "search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats" from an array of internet companies including Google, Skype, YouTube, Facebook, Apple, and more without a court order.

    Op-Ed

    How the Government Targeted Occupy

    by Lisa Graves — May 21, 2013 - 11:47am
  • Topics: Activism, ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Politics, Secrecy

    • Originally published by In These Times.

    Freedom of conscience is one of the most fundamental human freedoms. This freedom is not merely about one's ability to choose to believe or not believe in religion or a particular philosophy. In a democracy, freedom of conscience is about the ability to be critical of government and corporations, and to be free from the chilling fear that being critical will subject you to government surveillance.

    News

    New Report Exposes ALEC's Influence In Nevada

    by PRW Staff — May 10, 2013 - 11:51am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Corporations, Secrecy

    • 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.

    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.

    Press Release

    Wisconsin Legislators Jetting Off on Corporate-Funded Trip to Develop Special Interest Legislation

    by PRW Staff — November 28, 2012 - 12:22pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Ethics, Politics, Secrecy

    • FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 28, 2012
    CONTACT: Brendan Fischer

    MADISON, WI -- Several Wisconsin legislators are attending this week's conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) at the Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C., and likely doing so on corporate-funded "scholarships," which the Center for Media and Democracy believes violate state ethics and lobbying laws. The three-day meeting, held November 28-30, will bring state legislators together with corporate lobbyists and special interests to craft "model" bills -- many of which will likely be introduced in the ALEC-majority Wisconsin legislature in the session that begins in January.

    News

    Super Rich Holding $21 Trillion Overseas To Avoid Taxation

    by Alex Oberley — August 2, 2012 - 3:47pm
  • Topics: Banking, Corporations, Economy, International, Secrecy

    • At a time when the gap between the ultra-rich and the rest of us is reaching historic heights across the globe, at least $21 trillion (with a "t") in unreported private financial wealth was recently discovered sitting in secret tax havens.

    News

    Bill in Congress Could Limit Access to Drug Safety Information

    by Rebekah Wilce — May 29, 2012 - 4:51pm
  • Topics: Health, Secrecy, U.S. Government

    • The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Wednesday, May 30, on the Food and Drug Administration Reform Act of 2012, H.R.5651. Groups advocating for open and transparent government have found a provision in the bill that would keep potentially important health and safety information away from the public. Section 812 would, according to a letter to leaders of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee penned by several of these groups, deny the public access to information relating to drugs obtained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from any government agency -- local, state, federal, or foreign -- if that agency has requested that the information be kept confidential.

    Patrice McDermott, Executive Director of OpenTheGovernment.org, which works with the legislative and executive branches to encourage more open government, told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that the provision might blow a huge hole in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It would give the FDA carte blanche with regard to drug information.

    News

    In Honor of “Sunshine Week,” CMD Shines a Light on Politicians who Keep Wisconsin in the Dark

    by Harriet Rowan — March 16, 2012 - 10:36am
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Ethics, Media, Secrecy, Wisconsin Protests

    • -- By Mary Bottari and Harriet Rowan

    In honor of "Sunshine Week," a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) would like to recognize Wisconsin's champions of backroom deals, secret pledges and cloaked campaign contributions.

    Sunshine Week, March 12-16, is celebrated by newspapers, governments and citizen's groups across the land, but not in Wisconsin, whose reputation for clean and open government has taken a pounding this year.

    First, CMD would like to honor Wisconsin Rep. Joel Kleefisch for literally blocking the view of the State Assembly chamber. On the first day of Sunshine Week, black plastic was placed on the swinging Assembly doors, blocking the view of interested citizens of the Assembly floor.

    Op-Ed

    Inside ALEC: Naked Contempt for the Press and Public in Scottsdale

    by Beau Hodai — January 11, 2012 - 8:23am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Ethics, Secrecy

    • "Mr. Hodai had a history at the conference--not a very pleasant history. He was considered to be a persona non grata..."

    -- Westin Kierland General Manager Bruce Lange to Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star.

    Evicting the Press, Part 1: Meet Mr. Black

    Scottsdale, Arizona--A suburb awash in money and golf courses, set against the backdrop of the jagged mountains surrounding Phoenix.

    I was sitting in a sports bar of the Westin Kierland Resort and Spa, swapping journalism stories with Olivia Ward of the Toronto Star on one of the bar's overstuffed leather couches. Over the course of an hour, the bar filled with conventioneers from the American Legislative Exchange Council's 2011 States and Nation Policy Summit (SNPS). (A new story on Westin's connections to other ALEC corporations is available here.)

    My assignment was to cover the 2011 SNPS, taking place at the resort from November 29 through December 2. ALEC had refused to grant me media credentials. Nevertheless, I was a paid guest at the resort.

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