NewsTrust - Money and Politics - Most Recent Stories: News (Mainstream)

Colo. to review taxpayer-paid lobbyists practice

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Associated Press - By Steven K. Paulson - Nov. 21 (News Report) - At a time of budget cuts, Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter's administration last year paid employees and outside contractors $1.1 million to lobby Colorado lawmakers on legislation ranging from renewable energy tax credits to increasing motor vehicle license fees. The administration and legislators are reviewing the long-standing practice of one branch of government lobbying another — one that predates the Ritter administration — as Colorado tries to close a $1 billion budget gap.

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The $100 Million Health Care Vote?

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

ABC News - By Jonathan Karl - Nov. 20 (News Report) - The health care bill includes a $100 million section for increasing medicaid subsidies to the state of Louisiana. The Note, authored by ABC News' Rick Klein, covers politics, the White House, Congress, Democrats, Republicans, and all latest political campaigning for the 2012 presidential race. Washington's first and most influential tipsheet, The

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Big costs weigh on troop debate

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Christopher Drew - Nov. 15 (News Analysis) - even if Obama chooses a lower troop commitment, Afghanistan's new costs could wash out the projected $26 billion expected to be saved in 2010 from withdrawing troops from Iraq. And the overall military budget could reach $734 billion, or 10 percent more than the peak of $667 billion under the Bush administration. Such an escalation in military spending would be a politically volatile issue for Obama at a time when the government budget deficit is soaring, the economy is weak and he is trying to pass a health-care overhaul.

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State Democrats facing revolt by labor

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Andrew Garber - Nov. 14 (News Report) - The Washington State Labor Council, the Service Employees International Union and unions representing teachers and state workers have either stopped or sharply reduced donations to Democratic caucus political-action committees that back candidates for the state House and Senate.

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William Jefferson sentenced to 13 years in prison

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The New Orleans Times-Picayune - By Jonathan Tilove - Nov. 14 (News Report) - Former Rep. William Jefferson was sentenced Friday to serve 13 years in prison for what the lead prosecutor described as "the most extensive and pervasive pattern of corruption in the history of Congress."

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Feds move to seize 4 mosques, skyscraper

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Adam Goldman - Nov. 13 (News) - Federal prosecutors took steps Thursday to seize four U.S. mosques and a Fifth Avenue skyscraper owned by a nonprofit Muslim organization long suspected of being secretly controlled by the Iranian government.

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Washington in race for federal education funds

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Seattle Times - By Linda Shaw - Nov. 13 (News Report) - Gregoire told U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan that, while Washington does not have charter schools, the state does have many schools that are every bit as innovative and successful.

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Seven members of House defense subcommittee scrutinized by ethics investigators

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Carol D. Leonnig - Oct. 30 (News Report) - The investigations by two separate ethics offices include an examination of the powerful subcommittee chairman, John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), as well as others who helped steer federal funds to clients of the PMA Group. The lawmakers received campaign

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Ethics list heavy on defense spenders

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Jonathan Allen - Oct. 30 (News Report) - Seven members of the powerful House panel that handles the Pentagon's purse — and the lucrative earmarks inside — have been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, according to an internal ethics committee document obtained by The Washington Post.

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Lawmakers targeted in ethics probe

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By John Bresnahan - Oct. 30 (Breaking News) - A leaked document shows that House ethics investigators are probing the activities of nearly three dozen lawmakers — an ethical dust storm that will empower the Republicans and could imperil efforts to get health care reform through the House next week.

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What's So Scary About Michael Pollan? Why Corporate Agriculture Tried to Censor His University Speech | Health and Wellness

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Martha Rosenberg - Oct. 28 (News) - "Agribusiness gets plenty of opportunities to preach its point of view at agriculture schools such as Cal Poly, where the likes of Monsanto and Cargill fund research," the Times wrote, calling the 800-acre Harris Ranch, near Coalinga, whose "smell assaults passersby long before the panorama of thousands of cattle packed atop layers of their own manure,"--"Cowschwitz." Ouch.

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How Drug-Industry Lobbyists Got Their Way on Health Care

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Karen Tumulty, Michael Scherer - Oct. 22 (Special Report) - It's understandable the drugmakers would want a roll-call accounting of who their friends and enemies are, considering the size of the investment they are making on Capitol Hill: in the first six months of this year alone, drug and biotech companies and their trade associations spent more than $110 million — that's about $609,000 a day — to influence lawmakers, according to figures compiled by the nonpartisan watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics. The drug industry's legion of registered lobbyists numbers 1,228, or 2.3 for every member of Congress. And its campaign contributions to current members of Waxman's committee have totaled $2.6 million over the past three years.

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Dem officials set stage for corporate-backed health care campaign

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Ben Smith,Kenneth P. Vogel - Oct. 16 (Special Report) - At a meeting last April with corporate lobbyists, aides to President Barack Obama and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) helped set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in

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Biggest Obstacle to Global Climate Deal May Be How to Pay for It

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Elisabeth Rosenthal - Oct. 15 (Special Report) - The price of a climate agreement will be $100 billion a year by 2020, many economists estimate; some put the cost at closer to $1 trillion.

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Lobbyists Fight Efforts to Save on Health Care

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK - Oct. 11 (News Analysis) - Most of the serious proposals to fulfill President Obama’s vow to curb health care costs have fallen victim to organized interests and parochial politics.

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A Year after the Great Collapse

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Bill Moyers Journal - By Bill Moyers - Oct. 11 (Special Report) - Just over a year after economic calamity brought promises of reform from Washington, has Wall Street really changed? Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson and US Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) report on the state of the economy.

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N.D. scandal raises concerns about health cooperative route

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Karl Vick - Oct. 11 (News) - For North Dakota insurance sales representatives, March may have been the ideal time to enjoy the swim-up bar at a resort on Grand Cayman Island. But back on the frigid northern Plains, policyholders at Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota were less delighted when they learned about the trip for 66 staff members and guests.

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Confronting Rick Berman

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

MSNBC - By Rachel Maddow - Oct. 07 (Special Report) - Berman, proudly known as "Dr. Evil," still refused to answer who pays for his attack websites, even as he's served as a leader in generating what critics say is misinformation about virtually all reform initiatives of the last 20 years, including union organizing rights and the Employee Free Choice Act.

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Obama: Health Plan Will Boost Economy - WSJ.com

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - Oct. 04 (News Analysis) - Obama used his weekly radio address to tout a health-insurance overhaul making its way through Congress, calling it a critical step toward reducing the nation's deficit and boosting an ailing economy.

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Fed Preparing to Step Up Regulation of Banks' Pay

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Neil Irwin, Tomoeh Murakami Tse - Sep. 19 (News Report) - The Federal Reserve is moving to restrict compensation practices at the nation's banks, expanding its regulatory reach to oversee how tens of thousands of bank employees ranging from chief executives to loan officers are paid.

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In Shift, Wall Street Goes to Washington

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By David Cho, Steven Mufson, Tomoeh Murakami Tse - Sep. 13 (Special Report) - In the year since the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, paralyzing global markets and triggering one of the biggest government forays into the economy in U.S. history, Wall Street has looked south to forge new business strategies, hew to new federal policies and find new talent.

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Reversal of Supreme Court Precedents at Issue

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Robert Barnes - Sep. 09 (News Analysis) - The Supreme Court's unusual hearing Wednesday on the role corporations can play in influencing elections carries the potential not only for rewriting the nation's campaign finance laws but also for testing the willingness of the court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to defy the decisions of Congress and to set aside its own precedents.

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Supreme Court: campaign finance overhaul in 'Hillary' case?

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Warren Richey - Sep. 09 (News Report) - The US Supreme Court this week takes up a potential crossroads case that could greatly expand the ability of corporations and labor unions to wield influence in federal elections. The high court on Wednesday is re-hearing a case it heard last spring

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SCOTUS campaign case could boost GOP

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Kenneth P. Vogel - Sep. 08 (News Analysis) - Campaign finance experts predict the court, which has demonstrated an inclination towards incremental loosening of rules restricting the flow of money into politics, will expand the types of ads corporations and unions can pay for. Their only question is just how much the justices will open the floodgates.

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U.S. Share of Worldwide Arms Market Grows

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Thom Shanker - Sep. 07 (News Report) - Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the United States expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a new Congressional study.

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