State Comptroller Sues Qualcomm for Data on Its Political Contributions Posted on January 3, 2013 (November 13, 2020) Challenging Super PACs Nicholas Confessore New York Times January 3, 2013 The New York State comptroller, seeking to force greater public disclosure of corporate political spending, has sued Qualcomm, demanding to view internal records of political expenditures by the company, one of the country’s largest makers of computer chips for mobile devices. Read More
John Bonifaz: The Face of Democracy 2013 Posted on January 3, 2013 (November 13, 2020) Democracy Amendments Joanne Boyer Wisdom Voices January 1, 2013 Excerpt: Read More
NY Times compares NRA carrying water for gun makers to corporate claims of constitutional rights. Posted on December 21, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Democracy Amendments The New York Times has an editorial today castigating the National Rifle Association for doing the bidding of gun manufacturing companies, rather than its members. It cites NRA members’ support for background checks before sales are made at gun shows, which the NRA has opposed, as an example. The editorial also appropriately places the gun makers’ efforts to sell more of their product, without regard to public preferences or safety, in the context of the fight we’re leading to end the fiction that corporations have constitutional rights: Read More
Legal Ethics Forum and The Nation look at the National Rifle Association’s corporate ties & outside political spending Posted on December 17, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Democracy Amendments People are starting to take a close, critical look at the National Rifle Association, in the wake of the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT on Friday. The website Legal Ethics Forum points out some salient statistices from OpenSecrets.org: First Amendment Political Speech, the Second Amendment and the Best Gun Laws Money Can Buy Read More
US Court to Big Pharma: “Make any claim you like.” Posted on December 13, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Corporate Abuse of Power In America, we have the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) to ensure that the food we buy is safe to eat, and that drugs do for our health what their makers say they do. A U.S. Court recently tossed much of that premise out the window, saying pharmaceutical companies and their employees can not be prevented from making claims about health effects that are un-verified by the F.D.A. In effect, the decision gives drug makers the green light to make up any claim they please, to make the sale. Read More
Robert Reich: Why billionaires will still pour millions into politics Posted on December 12, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Defending Key Reforms Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has an excellent piece in the Christian Science Monitor today dispelling the myth that big money was beaten for good in the last election. I keep hearing that the billionaires and big corporations that poured all that money into the 2012 election learned their lesson. They lost their shirts and won’t do it again. Don’t believe that for an instant… Read More
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Lee Samuel’s defense of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson: American Democracy Is Not for Sale Posted on December 11, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Democracy Amendments Congressman Hank Johnson of Georgia has recently come under attack in certain blogs for speaking up for the truth that corporations are not people and do not have the same constitutional rights as people. Rev. Dr. Samuel has written a spirited defense of Congressman Johnson in the Huffington Post. Here’s an excerpt: It’s not every day that our political leaders truly do the right thing. Read More
President Obama’s Team Outlines Four Corporate Donor Packages for Inauguration Posted on December 8, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Defending Key Reforms Sheryl Gay Stolberg The New York Times December 8, 2012 Article excerpted below: Read More
Miles Mogulescu: Why Money in Politics is Still a Really Big Deal Posted on December 7, 2012 (November 2, 2020) Defending Key Reforms Miles Mogulescu has an important article in the Huffington Post today that lays out the many reasons why money in politics is still a huge problem, despite the fact that some of the biggest spenders in the 2012 elections didn’t get the outcome they wanted. Here are a few key excerpts: Read More
Report: Saudi-Led Oil Lobby Group Financed 2012 Dark Money Attack Ads Posted on December 4, 2012 (October 30, 2020) Challenging Foreign Influence A new report in The Nation on Friday details how the so-called American Petroleum Institute, a major lobbying group for Big Oil, is both funded in part by a Saudi oil company and directed in part by a registered foreign agent for Saudi Arabia who heads a subsidiary of that Saudi oil company. It also reports that the Institute’s 2011 tax returns show almost half a million dollars in gifts to dark-money organizations that ran attack ads in America’s most recent elections — and that’s just what the Big Oil group spent in 2011. Just imagine what the 2012 figures could be. Read More