Warming up for a summit of hemispheric leaders in Colombia later this week, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff today wraps up a brief visit to the United States, where she met President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the high-profile dance card, Reuters quoted some Brazilian officials as complaining that their president didn't get quite the reception she and her country deserves. "There's a feeling that most people in Washington don't appreciate what's happening in Brazil," the news agency reported one official close to Rousseff as saying ...
Continue readingListen and Share This American Life’s “Take the Money and Run for Office” Episode
If you haven’t already listened to This American Life’s episode, “Take the Money and Run for Office,” I encourage you... View Article
Continue readingGAO Finds Fault With Lobbyist Reports
by Cassandra LaRussa Only 63% of information disclosed on lobbying reports were “properly reported and supported,” according to a new... View Article
Continue readingWill the House’s Operations Budget Be Squeezed by Appropriators?
Written by Policy Fellow Matt Rumsey The House of Representatives’ internal operations budget was the subject of a Legislative Branch... View Article
Continue readingBig financial interests chip away at Dodd Frank regulations
Today the House plans to take up two industry-backed bills dealing with derivatives, the hitherto opaque financial instruments so crucial to the 2008 meltdown, under a procedure usually reserved for noncontroversial matters.
A coalition of labor and consumer groups, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), believes the bills, which have bipartisan support, should be controversial and is urging lawmakers to oppose them. "Both proposed bills are unnecessary and potentially harmful attempts to micromanage the work of regulators in implementing the Dodd-Frank Act," the groups argued. "They amplify the views of the regulated industries which already have overwhelmingly greater resources to intervene ...
Continue readingHealth care lobbying groups head to the Supreme Court
If war is politics by other means, so is litigation. While there will be plenty of rhetoric today about President Obama's health care law on the second anniversary of its signing -- including a new op-ed by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who was for the health care reform in Massachusetts before he was against it nationally -- the big battle begins Monday, when the Supreme Court opens an unusual three days of argument over the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
In many respects, the mega-case -- a compilation of six separate cases that have been wending through ...
Continue readingOn IPO bill, Democratic senators nibble on the hand that feeds them
A bill backed by President Obama and largely drafted by some of his Silicon Valley donors is causing an embarrassing rift in his party's ranks and creating an awkward situation as Democratic leaders in the Senate try to make last-minute changes today before sending it to the White House.
Proponents of the bill say it will drive capital to startups by reducing the barriers to going public. Opponents say it invites potential fraud and reduces transparency for most business seeking an IPO—not just small ones.
On Wednesday, one day after the Democrats failed to pass their own version ...
Continue readingOn patent law, Mavs owner Mark Cuban knows the score
When two popular Internet utilities get in a high-priced legal fight and a famously outspoken NBA owner jumps in the middle, it's hard not to keep your eye on the roundball -- especially on the day March Madness gets underway.
After Yahoo sued Facebook for patent violations earlier this week, Dallas Mavericks boss Mark Cuban took aim at Yahoo and the nation's patent law with a satirical blog post that got picked up by the Huffington Post and is generating a lot of buzz on the web. The j'accuse by Cuban (full disclosure: he's a sometime Sunlight ...
Continue readingStealthy wealthy: How Harold Simmons’ political giving has benefited his business empire
 |
| Photo by the Dallas Morning News |
(This is the first in an occasional series that will shine a light on little known but highly influential donors.)
Even under the post-Citizens United campaign finance rules that unleashed a new generation of mega-donors, Harold Simmons stands out as old political money.
The Dallas-based billionaire, dubbed the king of superfund sites after acquiring an environmentally-challenged company, has gotten plenty of attention for the $10 million he’s given super PACs in the first four months of this year.
But a closer examination of the record shows that Simmons’ 2012 donations are just the ...
Continue readingSimmons-controlled company fights for protectionist measures
When Titanium Metals Corp., a defense contractor that's part of Harold Simmons's business empire, lobbied for protectionist policies designed to shield it from foreign competition, the fight allied the Texas billionaire and Republican mega-donor with some unlikely political bedfellows, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, a liberal Democrat from Ohio, and a union that overwhelmingly gives to Democrats.
Of the more than $34 million that Harold Simmons, his wife and daughters have contributed to politicians, parties and political organizations, just $520,000 has benefited Democrats.
59063
