This is interesting. In December, 2011, the month before signing on to the mortgage fraud settlement, the entity charged with electing Republican Attorneys General called the Republican State Leadership Committee collected a bunch of large checks from big banks. As this IRS disclosure form shows, on December 19, 2011, it received a $10,000 donation from
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One of the basic pay to play schemes we see in most states and in the Federal government involves the privatization of government services to third party contractors who then kick back money through campaigns or lobbyists for increased privatization. It’s a transfer of state power from the public, which elects the government, to private
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For two years, I worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to Congressman Alan Grayson.  During this time, Congress passed major legislative initiatives, including most prominently health care reform and the Dodd-Frank package addressing the financial crisis.  Lobbyists infested the place, and a lot of the legislative activity was determined by the enormous sums
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Most child labor was prohibited in 1938, but there are a few exceptions for certain industries where children are still allowed to work. One of the biggest loopholes is the agricultural industry. The Department of Labor recently issued new proposed regulations restricting child labor on farms, regulations which are drawing intense opposition from politicians and
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