Last April, the Los Angeles Times reported that the “unemployment rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq is 10.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For veterans age 24 and under, the rate is 29.1%, or 12 points higher than for civilians the same age. That compares with 8.2% unemployment nationally, and 7.5% for
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As we reported earlier, last month the conservative Georgia Tea Party Patriots united with the progressive Georgia Common Cause group to demand lobbying reform in the state that would require cap the value of individual gifts given to legislators by at $100. The cap is a modest measure as it would still allow lobbyists to
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The eyes of many concerned with the nation’s schools were on Wisconsin this week, as school voucher advocate Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) handily defeated his Democratic proponent, further paving the way for school privatization in his state. But on the West Coast, yet another struggle over the nation’s schools was being fought. In two pivotal state assembly
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Last year, Politico noted that News America/Fox PAC, Political Action Committee of Fox News parent company News Corporation, was slowing down in donations, possibly thanks to overseas scandals. Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time obtained an invitation to Senator Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) “11th Annual Crawfish Fest,” a large fundraiser she puts on. The invitation lists News America/Fox PAC as a
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The Center for International Policy released a new report this month focusing on the nuke lobby — the coalition of defense contractors and former government officials who continue to push for costly Cold War-style nuclear stockpile and delivery systems. Interestingly, the report references a statement by the late Senator William Proxmire, Democrat of Wisconsin, from
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Last month, “Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a decision by the Montana Supreme Court, American Tradition Partnership vs. Bullock, upholding the state’s ban on outside election spending by corporations. The anti-environmental group American Tradition Partnership contends that Montana’s law conflicts directly with the Supreme
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Last week, we reported that Georgia tea partiers and progressives are uniting to demand that state lawmakers sign a pledge endorsing a $100 per-day gift ceiling for lobbyists in their state. Right now, lobbyists can spend virtually anything they want, and sometimes it’s not even properly disclosed. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that more and
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The for-profit college industry includes many schools that are scamming students and taxpayers. The industry accounts for 11 percent of college students but a whopping 44 percent of student loan defaults. Meanwhile, the industry has sucked up billions of dollars of taxpayer money through loans and grants without any proper oversight. The reason it can do
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