Taco Bell Lobbyists Thank Congressional Staff With 6,000 Tacos
Taco Bell franchise owners have an agenda. Congressional staffers have an appetite.
Lee Fang
Lee Fang is a journalist with a longstanding interest in how public policy is influenced by organized interest groups and money. He was the first to uncover and detail the role of the billionaire Koch brothers in financing the tea party movement. His interviews and research on the Koch brothers have been featured on HBO's "The Newsroom," the documentaries "Merchants of Doubt" and "Citizen Koch," as well as in multiple media outlets. He was an investigative blogger for ThinkProgress from 2009 to 2011, and then a fellow at the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute and contributing writer for The Nation.
In 2012, he co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog to cover political corruption that syndicates content with TheNation.com, Salon, National Memo, BillMoyers.com, TruthOut, and other media outlets. His work has been published by VICE, The Baffler, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive, NPR, In These Times, and the Huffington Post. His first book, "The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right," published by the New Press, explores how the conservative right rebuilt the Republican Party and its political clout in the aftermath of Barack Obama's 2008 election victory. He is based in San Francisco.
In 2012, he co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog to cover political corruption that syndicates content with TheNation.com, Salon, National Memo, BillMoyers.com, TruthOut, and other media outlets. His work has been published by VICE, The Baffler, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive, NPR, In These Times, and the Huffington Post. His first book, "The Machine: A Field Guide to the Resurgent Right," published by the New Press, explores how the conservative right rebuilt the Republican Party and its political clout in the aftermath of Barack Obama's 2008 election victory. He is based in San Francisco.
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Lobby Firm Behind Major Super PACs Accused of Illegal Kickback Scheme
Clark Hill, a legal and lobbying firm that manages many of the largest Super PACs in the country, including the Jeb Bush group known as Right to Rise, is accused of engaging in an illegal kickback scheme with one of its clients, according to a recently filed lawsuit.
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough Pleads "Guilty" on Failing to Cover TPP Trade Pact
MSNBC TV personality Joe Scarborough pled "guilty" to not giving the major Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal enough coverage when I spoke to him about the issue over the weekend. I caught up with the <em>Morning Joe</em> cohost at the First in the Nation conference in Nashua, New Hampshire, a gathering of potential Republican presidential candidates and local activists.
GOP Hopefuls Divided on Cotton Claim That Attack on Iran Would Be Over In "Several Days"
Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina and John Kasich say Tom Cotton's wrong; Ted Cruz, John Bolton and Mike Huckabee say he's right.
Sony Emails Show Industry Execs Pushing for Trade Deal
Broadcast media has not devoted much air time to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, an agreement that will greatly impact 40 percent of the global economy, but hacked emails from Sony reveal that media industry executives have been engaged in active discussions about the agreement behind closed doors.
Former Dem Senator Chris Dodd Advised Execs to Give to GOP: "Fundraising Does Have An Impact"
The former senator, now a movie industry lobbyist, wrote that "while loyalty to a person and/or party is admirable, we also need to be smarter about being supportive of those who are and will be in positions to make decisions that affect this industry."
Prison Labor Company Features Promo Video Touting "Best-Kept Secret in Outsourcing"
Searching for the "best kept secret in outsourcing," one that can "provide you with all the advantages" of domestic workers, but with "offshore prices"? Try prison labor!
Agency Overseeing Obama Trade Deals Filled With Former Trade Lobbyists
They used to work for Chevron, British American Tobacco, General Electric, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Adobe; now they're allegedly working for us.
Addressing Mortgage Banker Lobbyists, GOP Senator Mocks Elizabeth Warren
Speaking to a friendly gathering of the Mortgage Bankers Association on Tuesday, freshman Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., mocked his colleague Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., suggesting that she wants to eliminate all risk from the economy.
Lobbyists for Spies Appointed To Oversee Spying
Intelligence industry insiders are taking key staff positions and seats on Congressional intelligence oversight committees.