Where is the Money Going?
Forget Super PACs; Big Campaign Financing is Coming from “Social Welfare” Nonprofits
Move over super PACs and make way for the “social welfare” organizations.
As hyped and deep-pocketed super PACs are, their spending power was eclipsed during the 2010 election, according to the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for ... read more
Defense Contractors Whine about Bill Limiting Executive Pay and Helping Small Businesses
Lobbyists for large defense contractors have complained that Congress is trying to make life difficult for them by limiting how large their six-figure executive salaries can be and how much government business they can hog.
In the Senate ver... read more
Federal Sub-Contractors: Beware of the Big Guys
Doing business as a small government contractor has distinct vulnerabilities, like getting used and tossed aside by bigger contractors.
In a survey by American Express, almost 30% of small contractors said they had been victimized by bait-an... read more
Why are Americans Growing Obese? Blame Richard Nixon and Earl Butz
Americans are overweight and getting fatter, probably because they are sugar addicts. From 1971 to 2000, obesity rates in the United States more than doubled, from 14.5% to 30.9%, and today about 68% of U.S. adults are overweight and 33.8% are o... read more
Grieving Dad Is Hounded for Repayment of Dead Son’s Student Loans
Francisco Reynoso has been in a world of hurt since the death of his son. Not only has Reynoso grieved the loss of Freddy Reynoso, but he’s also suffered an onslaught of bill collectors seeking repayment of the son’s college loans.
When Freddy... read more
Which Corporations Profit from Food Stamps?
In these tough economic times, millions of Americans have leaned heavily on food stamps. This government assistance program also has done well by some of the country’s biggest banks and corporations.
An investigation by the advocacy group Eat ... read more
UCLA, A Public University, Privatizes Its Business School
Fed up with state budget cuts to its university, UCLA’s business school has decided to forego public financing and become a privately-funded institution of higher education.
The switch to private financing was all but certain after UCLA’s Ac... read more
Northrop Grumman Gives VP Half Million Dollar Bonus before He Goes to Work for Congress
Before taking a pay cut and going to work for Congress, executive Thomas MacKenzie received a hefty bonus from his soon-to-be former employer, Northrop Grumman. In his new position on a key House committee, MacKenzie advises lawmakers on whether... read more
Mitt Romney in the Vanguard of the New World of Super PAC Campaigning
Mitt Romney’s success in capturing the Republican presidential nomination can be attributed in large part to his embracing the super PAC concept more effectively than his GOP rivals. Doing so also has given him a key advantage over his target for ... read more
28% of Federal Contract Funds Go to Just 10 Companies…All Make Weapons Systems
If this is the age of budget cutbacks and government austerity, someone ought to tell the Pentagon and its weapons contractors, because they haven’t gotten the memo about shared sacrifice. According to a summary of the top federal contractors pr... read more
$70 Billion in Allocated Federal Funds Still Unspent
A report released by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) asserts that about $70 billion appropriated by Congress have gone unspent, becoming, as the report title states, “Money for Nothing.” Coburn’s office cites numerous examples of cases in which ... read more
Wall Street CEOs Got 20% Raises Last Year…Did You?
Even though the majority of the top firms on Wall Street did not perform well in 2011, their chief executives enjoyed a collective 20% raise.
As part of its annual ranking of top salaries, Bloomberg Markets found the compensation of CEOs of ... read more
Is Money Wasted on Nuclear Weapons being Driven by Lobbyists?
Twenty years since the end of the Cold War, the United States spends $31 billion a year on its nuclear arsenal. This costly commitment continues to this day largely because companies that make such weapons spend millions of dollars lobbying key ... read more
Salaries of Female College Grads Stop Growing at Age 39; Males at 48
Women earn less money than men in the workforce as a general rule. They also peak at a younger age, it turns out, in terms of salary growth.
According to the company PayScale, college-educated women on average reach their pay ceiling by age ... read more
Why are State Taxpayers Subsidizing Big Budget Films and TV Shows?
State officials have been lining up like kids outside a theater box office, spending more than $1 billion to coax Hollywood to film movies and television shows in various states.
Forty-three states currently offer subsidies to production com... read more
Energy Department Criticized for…Wasting Energy
The Department of Energy (DOE) wastes too much energy, and could see great improvements at very little cost, according to an Inspector General report released May 25. DOE IG Gregory Friedman audited energy usage at the agency’s approximately 530... read more