Jamie Leigh Jones is an American who was gang raped by her co-workers while working for a defense contractor in Iraq. Her employer tried to cover up the rape and prevent her from filing charges in court – by forcing her to use a private arbitrator chosen by the company....

It's that time of the year again. Every quarter, just as the FEC reporting deadlines approach, politicians go on a mad scramble for last-minute donations.

You've probably gotten email and direct-mail solicitations already.

My reform organization Change Congress would like to give you a civic-minded reason to just say "No."

I'm with my family for some time away, but I wanted to write and share some exciting news.

This week, Change Congress scored a major victory against U.S. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) after he fell victim to what I call "Good Souls Corruption" -- good people trapped in a...

Change Congress launched its second "good souls corruption" attack yesterday, this time against Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. (Two Dems in a row; we'll be more balanced next time.) The attack has excited an hysterical response from the Senator's office. Read about the charge (here) and...

This is an insanely long review of Mark Helprin's book, Digital Barbarism (HarperCollins 2009) (Note: if you buy from that link, Creative Commons gets the referral fee). You can download a PDF of the review here.

Exactly two years ago today, the New York Times published...

If you're unsure how to vote your Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and other proxy ballots, see how organizations and people you trust, like Ed Begley, Jr., Ceres, Pride Foundation, Responsible Endowments Coalition, Responsible Wealth/ United for a Fair Economy, or The Nathan Cummings Foundation, recommend...

If you think special-interest influence in Congress perverts our public policy, last week saw an outrage that vindicates that belief entirely.

Sen. Dick Durbin offered a bill that would allow families at risk of losing their homes -- but with an ability to pay their mortgage if their monthly rates...

Yesterday, politicians across the country scurried to call big campaign contributors, begging for last-minute cash before the quarterly reporting period ended at midnight.

Also yesterday, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced their groundbreaking bill to replace special-interest-funded elections with citizen-funded elections for Congress, so our representatives can...

As we all know by now, insurance giant AIG sparked national outrage by paying more than $165 million in executive bonuses after receiving a $170 billion taxpayer bailout.

What fewer people know is that AIG gave more than $9 million in campaign contributions to Congress -- making OpenSecrets.org's list...

Mr. Conyers says I "cross the line." He says I label his motivations for introducing this bill as "corrupt," that I accuse him of "shilling," and that I "dismiss" his bill as nothing more than a "money for influence scheme." On the basis of this "one piece of legislation,"...

Thursday morning's Wall Street Journal reported:

Industries from health care to agribusiness to mining that stand to lose under President Barack Obama's policy agenda are ramping up lobbying campaigns to derail or modify his plans.

... Opinion polls indicate that Mr. Obama's broad goals enjoy popular support....

On Monday, The Huffington Post broke an eye-opening story about special interests trying to buy influence in Congress. I wanted to give an update.

First, for those who missed it, recipients of our taxpayer-funded bailout money such as Bank of America and AIG joined anti-union activists and corporate executives...

You can't make this stuff up. Breaking news from The Huffington Post:

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on...

Do sex, campaign money, and Change Congress's new "donor strike" go together?

According to U.S. News & World Report, they do. Here's an excerpt from their story, "Sex, Campaign Money, and Cleaning Up Politics":

Don't like how our politics are paid for? Some people who agree...

Last week I posted at the Huffington Post, starting a dialogue about how to fight corruption in Congress. Hundreds of people wrote in with thoughtful comments, but almost everyone agreed on one main truth: that the political system is broken by too much money from special interests, and not...

As many of you know, I've turned my central focus away from the issue covered in my recent books - the Internet and "free culture" - and turned it instead toward combating corruption in Congress.

I did this because we all have issues that we care about most, but...

These bailouts are an awful idea -- the worst of K St. capitalism (== kapitalism) inviting an insanely bad future for the industries affected. If there's one thing worse than Detroit managed by the managers who have been driving the American auto industry into the ground for the past three...

Though "change" is the dominant rhetoric of this presidential campaign, everyone realizes that fundamental reform can't come from a president alone. If there are problems in the way Congress now works, for example, no president can fix those problems alone. Any fix would require the cooperation of the very institution...

"DON'T DO THIS!" a friend wrote, a friend who never uses allcaps, a friend who cares genuinely about what's good for me, and who believes that what's good for me depends in part upon how easily I can talk to the next administration. "He is NOT going to win. She...