Special Interests

Federalist conservatives love shifting power from the federal government to states because they believe that the closer government is to its citizens, the more responsive it is to those citizens. They could not be more wrong.

As one of the U.S. Senate’s most endangered Democratic incumbents, Claire McCaskill knows she’s a top target of the new conservative super PACs th...

Senior government officials are ignoring a White House directive that requires disclosure of key documents in the federal rulemaking process, thus hiding the potential influence of special interests on the writing of government regulations.

On Wednesday, when it wasn’t clear if the Legislature would give Gov. Rick Scott a win and overhaul Personal Injury Protection auto insurance to his...

Coal-fired power plants and the pollution they produce are the number one threat to our public health and the environment. This is not an issue of jobs versus the environment. It's an issue of the American people's public health versus a narrow special interest.

This story is not new, but it's such a perfect encapsulation of the Washington establishment that it's still worth looking at.

To nullify special interest involvement in the drafting of bills, Congress should change its internal rules so that all votes on amendments and procedure are done by secret ballot, and all votes on passing laws are public and recorded.

Mary and Wayne Barrett debate what bin Laden's demise says about Obama -- no more 97 pound weakling! -- and about W and torture. Then, should Dems duplicate Rove's secret money machine?

The problem with today's budget bill is that legislative language was slipped into a massive appropriations bill to eliminate Free Choice Vouchers. One lobbyist called the move "an Early Easter gift."

The battle of Wisconsin is about the principle of whether everyday people have the right to sit at a bargaining table and have a say about their wages, their working conditions, and their jobs.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and the Republican leadership want to place elections even more squarely into the hands of corporate interests, their political action committees, and their lobbyists.

From the shadows, a "non-party" has emerged called the No Labels, claiming to be comprised of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. The other 63 p...

Faced with myriad difficult issues, the American electorate in November turned to candidates who promised to miniaturize the size of government. This ...

Having an elected judiciary simply doesn't work. As I have written before we need merit selection. An elected judiciary isn't free to make the tough...

What a difference two years make. In 2008, President Obama swept into office on a platform of hope and change. All across America, there was a groun...

Superman fights for 'truth, justice, and the American way.' I may be the voice of Superman in cartoons but in real life I am an everyman and, like you, I can use my voice to fight for the very same things. Vote.

Sure, lots of us are frustrated by the economy, the war, and lack of progress in Washington, D.C. But there's too much at stake to stay home on electi...

Last week, as special interests continued to pour secret donations into front groups supporting Republicans, we asked the obvious question: "What do they expect in return?" Today we found out they're already drawing up the plans.

If Democrats want to hang onto their seats in November, they would do well to define this election in terms of the middle class and small business versus the billionaires and big corporations, and to use John Boehner as a poster child for the party.

Until we address the lingering problem of campaign finance, change in other important areas will continue to be hamstrung by the donors whose interests are best served by the current status quo.

Interest groups are spending five times as much on the 2010 congressional elections as they did on the last midterms, and they are more secretive than...

Voters in battleground districts strongly favor legislation that would let congressional campaigns be funded by the public, according to a new survey ...

Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy you're seeing is actually a Republican or just dresses like one? ...

We have a system that does not reward who gets the most and best legislation passed. Our system rewards the congressman who raises money most effectively.