Investigating Power
While leaders of both major parties were either celebrating their victories or mourning their losses after the November 5 elections, billionaire Charles Koch racked up a big win in Louisiana when Republican Governor Jeff Landry convened a special session of the state legislature on November 6 — the very next day — to overhaul the state’s tax system.
It’s been a bad year for advocates of ranked-choice voting reforms.
On December 5, right-wing culture warriors instructed lawmakers attending the American Legislative Exchange Council’s States and Nation Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on the steps their states can take to upend policies and practices designed to help address the unfolding climate emergency and diversify workforces.
ALEC state politicians, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives are gathering at the four-star Grand Hyatt Washington to discuss and vote on model policies and resolutions to further climate delayism and preserve the use of fossil fuels, alter state election codes, protect purveyors of misinformation, privatize education, and push their extremist agenda in other ways.
Elon Musk, Richard Uihlein, and Jeff Yass are among the billionaire Republican megadonors who aimed extensive resources at this year’s state court races.
On Election Day, voters in Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska rejected efforts by right-wing school privateers to support and expand school vouchers in their states.
DonorsTrust — the donor conduit favored by the Koch political network — funneled over $152.5 million to MAGA groups, right-wing national and state think tanks and litigation centers, hate groups, youth groups, and more in 2023, according to an analysis of its latest IRS filing obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
In October, the American Academy of Sciences and Letters honored health economist Jay Bhattacharya with an award for intellectual freedom. The professor has been a go-to expert for Republican politicians and right-wing groups working to politicize public health and government efforts to control COVID.
Here at COP29, I had a conversation with Zerin Osho, director of the India Program at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development based in Washington, D.C., about the critical need to address methane and other types of emissions that trap even more heat than carbon dioxide does.
The Americans for Prosperity Action super PAC, bankrolled by billionaire Charles Koch, has spent more than $157 million to influence voters in federal elections in 2024.