Investigating Power
The Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and its “aligned” donor advised fund funneled a total of $86.4 million to right-wing litigation outlets, national and state policy groups, media outlets, youth groups, and higher education in 2022, according to an analysis of its most recent IRS filings obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
The rightwing subversion of U.S. democracy is closer than you think.
State lawmakers, corporate lobbyists, and right-wing operatives got together in Scottsdale, Arizona last week for the 2023 States and Nation Policy Summit hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The summit — one of the largest annual gatherings of the ALEC faithful, along with the summer meeting — caps off ALEC’s 50th anniversary year.
CMD guest contributor Alex Carlin reports on his observations at the United Nations climate conference.
Americans for Prosperity Action PAC, an outside super PAC largely bankrolled by industrialist Charles Koch and a handful of wealthy donors, has spent $972,000 to date running digital ads and mailing messages to voters warning that, despite his loyal base, former President Donald Trump is not electable in the 2024 presidential race.
Charles Koch contributed $52.6 million in grants to colleges and universities through his Charles Koch Foundation in 2022, an analysis of the personal foundation’s latest IRS filing obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy found.
On October 11, St. James Parish in Louisiana approved giving Koch Industries an 80% property tax break on a $150-million expansion of its local methanol plant, which will save the company $5.9 million over the next decade.
To hide their identities from public scrutiny, megadonors used the Koch political network’s favorite conduit, DonorsTrust, to funnel $134 million to groups promoting the Right’s culture wars and spreading climate misinformation, Trump’s big lie, and hate, as indicated in IRS filings obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy.
A new report by Greenpeace USA details the widespread coordination between the public and private sectors to monitor activism, punish protesters both physically and legally, and grease the wheels for proposed anti-protest bills that criminalize civil disobedience.
In early October, a Florida state senator introduced legislation to repeal the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law allowing individuals to use deadly force in self-defense outside their homes. Florida was the first state to enact such a measure, and in the 18 years since its passage, studies have shown that more Floridians are dying because of it.