Research Cited

In ToxicDocs.org, a Treasure Trove of Industry Secrets

Source: Undark Magazine | Published: 1/10/2018

The project does have similarities to the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents maintained by the University of California San Francisco — an archive of tobacco company advertising, manufacturing plans, marketing campaigns, scientific research, and political activities — as well as The Poison Papers collection, a project of The Bioscience Resource Project and The Center for Media and Democracy that does much the same with the chemical and pesticide industries.

Retribution and Revenge in the Wisconsin John Doe

Wisconsin

Source: Shepherd Express | Published: 1/9/2018

The long running criminal investigation into whether or not Scott Walker and deep-pocketed dark money groups illegally coordinated the expenditure of some $30 million to win the 2012 recall elections should be old news by now. But the Wisconsin GOP is keeping it alive by undertaking a criminal investigation of a 2016 leak of documents to the Guardian newspaper, famous for its publication of the Snowden revelations and the Panama Papers.

Women’s Show 1/4 Begins 2018 with Jessica Mason Pieklo of Rewire; Mary Bottari, of the Center for Media and Democracy

Democracy

Source: WMNF | Published: 1/3/2018

Our constitution stands in the way of unbridled liberty…

Speaking of the well-laid plans developed over the last 30-40 years, our constitution stands in the way of the full realization of unbridled financial liberty. Liberty sounds great unless you are only defining it in terms of private property. There are many behind the scenes who are well on the way to having states call for a constitutional convention. Get out of the way Founding Fathers of 1776. The new founders of liberty circa 2018 want to redefine the parameters of liberty. Remember Dr. Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains, on this show December 14th, warning us? MARY BOTTARI, Deputy Director, Center for Media and Democracy, will update us on the status of this movement. She helped launch CMD’s award-winning ALEC Exposed investigation in 2011 and is a recipient of the Hillman Prize for investigative journalism. She spearheaded CMD’s work on the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. I wonder if there will be any Founding Mothers involved in this?

Documentary Review: “United States of ALEC” Remains a Timely and Informative Film

ALEC

Source: The Cascadia Advocate | Published: 1/1/2018

Since ALEC does not list their corporate members on their site, it is hard to know who exactly is currently a member, but here is the best list that I could find, as compiled by The Center for Media and Democracy’s SourceWatch.

Edison Electric Institute Tries to Rebrand Demand Charges

Environment

Source: pv magazine | Published: 12/20/2017

This week a joint report of the Energy and Policy Institute and the Center for Media and Democracy says utilities are trying to rebrand “demand charges”, which charge solar customers rates based on their highest consumption time (often a 15-minute or hour-long interval out of an entire month’s worth of consumption), to “efficiency rates” to slip them past public utilities regulators who have rejected “demand charges” in the past.

The Far-Right Campaign to Destroy Our National Monuments

Bradley Files, Environment, SPN

Source: The Nation | Published: 12/20/2017

The Sutherland Institute is also a member of the State Policy Network, or SPN, an association of state-based think tanks and advocacy groups that the Center for Media and Democracy describes as “the tip of the spear” of a “nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party.” SPN and its member groups have together received large cash contributions over the years from corporate interests and conservative billionaires, including the Donors Trust, Donors Capital Fund, the Bradley Foundation, and the Scaife Foundations.

Scott Walker Crushes Wisconsin Democracy to Advance Koch Brothers’ Agenda

ALEC, Democracy, Koch

Source: The Cap Times | Published: 12/12/2017

“All of the bills (enacted by those states) are closely tailored to model measures being promoted by the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force,” reported the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy. “Funded and controlled by large corporations, including Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, telecom, and tobacco companies, ALEC has supported a balanced budget amendment since 1995 and renewed its push for a constitutional convention in recent years, publishing an Article V convention handbook for legislators and hosting numerous strategy sessions.”

Koch-Backed Business Group Splinters in Climate-Change Dispute

ALEC, Democracy, Koch

Source: Bloomberg | Published: 12/8/2017

In addition to model legislation mirroring Trump’s executive order requiring two regulations be repealed for every new one, ALEC also is considering a resolution recommending that Congress repeal the 17th amendment, adopted over 100 years ago to allow citizens to directly elect their U.S. senators instead of state legislators.

…

“It’s a new radically reactionary proposal that came up in this new period of Trump-dom,” said Lisa Graves, a former Justice Department attorney who launched the Center for Media and Democracy’s “ALEC Exposed” program in 2011. “This certainly seems to be evidence of them feeling emboldened to embrace an extreme counter-democratic measure.”

Think Tank Worked to Control Arizona School Voucher Program Behind Scenes, Emails Show

ALEC, Education, Koch, SPN

Source: AZCentral.com | Published: 12/7/2017

Lisa Graves, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration, said groups like Goldwater succeed in spreading their ideas because they access funding and expertise beyond the reach of everyday citizens. Graves heads the Center for Media and Democracy, which investigates the activities of conservative political non-profits.

Goldwater, which as a non-profit is not required to disclose the sources of its funding, took in about $4.3 million in 2015 and spent about $5.6 million on salaries, legal expenses, advertising, lobbying, fundraising and other expenses, according to the group’s most recent disclosures.

Graves said elected officials increasingly allow special-interest groups with which they’re ideologically aligned greater say in policymaking — far more than the voters who elect them.

Graves said Goldwater’s communication with state officials shows “the taking away (of) the power of ordinary people to influence policy, and to really, truly have oversight of programs that are being pushed by these really, very narrow special interests.”

GOP Angles for More Campaign Cash, Less Disclosure

Economy

Source: Moyers & Company | Published: 12/7/2017

Last week Senate Republicans passed a tax bill that hands massive tax breaks to corporations and the rich at the expense of low-income and middle-class Americans. Written behind closed doors with the help of 6,000 lobbyists and rammed through before anyone could read it, the bill offers Christmas presents for special interests, like eliminating a tax that private jet owners have fought the federal government over and tax breaks hedge-fund managers living in the Virgin Islands. And it sets the stage for a sweeping attack on the New Deal and Great Society reforms of the past century that built America’s middle class.