Lobbying

The news that “dozens” of House lawmakers are under scrutiny by ethics investigators — reported last night by The Washington Post — will likely stir a small storm in Washington, particularly on an otherwise quiet Friday when Congress is out of town.
Yet few details contained in the leaked document are new (which makes some sense [...]

Reid called the insurers’ anti-trust exemption “anticompetitive and damaging to the American economy.”

What seemed like a clear path ahead was upstaged by the health care battle.

Pro-immigrant religious groups with about 700 members from nine different states plan to rally this afternoon on the West Lawn of the Capitol to press for immigration reform.
Immigrants, including veterans fighting deportation, will speak at the event, as will Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), who, with House and Senate allies, will set out key principles of [...]

The American Association for Justice — the trial lawyers’ lobby group — has just released an astounding statistic:  medical malpractice insurance companies’ average profits are higher than those of 99 percent of Fortune 500 companies.
As the nation remains mired in a debate over health care reform and how to keep down the costs of expanding [...]

Alexandra pointed out here last week that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), newly promoted to head the Senate Agriculture Committee, has been raking in the dollars from Big Ag this year, tallying at least $306,500 in the past eight months alone, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That figure puts her well above anyone else [...]

Here’s their joint statement released following this morning’s Supreme Court argument in Citizens United v. FEC:
It is important to note that the case reargued today does not affect the core of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law – the ban on large, unregulated donations to the political parties by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals. Nonetheless, at [...]

Here’s Scotusblog’s Lyle Denniston’s take on this morning’s argument in the campaign finance case Citizens United v. FEC:
If supporters of federal curbs on political campaign spending by corporations were hoping that Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., would be hesitant to strike down such restrictions, they could take no [...]

Brenda Wright, Director of Democracy Program at Demos, has posted some insights at the American Constitution Society’s blog on the big campaign finance case, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, to be argued before the Supreme Court tomorrow. Here’s her take:
Overruling those cases would mean that corporate political spending no longer needs to be funded [...]

Arn Pearson, vice president for programs at Common Cause and host of a live Web chat on the Supreme Court case being argued tomorrow, Citizens United v. FEC, just noted that the fact that the Supreme Court is even hearing the argument tomorrow is a bad sign for both campaign finance reform and anyone concerned [...]