Media

It’s no secret that some very rich people support the super PACs and other groups that have inundated the 2012 campaign with unlimited sums of cash. But a study to be released Thursday details the extent to which this kind of donating is the sport of the One Percent.

Outside spending organizations have fast become a favored tool for wealthy individuals and interests to drown out the voices of average citizens. 

Oklahoma is suffering through an extended heat wave with temperatures topping 100 degrees or more every day since July 18th. The heat is so bad that it’s starting to melt street lamps in Stillwater. As the state suffers from extreme heat, its senior senator remains one of the leading climate deniers.

Amid all the attention to Ted Cruz's senate primary victory in Texas, few seem to have stopped to ask an obvious question:

Can Cruz really be seen as the face of a younger, more diverse GOP when his victory is yet more evidence of the conquest of that party by a Tea Party fueled by the reactionary anger of older white conservative hardliners?

Ted Cruz may speak like a Tea Partier, but he certainly doesn't look like one. According to a CBS News poll taken in 2010 of Tea Party supporters:

Equality is a funny thing in America. For the most part, Americans don't fret that much about economic inequality and yet are said to believe deeply in civic equality -- the idea that everyone should have an equal say in our democracy and be treated the same under the law, no matter how high or mighty they are.

We tend to think it's okay that Bill Gates has a bazillion dollars. But we don't think he should be able to buy politicians or buy his way out of trouble with fancy lawyers.

WASHINGTON – Unlimited outside spending fueled by a small number of wealthy donors is poised to have an outsized impact on the 2012 elections, according to the latest campaign filings.  

This Thursday August 2nd at 11am, national public policy organizations Demos and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) will hold a press call to announce the major findings from the new report “Million-Dollar Megaphones: Super PACs and Unlimited Outside Spending in the 2012 Elections.” 

Back in March, I wondered why states would willingly lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually to Internet sales tax. After all, the amount of money left on the table is staggering:

In a presidential campaign of substance, one great question that the candidates -- and nation -- could debate is this: How much does economic success stem from individual initiative and talent, versus the collective support offered by society?

If individuals are all-important, smaller government and fewer public supports might make sense. But the opposite is true if it is society that structures opportunity.