Media

The new film, Promised Land, focuses on an energy company’s attempt to secure leases for fracking operations in a small rural community. The gas industry reacted stronglyto the film distributing counter fact-sheets and considering leafleting movie viewings or setting up “truth squads” on Twitter.

Last year, in 2012, the U.S. government spent about $841 billion on security -- a figure that includes defense, intelligence, war appropriations, and foreign aid. At the same time, the government collected about $1.1 trillion in individual income taxes. (And about $2.4 trillion in revenues overall if you include payroll, corporate, estate, and excise taxes.) 

Bank of America yesterday padded its lead over other mega-banks in the aggregate amount of settlements paid out over the last three years by announcing two multi-billion dollar agreements in a matter of hours. Since the end of 2008, it has incurred $43.5 billion in payouts, an amount that exceeds the annual GDP of Lithuania, an admittedly small but industrious nation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) commitment to consider a proposed rule to require disclosure of corporate political spending, the Corporate Reform Coalition will hold a press call on Tuesday, January 8th at 9:30 am to discuss this positive development, share expert analysis, and urge the agency to move swiftly to complete the rule-making this year. 

As my colleague David Callahan discussed here last week, the current issue of The Atlantic includes an article written by Frank Partnoy and Jesse Eisenger entitled “What’s Inside America’s Banks.” The authors make the point that the financial health of the big banks is, at best, obscure because of the inadequacy of financial statement disclosure. This is, without doubt, an accurate criticism of the mega-banks that dominate the financial system.

For every five workers who were hired in the past three months, one was laid off by government. 

The public sector lost another 13,000 jobs in December, bringing the post-recession job loss total for federal, state, and local governments to more than 600,000. Those job losses — many of which have hit teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials — have had a devastating impact on the economic recovery.

Given his long record of climate advocacy, John Kerry’s nomination for Secretary of State is a sign that climate change may receive more attention in the second Obama Administration. In addition to co-sponsoring a cap-and-trade bill in the Senate, Kerry made it a point in his presidential campaign to deride the Bush Administration’s lack of belief in climate change.