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AT&T Is the Top Corporate Donor to the Texas Abortion Ban Co-Authors
This week, a Texas bill took effect that bans physicians from performing or inducing an abortion if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, something that typically occurs about six weeks after conception. There is an exception for medical emergencies, but no exceptions for women who have been raped or are victims of incest. Most women […]
General Electric Gets Billions in Defense Contracts While Reps Hold Its Stock
Texas Republican Michael McCaul owned up to $6 million in G.E. shares as he sits on the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees.
Cattle Rancher Cynthia Lummis Wants to Deregulate Meat Inspection
Earlier this year, Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) became an original co-sponsor on a bill to declare that meat and poultry from all state-inspected slaughterhouses can be shipped throughout the country to be sold by grocery stores. Under current law, only meat and poultry from federally-inspected plants and facilities in a handful of states whose inspection […]
Despite Claiming to Divest, Ro Khanna’s Wife Held Onto Some Defense Stocks
In December 2020, Ritu Khanna, the wife of Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), divested from several weapons companies after Sludge published an article revealing that her fortune included defense contractor stocks worth as much as $376,000. The stock sales were celebrated by the anti-war group Code Pink, which had run a campaign calling on Khanna to […]
The Roadblocks to Banning Congress From Trading Stocks
It’s no shock that most members of Congress, over half of whom are millionaires, don’t want to stop themselves and their spouses from being allowed to trade corporate stocks and derivatives while they hold public office. Just 8 percent of the House and 3 percent of the Senate are co-sponsoring bills to ban congressional stock […]
U.S. Has Worst Health Care Despite Spending the Most On It
Half of lower-income Americans face cost barriers to healthcare access, according to a new report.
Pro-Israel Super PAC Prevails in Ohio Primary
Democratic establishment favorite Shontel Brown defeated progressive Nina Turner and several other candidates in a Democratic Ohio special election primary on Tuesday night, virtually guaranteeing her a seat in Congress. Brown received 37,666 votes, while 33,420 people cast their ballots for Turner. Turner, a former delegate to presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, raised more than twice […]
Congress Won’t Stop Trading Stocks
Researchers studying congressional stock ownership have found that the practice has effects on lobbying activity and potentially on market movements.
Corporate Giants Mum on Chamber’s Lobbying Against Voting Rights Bill
As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spends big on lobbying against the For the People Act, some member companies earned low grades on a new voting rights scorecard.
Paul Pelosi Invests in Alphabet as Congress Weighs Breaking Up Big Tech
Days before the House of Representatives took its first votes on legislation to break up big technology companies, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi exercised a call option and bought 4,000 shares of stock in Google parent Alphabet, worth nearly $5 million. The Alphabet investment was disclosed this morning in a periodic transaction report […]
Feigning Shock Over Lobbyist Comments, ExxonMobil Continues Funding Climate Denial Groups
ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Darren Woods said yesterday he was “shocked” that one of the company’s lobbyists was caught in a Greenpeace sting video saying that the company is being disingenuous when it publicly claims to support policies like a carbon tax to address climate change.
Fossil Fuel Industry Lobbied Against Pipeline Cybersecurity Regulations
In the years before the Colonial Pipeline incident, the company’s trade group lobbied the government against mandatory cybersecurity regulations.
Kerry Cashes in on Oil and Gas Stocks
The climate czar sold his fossil fuel stocks on March 11, collecting as much as $825,000 from them.