Posts from Sludge
Senators Own up to $25 Million in Big Tech Stocks
Senators invested in tech stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Google may soon be voting on antitrust bills that would impact their portfolios.
The Secretive Group Steering the Dems
How did Democrats in the House of Representatives decide that the top House recipient of corporate PAC money should run the tax code-writing committee, or that the top recipient of defense industry cash in their caucus should be in charge of Armed Services? There’s no way to know, because House Democrats have not made public […]
Democrats Have Lost Nine Senate Seats in Close Contests Since 2012
The populist economic message that kept Democratic voter turnout high in this year's Georgia Senate runoffs has largely been absent over the past decade of close losses.
Ascendant Dem Hawk Wants to Pre-Authorize War With China
Virginia Democrat Rep. Elaine Luria, who early this year was elevated within the House Armed Services Committee, wants Congress to pre-authorize President Biden to take military action to defend Taiwan against China. “The president has no legal authority to react in the time necessary to repel a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and deter an all-out […]
Top Democrats Own Stock in AT&T, Funder of Far-Right OAN Network
A recent investigation revealed that 90% of the far-right OAN's funding comes from AT&T-owned platforms.
Four Waste Coal Provisions Manchin Put in the Infrastructure Bill
While he’s been demanding large cuts to the Democratic reconciliation package, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) has consistently urged the House to take up and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill that the Senate passed in August. Many of the business lobbying groups that fund Manchin’s campaigns back the infrastructure bill, but there may be another incentive […]
More and More Medicare Money is Flowing to Private Equity
Recent academic studies have found that private equity investment is rushing in to for-profit healthcare companies, but patients may not benefit.
Oil and Gas Groups Use Facebook to Fight Climate Measures
Oil and gas lobbying groups are reaching new highs in their Facebook ad spending as they organize people across the country to lobby their senators and representatives against climate and tax provisions in the Democrats’ reconciliation bill. Since August 11, when the Senate passed a resolution authorizing itself to fast-track a reconciliation bill, the American […]
Deficit Fears Have Deep History in Corporate-Funded Democratic Party Groups
As corporate-backed Democrats threaten to block the party's reconciliation bill, their talking points draw on support from deficit scold allies among party leaders and well-funded ideological groups.
House to Vote on the Largest Defense Budget in History
House progressives have again introduced amendments to significantly reduce the massive Pentagon budget of at least $768 billion.
Manchin Removes Ethics Provisions From Democratic Reform Bill
The For the People Act passed by the U.S. House in March, filibustered in the Senate in June, contains over a hundred pages of ethics legislation, along with changes to campaign finance laws and election access. All of the government ethics provisions have now been stripped out of the Senate Democrats’ compromise version, the Freedom […]
Neal’s Reconciliation Plan Lets Investment Managers Keep Their Tax Loophole
In 2007, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) was an original cosponsor of a bill that would have closed a tax loophole that lets investment fund managers pay the lower capital gains tax rates on the income they earn from the fees they charge their clients. The capital gains tax rates […]
Democrats’ Budget Plan Would Cost Only Half of One Percent of GDP
The Biden admin's $3.5 trillion spending plan over ten years would have a net cost of $1-1.75 trillion, budget groups say, far less than the Trump tax cuts of 2017.
