Posts from Sludge

In many states, new congressional maps are being drawn up to help the political parties that control the legislatures win more federal seats by packing people who vote for the opposing party into a single district or splitting them up widely to dilute their power. But in a state like Massachusetts, where the vast majority […]

Have you found solicitations in your inbox from scammy-seeming political groups that you never signed up for? There are many ways these groups may have gotten your email—campaign finance data shows dozens of obscure data brokerage companies like Fluent LLC and Preferred Communications that get paid millions to rent lists to political campaigns and PACs. […]

The Build Back Better Act is in limbo in the U.S. House, with Democratic leaders delaying a vote on the bill on Friday, casting doubt over the fate of provisions added back into the plan that would curb prescription drug costs. In a dramatic late-night decision, Speaker Pelosi allowed a vote on the bipartisan infrastructure […]

Republican Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel posted a tweet over the weekend engaging in the identity politics around values like self-reliance and family.  We’ll have to take his word on his meat, gun, and baby, but we can check his financial holdings, and according to his candidate financial disclosure filed with the Senate on August […]

Senators invested in tech stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Google may soon be voting on antitrust bills that would impact their portfolios.

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 […]

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.

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 […]

A recent investigation revealed that 90% of the far-right OAN's funding comes from AT&T-owned platforms.

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 […]

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 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 […]

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.