Don’t buy into whatever Conservatives for Lower Health Care Costs is trying to sell you on

Big Pharma Windfall – Conservatives for Lower Health Care Costs

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Jon Tester Lost Senate Race And They’re Still Running Negative Ads Against Him

The ads trace back to a group called Conservatives for Lower Health Care Costs (CLHCC), which is registered in Delaware by the Corporation Trust Co. in Wilmington, Delaware. That company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer, a multi-national information services company based in the Netherlands with operations in more than 35 countries.

David Feider, a spokesman at Wolters Kluwer, said in an email that the company serves as the registered agent “for literally hundreds of thousands of businesses across the country.”

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Political Footprint of the Military Industry

For over two decades, the military industry has consistently spent more than $100 million per year lobbying policymakers to influence policies and spending decisions that support its financial interests. In addition to these lobbying expenditures, the industry contributes tens of millions of dollars to political candidates and committees each election cycle. The sheer scale of this spending buys significant political influence, and the data suggests that this approach is paying off.

Political Footprint of the Military Industry

Did The Defense Industry Really Give More To Bernie Sanders Than Any Other 2020 Candidate?!

Despite his frequent votes against defense bills, Senator Bernie Sanders has collected more presidential campaign contributions from defense industry sources than any other candidate, including Donald Trump. That’s according to data on 2020 funding at the OpenSecrets.org website, which is sponsored by the Center for Responsive Politics.

[12-2019] Defense Industry Gives More To Bernie Than Any 2020 Candidate (originally published at American Conservative)

Links to “Amy Klobuchar”, not “Bernie Sanders”?! According to OpenSecrets, Joe Biden received the most from the MIC. Donald Trump came in second, with Bernie Sanders in third place. OpenSecrets doesn’t distinguish between employers and employees!?*

H/T: Stephen Gardner’s interview with Winslow T. Wheeler

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*Top 20 Recipients (Joe Biden and Donald Trump):

METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs and individuals giving $200 or more.

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“They’re going to call you socialists anyways”: Progressives slam 109 Dems for backing GOP stunt

“They’re going to call you socialists anyways”: Progressives slam 109 Dems for backing GOP stunt

Here’s what this is really about: More and more members on the other side of the aisle are calling for cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and many have referred to these programs as “socialism” throughout their existence. The other night in the Rules Committee they showed their cards. Republicans refused an amendment to declare that Social Security and Medicare is not socialism. This resolution is little about intelligent discourse and everything to do about laying the groundwork to cut Social Security and Medicare.

‘Socialism’ for me, but not for thee?!

The FTX Collapse Is Also a Huge Campaign Finance Scandal

Sam Bankman-Fried was set to testify before Congress on Tuesday, but before he could appear, he was arrested in the Bahamas. Not surprisingly, most of the charges he’s facing involve allegations of fraud related to the collapse of FTX, his crypto-trading platform. But a federal indictment unveiled Tuesday also accuses SBF—a prolific political donor who cultivated relationships with politicians and policymakers—of campaign finance violations.

The FTX Collapse Is Also a Huge Campaign Finance Scandal

Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation in the Arms Industry

Pentagon Profiteers: Executive Compensation in the Arms Industry

Another way to understand the size of CEO compensation at the big contractors is to look at how many jobs would be created if that $287 million were spent on something else. The answer is that spending that money on productive activities would create thousands of jobs: 2,812 jobs in clean energy or infrastructure; 4,104 jobs in health care; and 4,362 in education, calculated using data on the jobs impact of government spending generated by Heidi Peltier for the Brown Costs of War Project.

NDAA: Comparing votes with campaign contributions

Comparing votes with campaign contributions

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