Tag Archives: lobbying

Unbreaking America: focusing on popular nonpartisan state ballot initiatives to build momentum for national anti-corruption legislation

By Mark | March 19, 2019

I have issues with the nonpartisan political action group RepresentUs. I don’t like, for instance, that, at their upcoming “Unrig Summit” in Nashville, their speakers are going to include the likes of Tulsi “I’ never met a dictator that I didn’t like” Gabbard, Howard “I want to run as an independent even if it means […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Uncategorized | Also tagged 2020, American Anti-Corruption Act, campaign financing, Citizens Redistricting Commission, corporatocracy, Donald Trump, Election Day, ethics, For the People Act of 2019, gerrymandering, get the money out of Washington, Hillary Clinton, Howard Schultz, Jennifer Lawrence, Jill Stein, Michigan, Mitch McConnell, money in politics, Nina Turner, nonpartisan, populism, Proposition 2, redistricting, RepresentUs, rigged system, threats to Democracy, Tulsi Gabbard, Unbreak America, Unrig Summit, vote the bums out, voter suppression | 47 Comments

Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort receives 7.5 years in prison, and faces additional time in New York, which would not be subject to pardon

By Mark | March 13, 2019

Like a lot of folks, I was kind of pissed off last Thursday, when U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III, of the Eastern District of Virginia, chose to disregard sentencing guidelines that would have put Donald Trump’s incredibly corrupt former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, behind bars for 19.5 to 24 years, and instead just […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Amy Berman Jackson, collusion, conspiracy, conspiracy against the United States, Cy Vance, Donald Trump, House Judiciary Committee, indictments, Jerrold Nadler, Kevin Downing, Matthew Whitaker, Michael Cohen, money laundering, New York, obstruction of justice, pardons, Paul Manafort, perjury, Robert Mueller, Russia, Russiagate, sentencing, sentencing disparities, T.S. Ellis, Trump Tower, Ukraine, unregistered foreign agent, Viktor Yanukovych, witness tampering | 93 Comments

The new, young, and hopefully-more-effective face of American gun reform

By Mark | February 19, 2018

Quite a bit has happened over the past few days, since we first learned of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 people dead. While it doesn’t look as though the 19 year old killer had connections to a white nationalist hate group, as was first reported, it […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Alfonso Calderon, assault weapons, assault weapons ban, automatic weapons, background checks, blame the victim, call to action, Cameron Kasky, Christin Yared, Christine Yared, collusion, David Hogg, Donald Trump, Emma Gonzalez, FBI, Florida, gun control, gun reform, gun violence, high school, inaction, inspiration, Make America Great Again, Mar-a-Lago, March for our Lives, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, National Rifle Association, National School Walkout, Nikolas Cruz, NRA, obstruction of justice, Parkland, protest, Republic of Florida, Russia, Russiagate, school shooting, second amendment, speaking truth to power | 109 Comments

Democrats make significant gains, as voters indicate an abandonment of Trumpism

By Mark | November 7, 2017

Had former Enron lobbyist Ed Gillespie won Virginia’s gubernatorial race today, you can be certain that prospective Republican candidates everywhere would have taken notice and done their best to follow the same script… recreating themselves, as Gillespie did, in the image of Trump, talking nonsensically about hispanic gangs, confederate monuments, kneeling football players and sanctuary […]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Archie Parnell, Christ Hurst, Danica Roem, Donald Trump, Ed Gillespie, ENRON, fear mongering, Georgia, Greg Gianforte, gun control, Jon Ossoff, Kim Guadagno, Montana, New Jersey, Phil Murphy, prayer, Ralph Northam, Rob Quist, South Carolina, tax reform, transgender, Virginia | 62 Comments

Michigan ranks dead last in accountability and transparency according to new nationwide study

By Mark | November 9, 2015

According to a report just issued by The Center for Public Integrity, Michigan not only receives a failing grade when it comes to accountability and transparency, but, according to the data, we’re less accountable and transparent than every other state in the entire union. Following is a clip from their report on Michigan, followed by […]