We have some hot stories on key Senate races and other stuff for you. But first, please check out something new we’re cooking up with our friends: Brick House Cooperative, a wolf-proof home for independent media, built and owned exclusively by journalists. We’ve just reached our base goal on Kickstarter, but there are still a couple days left to sign up for access while getting exclusive deals and rewards. Other journalists involved come from sites you may recall like Gawker, Deadspin, The Village Voice, and The Awl.
At Sludge, we took a look at a key race that could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate next year. Incumbent Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina is slightly trailing his Democratic challenger in most polls, but he’s starting to get crucial campaign support from industries like banking that he has done legislative favors for throughout his career. Read up on this hugely important race, and make sure to follow Sludge on Twitter (or sign up for email alerts when we publish) as we continue tracking the money influencing November elections.
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Bank Lobby’s Pro-Tillis Ad Follows Legislative Favors from the Senator
Starting this week, North Carolina TV viewers may notice a flattering new ad spot about their Republican U.S. senator, Thom Tillis, who is facing a competitive re-election fight this November against Democrat Cal Cunningham.
The ad, which is paid for by banking industry lobbying group the American Bankers Association (ABA), praises Tillis for supporting the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
What the ad doesn’t say is that Tillis helped to get two ABA-supported deregulatory provisions added to the CARES Act, helping banks boost their profits during the pandemic.
Read more→
NBA Partner AT&T is No Friend of Black Lives Matter
AT&T is one of a handful of brands whose ads have been consistently displayed on screens around and above the court at games in the NBA bubble in Orlando. In February 2019, AT&T and the NBA agreed to a multi-year marketing partnership.
While defunding the police is a goal of many Black Lives Matter activists, police foundations exist to raise money from private donors like AT&T in order to supplement police departments’ budgets and allow cops to acquire controversial items like military-grade weapons.
Read more→
Ohio GOP Leader Co-Wrote Bailout Bills With Lobbyists for Energy Companies Behind Alleged Bribery Scheme
The Ohio state legislature made headlines recently for dramatic federal indictments in a bribery scheme that resulted in the passage of a $1.3 billion bailout for two nuclear energy plants owned by electric company FirstEnergy. The emergency bailout, which also weakened the state’s renewable energy goals, was described by climate journalists as “the worst energy bill of the 21st century.”
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Chris Coons’ Support of Corporate Immunity Could Benefit His Private Equity Donors
For months, Democrats and Republicans have been at an impasse on the next coronavirus stimulus bill, with one of the big sticking points being a GOP plan to immunize companies against lawsuits. “No bill will pass the Senate without liability protection for everyone related to the coronavirus,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in July. Democratic leaders have called the idea a nonstarter and said they will oppose it.
But the Democrats are not without defectors. Corporate-friendly moderate Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who holds Joe Biden’s former Senate seat, was among a small group of Democrats that in May called for corporate immunity, which The Hill described as “a crack in Democratic unity that gives Republicans and the White House some leverage.”
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Trump Admin Did Little to Prevent PPP Fraud, New Report From House Dems Concludes
In several cases that have received heavy press attention, small business owners who said they needed money from the government to stay afloat during the economic downturn have been busted for falsifying information after being caught using the money to purchase luxury items including multiple Lamborghinis.
The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus reviewed data on the millions of PPP loans that were given out and found tens of thousands of loans that appear to be suspect, as well as evidence that the administration has not put in place basic measures to prevent people from abusing the system.
Read more→
Congressional Leaders Are Raising More Dark Money Than Ever Through Their Super PACs
Through the first half of this year, the two super PACs affiliated with Democratic congressional leaders have already raised more dark money than in 2018 and previous cycles, with the Senate arm, affiliated with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), showing a particularly marked increase, according to Sludge’s review.
On the Republican side, the super PAC affiliated with House GOP leaders, through June, has nearly matched the amount of dark money it received in the 2018 election, putting it on pace to exceed last cycle’s totals.
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DNC’s Flip-Flop on Fossil Fuel Subsidies Follows Deep Ties the Industry
The Democratic National Committee quietly dropped from its party platform language calling for an end to subsidies and tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, HuffPost reported last month. The language had been added to the platform in error, a DNC spokesperson told HuffPost.
Through its large donors, its law firm, and the oil and gas industry lobbyists it has put in top positions at the DNC, Democratic Party politics remains deeply entwined with the fossil fuel industry.
Read more→
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