Latest from the Center
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October 28, 2008
A Curious Process for Valuing Land in Loudoun County
Officials in one of the nation’s fastest growing counties defeated a plan to purchase nearly 100 acres of land, at a cost of more than $200,000 per acre, from the largest developer in the county after the Center for Public Integrity reported that the developer was simultaneously claiming the land was worth only about $35,000 per acre for tax purposes.
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September 30, 2008
Global Warming: Heated Denials
Stand-up comedian Tim Slagle was on a roll. In a lunchtime routine tailored to 400 conference attendees, Slagle was killing ‘em with jokes about, well, global warming.
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September 18, 2008
Two-Party Debates
On the night of September 30, 2004, few of the estimated 62.4 million viewers watching President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry square off on national television likely took any notice when moderator Jim Lehrer announced, “These debates are sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.” Many voters tuning in for arguably the most important 90 minutes of the race probably didn’t know what the Commission is, either: a largely secretive tax-exempt organization, created and run by former chairmen of the two major parties, funded by a small group of unidentified major donors, and designed, it seems, to exclude nearly all third-party candidates.
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September 12, 2008
World Wide Web of Pesticides Can Endanger Consumers
Termites? No problem. On DoMyOwnPestControl.com, $64.99 buys a 20-ounce bottle of Termidor SC. That’s enough for anyone with a credit card and a shipping address to make 24 gallons of anti-termite spray. Never mind that the manufacturer, BASF Corporation, authorizes only licensed exterminators who have undergone a special training program to handle the pesticide, according to the product’s website.
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September 10, 2008
Mixing Oil and Politics Is Formula for Newt’s “Solutions”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich isn’t running for president this year, but due to a gusher of support for his campaign to promote opening up more offshore areas to oil drilling, he’s chairing the election season’s hottest conservative advocacy group.
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September 02, 2008
The Millionaire’s Media Megaphone
Rich people live lives that most everyone else can only imagine. They can buy the nicest cars, drink the finest wines, afford the best doctors, and secure the highest priced lawyers. But when it comes to making donations to their favorite presidential candidates, they are like ordinary Americans in that the most they can donate is $2,300 per election cycle. Still, there is another way that only someone with megamillions can influence an election: buy a newspaper, radio network, or cable channel and use it to help a candidate get to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
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August 20, 2008
Commentary: The Broken Campaign Finance System: An American Political Tradition
When Mark Hanna stepped in as a fundraiser for William McKinley’s 1896 reelection campaign, he took the unprecedented, if notorious, approach of tapping into a network of wealthy business leaders and “assessing” how much they owed the campaign. For that reason Hanna is often credited with being the first to incorporate big money into American politics – a legacy that would define presidential politics into our own day, especially now amid the nation’s first multi-billion-dollar presidential election campaign.
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August 11, 2008
The Billion Dollar Election: Parts One and Two
The BBC Radio World Service's Steve Evans examines independent expenditure committees and the buying of ambassadorships in a two-part documentary series based on the Center for Public Integrity's The Buying of the President 2008.
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August 11, 2008
Checkbook Diplomacy
In October of 1969, Vincent de Roulet, the newly appointed ambassador to Jamaica, arrived in Kingston aboard his 90-foot yacht, soon to be joined by 17 of his race horses. Wealthy by birth as well as by marriage (his wife was a Whitney), the 44-year-old dilettante had no experience in international diplomacy, his résumé instead boasting a variety of club memberships, horse-racing activities, and board service for various Long Island hospitals.
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August 01, 2008
A Gallery of Skeptics
Chris Horner Read more
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