Corporations

The Occupation Is On The Move, Find a Big Bank Protest Near You

U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone used to say "sometimes you have to pick a fight to win one."

Now Occupy Wall Street has picked one, right in Jamie Dimon's backyard.

But it won't stay contained in Zuccotti Park. While Brookfield Properties called the park a "public sanctuary" in 2005, they have apparently changed their minds. Mr. Zuccotti wants his park back and the police are preparing to clear it with new rules barring camping, sleeping and breathing.

They are too late. The train has left the station and the Occupation is on the move. From Manhattan to Hawaii big bank protests are planned. Everyone who cares about creating an economy that works for working people should get on board.

"We are the 99%," but the 1% Buy Elections, Reports Show

As the "Occupy" protests spread across the country with the slogan "we are the ninety-nine percent," two reports released this week demonstrate how the top one percent are playing an increasingly outsized role in American elections.

"I can't afford my own politician"The New Yorker reports on a conservative multimillionaire's successful efforts to buy North Carolina's elections, and a report from campaign finance reform groups describe how an elite group of donors have laundered unlimited contributions to presidential campaigns. Much of this influence was made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and anger over corporate influence in politics is helping fuel the populist uprisings in Manhattan, D.C., and around the country.

Wisconsin Becomes Part of Gas Industry's Land Grab

The methane gas industry is snapping up land across the United States, and it's not only regions with gas reserves its after. Part of the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," which has become big business in the nation, requires a fine silica sand. The sand is most easily accessible in the state of Wisconsin, which means the industry is looking to scrape the Midwestern state of it's rolling hills by extracting its sand. This new scramble for sand mining has local residents concerned about the health and environmental impacts on their communities.

The industry of sand mining is booming along with the national increase in "natural" gas drilling. The industry is touting methane gas as a "bridge fuel" to wean the nation of its petroleum addiction, but the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing has citizens up in arms because the process leaks harmful toxins into the nation's water supplies -- and the overall process of methane gas drilling is just as dirty, if not dirtier, than using petroleum.

Food Rights Network Interviews Food & Farm Hero John Kinsman

In the world of food and farming, the contrast between corporate agribusiness "farms" and small, sustainable family farms -- farms that, to adapt a phrase of Michael Pollan's, our grandparents would recognize as food-producing places -- is especially clear. Among the farmers who live and work in these places, the CMD's Food Rights Network is featuring some of the heroes: farmers who are making an incredible difference in the farming community, on our dinner tables and in the world around them.

U.S. House Passes ALEC-Inspired TRAIN Act

On September 23, the House of Representatives passed the American Legislative Exchange Council-inspired "Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act" and forwarded it to the Senate.

Koch-owned Georgia-Pacific plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Courtesy of the Capital Times.On September 8, the Center for Media and Democracy reported on House Majority Leader and ALEC alumnus Eric Cantor pushing ALEC's federal agenda vis-a-vis the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). On September 13, we reported on the heavy funding of ALEC alumni like Cantor and Speaker of the House John Boehner by corporate members of ALEC.

Synagro's Shiny New Patina

Synagro protest in DetroitSynagro Technologies is the latest big corporation trying to ditch a scandal-ridden past by re-branding itself. In an August 10, 2011 press release, the company announced it is launching a new website as part of a "rebranding initiative." The press release says the initiative "is a reflection of the enhanced and growing service and solution offerings that have resulted from organic growth and recent acquisitions." Of course, the press release fails to mention the back-to-back scandals that have plagued Synagro since 2008 as well as earlier controversies.

Synagro is in the business of marketing sewage sludge as "compost," or, as the company's new, PR-approved website puts it, "Transforming natural waste challenges into sustainable, planet-friendly solutions." The company is a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group, the largest private equity firm in the world. Carlyle is also a sizeable part of the military-industrial complex with ties to numerous national politicians, including former British Prime Minister John Major, Alice Albright (daughter of former Secretary of State Madelyn Albright), and both George W. and George H.W. Bush.

Join Us For a Special Screening of "Hot Coffee" Tonight in Madison With The Filmmaker!

We are joining the Wisconsin Association for Justice to welcome filmmaker Susan Saladoff for a special screening of her powerful and illuminating documentary, "Hot Coffee." It's about how corporations are distorting the truth and the law to limit the rights of people hurt by corporations. We think it is a must-see film!

If you've been following our reporting on the American Legislative Exchange Council, you know that the first bill ALEC alumnus Scott Walker signed into law this year was far-reaching, so-called "tort reform" legislation that echoed some key ALEC model provisions and limited the rights of Wisconsin citizens injured or killed by corporations. Recent ALEC award winner Rick Perry, Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate, is touting similar changes he signed into law that protect corporate wrongdoers at the expense of injured Americans.

Business Leaders Call for Election Spending Transparency

Saran wrapExecutives from major American corporations are calling for greater transparency in election spending, alleging the shadowy, secretly-funded groups that spent hundreds of millions on the 2010 elections are distorting the democratic process. Groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, they say, will spend an increasing amount in future elections and political scandal will follow. Meanwhile, Wisconsin leaders promote even greater election secrecy.

Health Care Reform Opponents Winning the PR War

The Kaiser Family Foundation just released the findings of its annual survey of businesses to determine how much the cost of employer-sponsored health coverage has gone up. There were some unexpected findings.

Expensive health careOne was that the average cost of annual premiums for family coverage is now more than $15,000. The 9 percent increase in the cost of health insurance over last year caught many people by surprise because it represented a bigger hike in premiums than in recent years.

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