OpenSecrets.org Joins Investigative News Network

INN, a network of more than 50 nonprofit, nonpartisans news outlets dedicated to in-depth, investigative journalism, has teamed up with an organization dedicated to tracking and reporting on the influence of money in politics.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/03/opensecretsorg-joins-investigative.html

OpenSecrets Mailbag: Corporate donations, Union influence and more...

http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/04/opensecrets-mailbag-corporate-donations.html

Ohio Voters Have 90 Days To Stop Gov. Kasich’s Anti-Worker Bill

Opponents of the severe bill stripping collective bargaining rights in Ohio need only 6% of voter's signatures to force a referendum in November.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/01/ohio-referendum/

What’s the Worst Thing the Koch Brothers Have Done?

Climate denial? Oil Spills? Anti-worker, anti-healthcare, anti-immigration? Foreclosures? This piece presents a summary of all the greatest hits from the Koch Brothers label.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10517/what’s-worst-thing-koch-brothers-have-done

"Citizens for a Strong America" Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads in Supreme Court Race?

Koch backed group funds an TV ad attack on JoAnne Klopenburg in the Supreme Court battle in Wisconsin. The pivotal election will be held on Tuesday.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad

The Deficit Hawks Are Targeting Nurses and Firefighters

"The wealth redistributed to the top 1 percent over the last 30 years is roughly enough to double the income of all those in the bottom half of the distribution."
http://www.alternet.org/news/150434/the_deficit_hawks_are_targeting_nurses_and_firefighters/?utm_

2nd Try At Sealing Japan Nuke Leak Still Not Working

An update on continuing efforts to contain highly radioactive water from the disabled nuclear power plants at Fukushima. It could take 'months' to these leaks that are continuing to contaminate the Pacific ocean waters near the disaster site. 
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/03/135084751/2nd-try-at-sealing-japan-nuke-leak-still-not-working?ft=1&f=1001

Japan's attempt to plug leaking reactor fails.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/04/20114324417399792.html

Baseball Hall of Fame Opposes Fracking in Cooperstown

The Chamber of Commerce in Cooperstown adopted a resolution against fracking in February, condemning the practice as unsafe and destructive. Now, the Baseball Hall of Fame has made the fight against fracking an official cause of that institution. This is good news for those concerned with the documented hazards of the toxic fracking practice that is compromising drinking water quality around the nation.
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blogs/baseball-hall-of-fame-opposes-fracking-in-cooperstown/

“Like the Chamber of Commerce and virtually every other area business, the Museum concludes that hydrofracking could present an unacceptable risk to the local environment, the economy and the quality of life for both local residents and tourists.”

Collective bargaining law on hold until legislators testify

The restraining order on implementing the collective bargaining restrictions that the GOP is attempting to pass in Wisconsin has be extended by Judge Sumi. It may not be resolved until four Republican legislators named as defendants in the lawsuit testify, but they are claiming immunity.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_ef1b1a0a-5c97-11e0-adcb-001cc4c03286.html

Democrats say goal met in on Kapanke recall in Wisconsin. 
http://www.channel3000.com/politics/27395973/detail.html

Think energy efficiency isn’t working? Think again

A study shows that total energy use in the US is about the same from 1978 to 2005, despite a population increase of 33 percent. With population growth factored in the per capita energy consumption has been dramatically reduced due to a host of conservation and efficiency initiatives.
http://www.grist.org/energy-efficiency/2011-04-02-think-energy-efficiency-isnt-working-think-again

Rightwing think tank subpoenas Michigan professors' emails

The Right clearly has a new agenda: to attack its critics in academia through freedom of information requests designed to silence and intimidate. These tactics first arose in Wisconsin when the GOP there targeted University of Wisconsin Professor Cronon, and now we are seeing the same thing in Michigan as they are going after at least three labor studies faculty from universities in that state.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/02/961424/-Rightwing-think-tank-subpoenas-Michigan-professors-emails?utm_

The Breakdown: Are Antitrust Laws a Thing of the Past?

A transcript of a discussion focused on anti-trust laws and why they are no longer adequate in breaking down monopoly powers. It also turns out, interestingly in this piece, that the American Revolution was driven by opposition to commercial monopolization. 
http://www.thenation.com/article/159629/transcript-breakdown-are-antitrust-laws-thing-past

Telecom-Funded North Carolina House Votes To Gut Cheap And Fast Public Broadband

Time Warner mobilizes its resources to undercut the highly successful Greenlight community broadband service in North Carolina.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/02/telecom-funded-north-carolina/

Crisis? What Crisis? Average Bank Pay Kept Rising at the Same Rate

It doesn't appear that the banking sector has been suffering like the rest of the country since the subprime mortgage crisis triggered the "Great Recession," according to this report from ProPublica.
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/crisis-what-crisis-average-bank-pay-kept-rising-at-the-same-rate

Fukushima update: Frustration, tragedy, heroism and spreading contamination

Greenpeace has done an excellent job following the continuing nuclear disaster in Japan and filed this update on several aspects of the tragedy. It is truly a horrifying situation that continues to get worse with radiation leaking into the ocean and terrible human suffering.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/fukushima-update-frustration-tragedy-heroism-/blog/34060

This photo is of the damaged reactor Unit 3 at the Fukushima nuclear compound, and was taken by an unmanned drone.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/new-photos-from-fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-pla/blog/34057

As Voter ID Laws Spread Across Statehouses, House GOP Telegraphs Anti-Voter Fraud Bill

TMP reports that there are at least 27 state-level Voter ID laws being introduced by GOP lawmakers in what appears to be an effort to reduce Democratic turnout in the next general election. Students in particular are being targeted by restrictions that would deny University-issued Student IDs to qualify voters at the polls in Wisconsin and Ohio, requiring DMV-issued ID instead. 
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/as_voter_id_laws_spread_across_statehouses_house_gop_telegraphs_anti-voter_fraud_bill.php?utm_

Evidence Undercuts Oil Companies’ Argument That Disclosures Would Violate Foreign Laws

ProPublica reports on efforts by Oil and Mining companies to avoid disclosure of their payments to foreign governments as required by Dodd-Frank reforms.
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/evidence-undercuts-oil-companies-argument-that-disclosure-rules-would-viola

Who Blocked the Whistleblower Protection Act?

Apparently the Whistleblower Protection Act was blocked with a 'secret hold' by an unnamed US Senator, and The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch has been trying to identify the politician ever since.
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2011/04/10531/who-blocked-whistleblower-protection-act

Republican attack on unions costing them big with Republican-leaning union members

If the police and firefighter unions threatened by the extremist GOP anti-labor agenda in Ohio under Gov. Kasich (above), join with others to fight for collective bargaining and other labor rights that are being stripped away by Republican legislatures all over the country, it would be a huge boost to the movement to remove the zealots from office.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/01/962378/-Republican-attack-on-unions-costing-them-big-with-Republican-leaning-unionmembers?utm_

Many Conservatives reject the Tea Party's paranoid views...
http://www.alternet.org/news/150431/rift_in_the_right:_many_conservatives_reject_the_tea_party's_paranoid_views/?page=1

Where the Bailout Went Wrong

Neil M. Barofsky was the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program from 2008 and resigned on Monday, the 29th. His assessment is that broken promises by the Treasury Department to protect homeowners and Main Street interests have resulted in the TARP program being nothing more than a handout to the nation's banks. Meanwhile, the biggest banks are 20% larger than before the bailout and control more of our economy than ever. Promises to begin lending again have been broken and the home mortgage modification program was undermined by the preference of banks to foreclose rather than modify troubled mortgages. And, yes, millions of Americans continue to face foreclosures at the hands of the banks that were saved with public funds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/opinion/30barofsky.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Obama and American exceptionalism

Glenn Greenwald argues that the concept of "American exceptionalism" is often applied to various US military interventions, and questions whether the concept is true, well-grounded, and should serve as a premise for actions around the world. 
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/03/29/exceptionalism?utm_