Money In Politics
Two forces drive politics: People and money. For good or for naught, money plays an important role in the political climate of the South, and tracking it has never been more important.
What 'social welfare' nonprofits are trying to influence NC elections?
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May 17, 2013
The recent media scandal over revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups has sparked debate about how groups spend money to influence politics --...
Art Pope back in glare of national spotlight
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May 15, 2013
NOTE: Posting will be light this week as the Institute for Southern Studies moves to its new offices at MDC in downtown Durham. We'll resume regular daily posting next week....
North Carolina: A banana republic for dirty energy interests?
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May 3, 2013
Clean energy opponents turned to dirty tactics this week at the North Carolina legislature to advance a bill repealing the state's groundbreaking renewable power program.
In...
INSTITUTE INDEX: Buying the courts in North Carolina?
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April 26, 2013
Year in which North Carolina launched a voluntary public financing program for judicial elections: 2004
Percent of candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals who...
INSTITUTE INDEX: Follow the drone money
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March 8, 2013
Date on which U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) launched a talking filibuster protesting John Brennan's appointment as CIA director, and raising concerns about the Obama...
Big corporations put up seed funding for Republican dark money group
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February 18, 2013
By Justin Elliott, ProPublica
Some of the nation's biggest corporations donated more than a million dollars to launch a Republican nonprofit that went on to play a key role in...
Watchdog asks Gov. McCrory to disclose value of Duke Energy stock holdings
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February 14, 2013
Following a Facing South report that found North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) holds significant amounts of Duke Energy stock, a watchdog group sent him a letter asking him to...
Will Gov. McCrory help his friend Duke Energy capture the N.C. Utility Commission?
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February 13, 2013
This is a critical moment for North Carolina's energy future, as a packed public hearing held in Raleigh this week showed -- and there are growing concerns that the politician...
Art Pope still funding climate disinformation
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February 6, 2013
As North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's budget director, Art Pope will help make important fiscal decisions for a state facing serious threats due to climate disruption, from...
Obama's flip-flops on money in politics: A brief history
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February 4, 2013
By Justin Elliott, ProPublica
When President Obama told supporters that he would morph his campaign into a new nonprofit that would accept unlimited corporate donations, the...
Watchdogs dig up troubling questions about federal loan guarantees for Southern Co. nuclear reactors
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January 31, 2013
Three years ago, the Obama administration offered the biggest federal loan guarantee deal it's promised to date for an energy project, committing over $8.3 billion in taxpayer...
Big Money in NC: Outside groups unleashed $14.5 million in state races
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January 25, 2013
When the 2012 elections ended with big wins for Republicans in North Carolina, it was already clear that Big Money -- especially money from outside spending groups -- played a...
Citizens United at Three: The fight for democracy continues
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January 21, 2013
Besides being Inauguration Day and the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, today also marks the three-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, in which...
Amid North Carolina anti-labor campaign, public workers score union win
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January 17, 2013
North Carolina is already the least-unionized state in the nation, with a union membership rate of only 2.9 percent and a ban on collective bargaining by public employees. And if...
VOICES: ALEC leads attack on North Carolina clean energy with Duke Energy funding
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January 15, 2013
By Connor Gibson, Greenpeace
Corporate polluters are taking aim this year at states with renewable energy laws, starting with an attack on North Carolina's clean energy...
Cabinet of Controversy: N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory’s 5 most dubious appointments
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January 11, 2013
Pat McCrory was sworn in as North Carolina's new governor in a private ceremony on Jan. 5, becoming the first Republican in 20 years to hold the state's top office. He...
Home builders lobby weakens drywall legislation
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January 8, 2013
By Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica
Last week, federal lawmakers trumpeted the passage of the Drywall Safety Act of 2012 as a bipartisan victory for thousands of homeowners harmed by...
Big Tobacco has a ball in NC
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January 8, 2013
This week, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory is ringing in the new Republican administration with a series of events including a Gala Presentation and Inaugural Ball -- events that...
Art Pope's path to power
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December 21, 2012
Three years ago, Art Pope was one of North Carolina's biggest political donors and orchestrated a well-funded conservative network.
But despite his undeniable influence, he...
How dark money helped Republicans hold the House and hurt voters
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December 21, 2012
By Olga Pierce, Justin Elliott and Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica
In the November election, a million more Americans voted for Democrats seeking election to the U.S. House of...
INSTITUTE INDEX: The big money behind Big Gun
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December 21, 2012
Amount the National Rifle Association, the leading U.S. gun-rights lobbying group, spent on the 2012 election: $18.6 million
Factor by which that exceeded spending by the leading...
Four years after Tennessee tragedy, politicians are blocking federal oversight of coal ash
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December 21, 2012
This Saturday, Dec. 22 marks four years since a massive coal ash impoundment collapsed at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston power plant in eastern Tennessee, sending...
Art Pope rides again
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November 21, 2012
In the 2010 mid-term elections, Republicans won control of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time in over a century -- and Republican mega-donor Art Pope could...
Big Money plays big role in North Carolina elections
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November 14, 2012
When asked how he won the race for North Carolina governor in 2012, Republican Pat McCrory has repeatedly boasted to the national media that it's because he ran a "clean...
Did Big Money really lose this election? Hardly.
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November 9, 2012
After the most money-drenched elections in history -- with close to $6 billion spent on the 2012 presidential and Congressional races alone, by one estimate -- big donors and the...
