Financial Transparency Coalition

This week North Korea released an inflammatory new propaganda video showing President Obama and United States troops in flames. The video then credits America’s “gangster-like policy of hostility” for the country’s decision to become a “strong military power” and conduct its latest nuclear test. Like many other North Korean propaganda videos, this one also blames the nation's overwhelming poverty—including chronic food shortages—to the imperialist bullying of America. Although the video and its sentiment is far from new—North Korea has been releasing such propaganda for years—the implications of this one are a little more pressing this time around. That’s because North...

President Obama’s State of the Union address this week included an impassioned argument for a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction; meaning that spending cuts should be coupled with revenue increases. Many Republicans disagree—arguing we should cut spending while leaving taxes at their current rates. The bright line between taxes and spending is, in fact, not so bright. One obvious example is tax expenditures—government spending through the tax code, also called loopholes. In some ways tax expenditures are good; for example, they can be used as incentives to encourage corporate and private behavior that provides a social benefit. On the other...

On January 22nd, 2010, the day after the Supreme Court ruled on the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, Americans knew elections in our nation would never be the same. Although no one was really sure exactly how. In the landmark 5-4 decision, the court ruled that, under the First Amendment, the government could not restrict independent political expenditures from corporations, non-profits, and unions. In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that allowing unlimited corporate money to flood the political marketplace would corrupt our democracy. We might not all agree with the contentious Citizens United decision, but it is...

The last blue moon occurred on August 31st of 2011 and we won’t enjoy another until 2015. In the meantime, the Senate has fulfilled its duty to introduce truly bipartisan legislation on a hot button political topic exactly once. I’m talking about the Senate’s immigration reform plan—which this week a group of senators from both parties unveiled and President Obama promptly endorsed. One key element of the Senate’s plan is a provision which stipulates that illegal immigrants would not be able to become American citizens until the U.S. government takes action to adequately secure the border. Of course, this brings...