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Recent Articles from PRWatch.org

Bradley Foundation Funnels Millions to State Policy Network Groups Earlier this summer, CMD exposed the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, a $800 million tax-exempt "charitable" organization pursuing a highly partisan game plan: funding an "infrastructure" on the right that benefits the Republican Party, while at the same time attempting to defund labor unions, "a principal funding pillar of the left" and a key supporter of the Democratic Party. Bradley effectuates this agenda by funding the $8.9 million American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and its sister organization, the $80 million State Policy Network (SPN). The two groups have been linked since the beginning. SPN's predecessor, the Madison Group, was launched by ALEC in the 1980s at the Heritage Foundation, where ALEC was also housed. Read the rest of this item here. State Policy Network Attacks Public Sector Workers as Waters Rise in Texas The remnants of Hurricane Harvey generated devastating floods in South Texas and Louisiana. While the Texas State Association of Firefighters and the Houston Police Officers Union and countless other public workers were working night and day on search and rescue -- and a fleet of union nurses started to arrive from around the country -- a little know ally of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) met in rain-soaked San Antonio to plan an attack on public sector workers nationwide. The $80 million network of state "think tanks" and other right-wing organizations known collectively as the State Policy Network (SPN) held its annual meeting in San Antonio with Koch operatives, corporate donors, and ALEC staff to coordinate an assault on American unions. SPN is bankrolled by many of the same companies as ALEC and receives funds from the Charles G. Koch Foundation. What else is SPN planning to do while the impacts of this historic and catastrophic flood is still being felt? Why roll back renewable energy and promote the interests of their fossil fuel funders, of course. Read the rest of this item here. Tough Trade Talk Fades as Trump and Pence Toe the Koch Line When he was running for president, Donald Trump had very harsh words for deals like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the then-pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He called NAFTA "the worst trade deal in the world" and "a total disaster." He said it had caused "carnage," lumping it in with other "terrible" trade deals like the TPP, which he also called a "disaster." Trump withdrew America from the pending agreement upon taking office. But his administration is now resurrecting much of that deal's most troublesome provisions. Read the rest of this item here.