Category Archives: Campaign Finance

Government for Sale — Podcast February 13, 2012

Government for Sale: The Wholesaling of Political Influence. Democratic Perspective co-hosts Michael Cosentino and Steve Williamson discuss the proliferation of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. and in our statehouses., and what they are buying with their employers’ money. https://verdevalleyindependentdemocrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/DemPerspective-02-13-12.mp3Podcast: Play in … Continue reading

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Government For Sale.

On February 13th, Democratic Perspective co-hosts, Steve Williamson and Mike Cosentino continued their series on the influence of money in politics. They began by listing a few eye-opening statistics: $3.5 billion is spent on lobbying each year. (And that’s just … Continue reading

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Following the Money: PACs and Their Effects — Podcast January 23, 2012

Following the Money: The Influence of Political Action Committees on Our Politics and Legislation. Democratic Perspective’s co-hosts, Mike Cosentino and Steve Williamson, look at Political Action Committees (PACs) — what they are, who funds them, and what kinds of distortions … Continue reading

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Shadow Government.

Democratic Perspective continued its series about the use of political front groups as a way of hiding corporate contributions in order to subvert the political process. This week, we looked at ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC’s website calls … Continue reading

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Dark Money, Part 2. Corporate Money Disguised As Free Speech.

This week, the Democratic Perspective co-hosts, Steve Williamson and Mike Cosentino, continued their discussion of dark money and the effects of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. As a reminder, dark money is the anonymous and largely-unregulated money spent on electoral politics through … Continue reading

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Dark Money and the Lack of Political Accountability — Podcast November 28, 2011

Dark Money and the Lack of Political Accountability: Democratic Perspective co-hosts Steve Williamson and Mike Cosentino talk about last year’s Citizens United 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision, and its effect on American politics. Since that decision, a host of … Continue reading

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