Accountability | Maine
Analysis: Susan Collins’ Special Interest Fundraising Has Potential to Undermine Re-Election Campaign
According to a review by American Ledger, Senator Susan Collins is relying on outsized donations from special interest groups -- such as Wall Street and the fossil fuel industry -- to fuel her reelection campaign, despite decades-long trumpeting of herself as an independent voice for Mainers.
In her 2019 second quarter filing, Collins received less than 5%, or $98,000, of her itemized fundraising from Maine itself, while pulling in large contributions from special interests such as Wall Street financiers, to the tune of over $300,000. In total, Collins received nearly $400,000 from Wall Street, the pharmaceutical industry, and the fossil fuel industry -- three of the most powerful special interests in Washington -- over the 90 day reporting period.
Accountability | Virginia
Bill DeSteph Held a Fundraiser at a Men’s-Only Club with a History of Anti-Semitism and Racism
In June 2019, Bill DeSteph, a State Senator representing Virginia’s 8th district, held a fundraiser in a club which has a sordid history of denying admission to women, Jewish and black Americans.
The fundraiser, tabbed at $125 per person, was hosted at the historically all-male Commonwealth Club in Richmond, Virginia, which was originally founded by former Confederate military officers.
Accountability | North Carolina
NC Republican Gubernatorial Hopeful Dan Forest Endorsed Racist Supreme Court Justice
In a closed-door fundraiser on Tuesday, Paul Newby, a North Carolina Supreme Court Justice endorsed by Lt. Governor Dan Forest, echoed Trump’s line of racist remarks on four U.S. Congresswomen of color, saying “I will buy you a ticket to leave. I mean just leave.”
Newby’s remarks came just one day before Donald Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, where he was met with chants of “send her back,” in reference to his high-profile attacks on freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar this week, the first Somali-born American in history elected to U.S. Congress.
Accountability | Louisiana
Analysis: Ralph Abraham Bests Bobby Jindal’s Absenteeism, Misses Record Number of Votes During Louisiana Gubernatorial Bid
Republican candidate for Louisiana Governor Ralph Abraham missed more votes in Congress in 2019 than even fellow Republican Bobby Jindal did in the same time period during Jindal’s campaign for Governor in 2007.
Between April 2019 and June 2019, Abraham, who is currently a U.S. Congressman representing Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, missed 55.4% of all Congressional votes, placing him in the 99th percentile in absences for all members of the current U.S. House of Representatives.
Accountability | Virginia
Virginia State Sen. Amanda Chase’s Controversial Comments on Sexual Assault Cap Off Long Record of Opposing Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Legislation
Virginia State Sen. Amanda Chase recently took to her Facebook page to blame women who have been raped for not carrying private firearms, stating “It’s those who are naïve and unprepared that end of [sic] raped.”
Chase, who represents Virginia’s 11th District, made the comments one day before she heralded herself a champion of women, stating that she believed every woman had a right “to protect themselves.”
Health Care | Pennsylvania
Despite Campaign Promises, President Trump Aims to Gut Funding From Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid for Pennsylvania Families
During his campaign for president in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump repeatedly stated that, if elected, he would not make cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, essential healthcare and retirement programs utilized by tens of millions of low-income and senior Americans every year.
“I’m not going to cut Social Security like every other Republican and I’m not going to cut Medicare or Medicaid,” Trump said in 2015.
But for all his promises, that’s exactly what President Donald Trump is trying to do.
Economy | Pennsylvania
Hundreds of Pennsylvania Workers Laid Off by Companies While CEOs Reap Rewards of Trump Tax Bill
Three companies with operations in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, laid off hundreds of workers since the start of 2018, sending jobs out of the country and closing plants while paying their CEOs multimillion-dollar salaries.
An analysis by the American Ledger shows that the tax cuts passed by the then-Republican Congress and signed by Trump in 2017 gave executives a boost but squeezed middle-class workers in this county, centered around Wilkes-Barre in the Pocono Mountains.