Why do we criticize people for doing what they were hired to do? Take Thomas J. Donohue, for example. Day after day the poor guy gets pummeled by Washington non-profits and mainstream media for doing his job. He’s out there challenging healthcare reform; suing the SEC to stifle the regulation of financial markets; lobbying Congress […]

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Is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, like the NRA, an ancillary to the Republican Party? Consider.

At this point in the 2016 election cycle, the nation’s most powerful corporate lobby has spent $9,013,702 in support of Republicans and $7,639,325 in opposition to Democratic candidates.

The largest recipient of chamber cash has been Senator Pat Toomey, the Pennsylvania Republican in a dead heat with his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty. The chamber has contributed $1,908,300 to Toomey, and put $1,797,950 into a campaign attacking McGinty.

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In 1976, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter squared off for the first presidential debate since Nixon and Kennedy high-mindedly locked horns. The campaign, to that point, had bogged down in childishness. Carter gave an interview to Playboy in which he affirmed that he had “committed adultery in my heart many times.” Thereupon, he was greeted at every stop on the campaign trail with signs like jimmy carter for playmate of the year and smile if you’re horny. Ford’s agriculture secretary told a dirty joke about black people, and that consumed half a dozen news cycles. Then, on September 23, all those voters pining for something high-minded amid the morass settled down for a serious discussion of the issues.

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Heroin and prescription painkiller addiction is rampant throughout the United States; in many parts of the country, it’s difficult to find someone who hasn’t been touched by the epidemic. The crisis has particularly affected low-income communities, but a recent wave of opioid-related deaths of celebrities, including Prince and Philip Seymour Hoffman, shattered any illusions that opioid addiction only hits people of a particular class or region.

Even politicians have taken notice. Throughout the presidential campaign, addressing opioid abuse has been a rare issue with bipartisan support.

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This past week, two 9/11-themed promotions became fodder for the hungry internet outrage machine. In San Antonio, a mattress retailer aired an ad for a 9/11-themed promotion. “What better way than to remember 9/11 than with a Twin Tower sale?” asks an enthusiastic woman in the local television spot. “Right now you can get any […]

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