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this week in Tarbell
Patients aren’t expected to understand the intricacies of the operation they are undergoing. But they should at least understand how experienced their surgeon is, columnist Trudy Lieberman writes.
ICYMI: Some of the darkest money in Washington is coming from trade organizations, hiding their influential investments behind inconspicuous tax return descriptions like “advocacy”, “consulting” and “programs”. Check out last week’s investigation, reported with partners from Maplight and The Intercept, on Tarbell.org.
Notable Investigations and Solutions
A former attorney for ICE became a whistleblower when she realized the system she once knew so well was changing into something she couldn’t recognize. She and ProPublica soon discovered that ICE was making judgments about immigrants’ ability to stay in the US without sufficient, or any, evidence.
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While Democratic presidential candidates are still developing and pitching their plans for health care reform, the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future is deploying hundreds of thousands of dollars in TV, Google and Facebook ads to deter cries for “Medicare For All.”
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Not all IT industry lobbyists want to be caught supporting the Big Four tech companies as they face increased scrutiny for violating privacy and becoming this century’s industrial titans.
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Were you not able to get your $125 compensation from the Equifax data leak? Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging FTC to probe whether they were in fact misleading the public in the settlement
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Citizens United President David Bossie launched a poll to get Corey Lewandowski a Senate seat representing New Hampshire, making a special effort to gain the endorsement of President Trump.
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The new player in America’s lobbying field is soccer: US Soccer hired two prominent lobbying firms to fight a bill that would make compensation equitable across men’s and women’s leagues.
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This week, TIME releases an in-depth look at how — and why — the CEO of Kentucky-based aluminum firm curried favor of Russian investors linked to the investigation for manipulating US elections.
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Book Review: Maplight reporters this week highlight Kochland, the new investigative book by Christopher Leonard, which shows how the aligned with a Democratic-leaning corporate group to work against globalization efforts.
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Spotlight on Local Reporting
The EPA walked back its opposition to a controversial mining operation in Alaska after President Trump met with Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and EPA scientists were shocked but powerless to oppose the project that would harm one of the world’s most valuable salmon fisheries.
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Strong opposition from Connecticut’s chemical industry lobby has already killed a bill to control highly toxic PFAS chemicals that result from industrial processes and firefighting foam, succeeding even after a massive PFAS spill into the Farmington River in June.
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Reporters in Delaware noticed a sharp uptick in lobbying on state health care issues, with industry group Delaware Healthcare Association outpacing all contenders, particularly as the Senate is reconsidering the limits of the ACA.
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Editorial: The Los Angeles Times’ Editorial Board highlights how California public utility company, Southern California Gas Co., has been running an “astroturf” campaign to evade watchdog scrutiny, after massive gas leaks and mistakes in recent years.
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