United re:public – a new movement to reclaim democracy

United re:public is a brand new movement with the following motto: "Democracy is Not for Sale." United re:public is comprised of an impressive team, including Josh Silver (former CEO of Free Press) and Nick Penniman (former Executive Director of Huffpo). The group is partnered with Jimmy Williams' group, Get Money Out (which he started with MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan) and Lawrence Lessig's Rootstrikers effort. In short, this is a group with immense potential. Here is an excerpt from the "About" page of United re:public's new (but temporary) web site:

United Republic is a new organization fighting the corrupting influence of well-financed special interests over American politics and government. We welcome the energy and creativity of citizens of all stripes – progressive, conservative and independent – who envision a nation where the needs and ideas of the many aren’t drowned out by the influence of the wealthy few.

We believe our political system is dangerously out of balance. Thousands of lobbyists, billions of dollars in campaign contributions, shadowy political attack groups, and career politicians are distorting the government’s priorities at a time of great national need. We Americans no longer have the government or leadership we need to get the country back on the track of collective prosperity and responsibility. The Wall Street bailouts are the biggest example of this problem.

Making matters worse, recent Supreme Court decisions have not only stood in the way of common-sense reforms of the system but have actually knocked down many of the remaining safeguards against large-scale corruption and cooptation of the political process. What results? The kind of overconcentration of power that our nation’s founding fathers repeatedly warned against.

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Meet the newest vegetable: pizza

The food industry lobbyists have been working overtime, and Jamie Oliver reports on what they have been accomplishing:

A new Congressional bill that looks likely to pass quickly will slow down reductions in sodium by requiring further study on long-term requirements, block whole grains by haggling over the definition, and help pizza stay on the menu by allowing two tablespoons of tomato paste on pizza to keep counting as a vegetable.
Jamie Oliver isn't the only person upset by Congressional corruption:
Many are outraged by these possible last minute changes, including Mission: Readiness, a group made up of hundreds of retired military Generals and Admirals who have been raising alarms about the readiness of our armed forces due to current childhood obesity. Amy Dawson Taggart, the director of Mission: Readiness, recently stated in a letter to politicians: "We are outraged that Congress is seriously considering language that would effectively categorize pizza as a vegetable in the school lunch program. It doesn't take an advanced degree in nutrition to call this a national disgrace.”

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Payday Lenders rule in Texas

Here's one way that deregulation has worked in Texas:

Large corporations that operate payday lenders, many of them based in Texas, have been steady contributors to Perry's political campaigns over the last decade, donating upwards of $200,000, according to Texas campaign finance disclosure statements. In 2004, Perry appointed William J. White, a senior executive of one of the nation's largest payday lending corporations, Cash America International, to a seat on the Texas Finance Commission, which is tasked in part with protecting the state's consumers. Two years ago, the governor elevated White to the chairmanship of that body.

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