To mark Friday’s anniversary of a court decision that allowed corporations to sink millions into politics, Common Cause, a reform group, is asking the Department of Justice to investigate alleged conflicts of interest involving two Supreme Court justices – in hopes of forcing the court to vacate the 5-4 ruling. Common Cause officials and at least one legal expert acknowledged the difficulty of getting the landmark case overturned in this way. Common Cause President Bob Edgar cites appearances by Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Antonin Scalia at retreats sponsored by Koch Industries, a corporation run by two major Republican donors who helped finance some of the new GOP groups founded after the ruling. The Common Cause petition asserts. “It appears both justices have participated in political strategy sessions, perhaps while the case was pending, with corporate leaders whose political aims were advanced by the decision,” In addition, Common Cause argues that Thomas should have recused himself because his wife was the founder of Liberty Central, a conservative group funded with a small group of anonymous donors who endorsed candidates in about a dozen 2010 races. In the midst of all this, the notorious Koch Brothers’ names keep emerging with alarming regularity. It's all there on the Common Cause website. commoncause.org
Unless you actually saw the billboard you wouldn't know about this story. A billboard in Portland, Oregon with a new ‘Rethink Alberta’ tourism ad against the Alberta oil sands has drawn ire on the part of industry insiders. Alberta's provincial travel agency says the ad campaign failed, but of course as of now, you know about it. Corporate Ethics International, is the environmental group behind the sign that urged tourists to "Rethink Alberta" because of its oilsands policies failed to make a dent in visitors to the province last year, says Alberta's travel marketing agency. The Rethink Alberta campaign was launched last summer in four U.S. cities and London, England, urging tourists to avoid Alberta. It featured digital billboards and a web-based video that showed pictures of dead ducks and oily tailings ponds around Fort McMurray. Go to www.corpethics.org for more
- KBOO