MF Global Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the eighth largest bankruptcy in U.S. history at that time. The firm, led by former U.S. Senator and New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, reported that up to $1.6 billion in customer segregated funds were missing. The collapse came …
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), in cooperation with The Nation magazine, launched the ‘ALEC Exposed’ web project on July 13, 2011, posting 850 model bills created by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) over a 30-year period and exposing the systematic corporate …
The U.S. Department of Education under Secretary Arne Duncan published the final “Gainful Employment Rule” on June 13, 2011, establishing that career training programs at for-profit colleges and non-degree programs at all institutions must demonstrate that graduates earn sufficient …
FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker announces her resignation to join Comcast-NBC Universal as senior vice president of governmental affairs, just four months after voting to approve the company’s merger with NBC Universal. Baker was part of the 4-1 majority that approved the $30 billion …
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), established in 2010 and led by Phil Angelides, released its final report concluding the 2008 financial crisis was caused by a “systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics” on the part of corporate executives. The commission was …
By 2010, Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund had emerged as the primary “dark money ATM” for climate denial funding, fundamentally transforming how fossil fuel interests concealed their opposition to climate regulation. From 2002 to 2011, these two donor-advised fund organizations …
The Federal Communications Commission approves the Open Internet Order by a 3-2 party-line vote, establishing the first formal net neutrality regulations but with significant weaknesses that would prove legally vulnerable. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s order established three core rules: …
Jeffrey Siegel, an FDA staff member specializing in arthritis drug reviews, oversaw the 2010 approval of Genentech tocilizumab (Actemra) for arthritis treatment. Within months of the approval, Siegel left the FDA to join Genentech and its parent company Roche as director of the division that …
A Government Accountability Office investigation released on August 4, 2010, exposed systemic fraud and deceptive practices across the for-profit college industry, revealing that while these institutions enrolled only 10-12% of all higher education students, they received 25% of all federal …
President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, establishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to regulate consumer financial products and protect Americans from predatory lending practices. The CFPB was the brainchild of Harvard Law …
An enforcement branch chief in the SEC’s San Francisco office left the agency in May 2010 to become in-house counsel at Wells Fargo & Co. Less than two weeks after joining Wells Fargo, she filed six disclosure statements indicating she would be representing the bank in connection with …
The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico marked the beginning of one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The explosion killed 11 workers and caused a massive oil spill that would leak approximately 134 million gallons of oil over 87 days. The disaster …
On April 16, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs and Vice President Fabrice Tourre with securities fraud related to ABACUS 2007-AC1, a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) tied to subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. The SEC alleged that Goldman …
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issues its decision in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, creating what become known as “super PACs” by allowing unlimited contributions to independent expenditure committees. Building directly on the Supreme Court’s Citizens United logic from just two months …
President Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law, the most significant healthcare legislation since Medicare. While expanding coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, the law’s architecture reflects extensive industry lobbying, featuring an individual mandate …
Dr. Julie Gerberding, who served as CDC Director from 2002-2009, joined Merck as president of the company’s vaccine division shortly after leaving government service. This move sparked significant controversy because during her tenure at the CDC, Gerberding oversaw the agency’s …
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (cap-and-trade climate bill) on June 26, 2009, the Koch brothers’ network immediately launched a massive campaign to kill the legislation in the Senate. Americans for Prosperity, whose top …
The Obama White House secretly negotiated an $80 billion deal with pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, abandoning the president’s campaign promise to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. White House officials Jim Messina and Rahm Emanuel met with PhRMA CEO Billy Tauzin, agreeing to maintain …
On December 11, 2008, FBI agents arrested Bernard L. Madoff for orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth approximately $65 billion and affecting 37,000 victims across 136 countries. Madoff, former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, confessed to his sons on December 9 that his …
The Department of Justice approved Delta Air Lines’ $2.6 billion stock-swap merger with Northwest Airlines, creating the world’s largest airline and triggering a decade-long consolidation wave that would reduce major U.S. carriers from ten to four dominant players controlling …
On October 3, 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) into law as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP legislation), requiring health insurers to provide mental health and substance use …
The House of Representatives voted on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (TARP), with senators who supported the $700 billion Wall Street bailout having received an average of $3,986,723 from the financial sector since 1989—39% more than bailout opponents who received an average of $1,671,029. …
On September 16, 2008, just one day after allowing Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy, the Federal Reserve provided an $85 billion two-year emergency loan to American International Group (AIG) to prevent the insurance giant’s collapse and contain spreading financial contagion. In exchange …
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 15, 2008, declaring $639 billion in assets and $613 billion in debts, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The firm’s assets far surpassed those of previous bankrupt giants including …
The Federal Communications Commission votes 3-2 to punish Comcast for its “surreptitious interference” with BitTorrent uploads, marking the first time any U.S. broadband provider has been found to violate net neutrality principles. The Commission formally adopted an order finding that …
On July 24, 2008, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners completed a historic $26.7 billion leveraged buyout of Clear Channel Communications, the nation’s largest radio broadcaster with over 1,200 stations. The transaction, led by Bain Capital (founded by Mitt Romney in 1984), loaded the …
Bank of America completed its acquisition of Countrywide Financial on July 1, 2008, purchasing the nation’s largest mortgage lender for approximately $4 billion in a Federal Reserve-approved transaction that would ultimately cost Bank of America and its shareholders at least $50 billion in …
Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest investment bank in the United States with $400 billion in reported consolidated assets, collapsed in March 2008 after its liquidity pool plummeted from $18.1 billion on March 10 to just $2 billion on March 13. The firm had leveraged its capital up to 35 …
Senator Trent Lott (R-MS), former Senate Majority Leader, abruptly resigned from the Senate effective 11:30 PM on December 18, 2007, explicitly timing his departure to avoid the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act. The new ethics law, taking effect January 1, 2008, would have required a …
The Associated Press publishes a comprehensive investigation revealing that Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company and internet service provider, is secretly interfering with peer-to-peer file sharing applications including BitTorrent by forging network packets to block uploads. The AP …
On May 10, 2007, Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty to a felony charge of illegally misbranding OxyContin in an effort to mislead and defraud physicians and agreed to pay $600 million—representing approximately 90 percent of OxyContin profits during the offense period. The company admitted to misleading …
AT&T Inc. (formerly SBC Communications) completed its $85.8 billion acquisition of BellSouth Corporation with FCC approval, reassembling much of the former Bell System that was broken up in 1984 as an antitrust remedy. The merger consolidated control over telecommunications infrastructure across …
President George W. Bush threatened to cast his first presidential veto if Congress blocked Dubai Ports World’s (DPW) acquisition of US port operations, sparking a major national security controversy. The $6.8 billion deal would have given a UAE state-owned company control of cargo terminals …
Documents revealed that Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force had met extensively with executives from major oil companies, though chief executives denied involvement when testifying before the Senate Energy and Commerce committees. The revelation exposed how the Energy and Commerce …
On November 7, 2005, financial analyst Harry Markopolos submitted his third and most detailed complaint to the SEC, a report entitled ‘The World’s Largest Hedge Fund is a Fraud,’ outlining approximately 30 red flags indicating that Bernie Madoff was operating a Ponzi scheme, which …
On October 15, 2005, Dubai Ports World (DPW), a UAE state-owned company, initiated a CFIUS review to acquire British firm P&O’s port management operations, which included six major U.S. ports. The 30-day review process involved 12 government agencies, with the Intelligence Community …
Vice President Cheney’s Energy Task Force recommendations were implemented as EPA environmental policy through executive orders, bypassing Congressional oversight and public comment periods required by the Administrative Procedure Act. Task force members from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other oil …
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) formally establishes the Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program, delegating unprecedented safety certification responsibilities to aircraft manufacturers, specifically Boeing. This regulatory capture mechanism expanded the scope of …
President George W. Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) on April 20, 2005, fundamentally weaponizing bankruptcy law against student borrowers while preserving corporate bankruptcy as a strategic tool. The law amended Section 523(a)(8) to make private …
Public Citizen released “Congressional Revolving Doors: The Journey from Congress To K Street,” documenting that 43% of U.S. House and Senate lawmakers (86 out of 198) who left office between 1998 and 2004 became registered lobbyists. The report found that 50% of eligible departing …
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced that former House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) would become its president and CEO, effective January 2005. The announcement came shortly after Tauzin’s retirement from Congress, where from 2001 …
FDA epidemiologist Dr. David Graham delivered explosive testimony before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, declaring that ’the FDA, as currently configured, is incapable of protecting America against another Vioxx. We are virtually defenseless.’ Graham revealed that his study showed …
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship pours over $3 million into West Virginia’s 2004 judicial election to elect Brent Benjamin to the state Supreme Court of Appeals, successfully defeating incumbent justice Warren McGraw. Blankenship’s spending—equivalent to “a dollar for every West …
Merck voluntarily withdraws Vioxx (rofecoxib) from the market after concealing evidence that the blockbuster arthritis drug increases heart attack and stroke risk. Internal company documents reveal that Merck knew of cardiovascular dangers years before withdrawal, while the FDA failed to act on …
Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), the Koch brothers-funded lobbying organization founded in 1984, officially splits into two separate entities following internal strategic disagreements. The 501(c)(4) advocacy activities continue under FreedomWorks (formed through a merger with Empower America), …
The Securities and Exchange Commission votes unanimously to allow the five largest investment banks to dramatically increase their leverage ratios, removing a 1970s-era rule that limited debt to 12 times capital. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns …
The House of Representatives passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act at 5:53 AM after an unprecedented 3-hour vote that House leaders held open for nearly three hours past the normal 15-minute voting period to secure enough votes. The legislation created Medicare …
L. Paul Bremer III, head of the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) occupation government in Iraq, issues Order 39 on foreign investment as part of his ‘100 Orders’ imposing what economist Joseph Stiglitz calls ‘arguably the most radical market shock therapy tried …
The Department of Justice announced that HCA Inc. (formerly Columbia/HCA), once led by Rick Scott, agreed to pay the United States $631 million in civil penalties and damages, bringing the total recovery to $1.7 billion when combined with earlier settlements—the largest healthcare fraud case in U.S. …
The FCC, led by Chairman Michael Powell (son of Secretary of State Colin Powell), votes 3-2 along party lines to dramatically ease media ownership restrictions despite overwhelming public opposition. The new rules would increase the national TV ownership cap from 35% to 45% of U.S. households and …