One thing we don’t see often enough in political coverage is the forthright identification of philanthropic non-profits as interest groups. There were some positive signs this week. First, the Boston Globe’s Rhode Island coverage featured Dan McGowan’s story The Providence Mayor Raised Thousands of Dollars for a Nonprofit with Ties to His Campaign, Then he…
Don’t Pay Interns, Can’t Have Interns
It is almost summer. For many organizations in Boston, that means intern season. I direct the internship program in the Political Science Department at UMass Boston and have a message: if you don’t pay your interns, you can’t have interns. I know what some of you are thinking: our budgets are too tight! We want…
Prof. Cunningham’s Testimony on H.3553 An Act requiring major policy makers to disclose donations to entities engaging in political activity
On May 15 it was my privilege to testify before the Joint Committee on Election Laws in favor of H. 3553 An Act requiring major policy makers to disclose donations to entities engaging in political activity, filed by Rep. Marjorie Decker. It would make big bucks state policy makers like Paul Sagan and Mark E….
Mass Politics After the 2018 Elections: Still “Safe Harbor for Old School Pols & Politics”
Last spring I wrote a piece called “MASSPOLI#: Safe Harbor for Old School Pols & Politics” that began as follows: “American politics in 2018 is a hot mess. The Age of Trump will almost certainly be understood as a chaotic and terribly destructive time in American politics when our institutions were strained to the limit…
A Letter to Massachusetts Education Reporters
On May 1 I wrote a letter to several education writers on the topic of why they should be reporting on the financial backing of groups like Massachusetts Parents United or Democrats for Education Reform. Citizens have the right to be informed and only the media can do that. I’m sharing that letter here in…
Massachusetts Parents United: Grassroots or AstroTurf?
One of the claims of Massachusetts Parents United is that it is a grassroots organization dedicated to serving the needs of parents and children. But corporate-sponsored school privatization organizations like MassParents have come and gone, so how can we tell if the group is grassroots or AstroTurf? There’s a way. Professor Daniel Katz used a…
Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Expensive Bottle
Massachusetts Parents United claims to be “the independent voice of parents.” But it’s entirely dependent on funding from the Walton Family’s (tax deductible) political operations. When I wrote Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Empty Bottle in July 2017 there were some clues about its funding but not much detail, and what detail there…
Keri Rodrigues Goes Coastal with Plans for National Parents Union
Keri Rodrigues of Massachusetts Parents United, the highly subsidized-by-the-Walton-family front in the education privatization business, is pitching a new organization called the National Parents Union. It’s got elements that should appeal to the WalMart heirs – hidden money, infiltration of the Democratic Party, pro-charters, privatization of public goods, and virulently anti-union. But there are problems….
UnKoch* My Boston Globe
It appears that our once-upon-a-time paper of record The Boston Globe is supplementing revenues by publishing pro-corporate content masquerading as news and paid for by the Koch Brothers. Since corporate puffery isn’t one of my favored literary genres I didn’t pay much attention when I noticed the Bold Types interviews off to the side of…
The Plight of Progressives in the Bernie Sanders Era
Being a politically progressive college professor who isn’t a passenger on the Bernie Sanders Express can be uncomfortable at times. Lucky for me, I’m a political science professor, which means that I have plenty of scholarly company, particularly among my fellow political scientists who study American politics. The reason for the disparity is, in my…