Our Blog
March 23, 2023
Larry Summers-Linked Payments Company Accused of Criminality
Short-seller Hindenburg Research says the payments mogul Block has inflated user metrics, ignored widespread criminal transactions on its platforms, and evaded regulations.
March 22, 2023 | The Sling
Too Big To Rail: Railroads, Safety, and Accountability
Unfortunately, America’s rail workers are all too familiar with the consequences of how the railroad industry has been operated over the past 30 years. Precision scheduled railroading (PSR) has made the difference. PSR is a business model focused on reducing overhead costs and generating returns for shareholders. Similar to many other business models driven by financialization, it’s effectively a scheme by giant railroad operators to cut staff and backup resources, push the remaining equipment and personnel to the breaking point, and funnel as much of the cash as possible to Wall Street. And by increasing market concentration even further, the recently approved rail merger between Canadian Pacific (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) promises to make the situation even more dire — for railroad workers, for the communities our rail lines pass through, and for the American economy.
March 22, 2023
Press Release Economic MediaEthics in GovernmentHack WatchLarry SummersMarc GoldweinMaya MacGuineasRevolving DoorSteven Rattner
Ethics Watchdog Launches "Hack Watch" Website Tracking Media Analysts
Larry Summers, Steven Rattner, Marc Goldwein, Maya MacGuineas Among Top Targets
March 17, 2023 | The American Prospect
Bankers Being Greedy Morons Poses Climate And Financial Risk
The SVB collapse rubs in our collective faces the fact that the financiers with great influence over our political economy are, by and large, a pack of greedy idiots.
March 17, 2023
Justice Department Revokes Trump-Era Support for Fossil Fuel Companies in State-Level Climate Cases
Just last week, I highlighted the enormous stakes of the Justice Department’s long-anticipated filing in a climate liability case brought by Boulder County, Colorado against fossil fuel companies Suncor Energy and ExxonMobil seeking damages for their campaign of corporate deception. […] Yesterday, the Justice Department finally offered its answer.
March 17, 2023 | RDP Newsletter
Hack Watch: Two Percent Is Just A Number
There’s nothing special about the Fed’s target inflation rate
March 15, 2023 | The Nation
Why Is Larry Summers So Obsessed With Tech Bros?
For the past two years, former Treasury secretary Larry Summers has begged, berated, and bullied federal policy-makers to suck as much wealth as possible, as fast as possible, out of the economy. He just never meant, you know, his wealth or his friends’ wealth.
March 15, 2023 | Revolving Door Project Newsletter
Selling Out the Arctic; Bailing Out the Rich
The year is 2023, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 50 percent higher than it was before the Industrial Revolution, and the so-called “climate president” has decided to go ahead with industrializing the Arctic wilderness, a region already warming four times faster than the rest of the world.
March 15, 2023
RELEASE: Michael Barr's Fintech Partnerships May Cloud Judgment Of SVB Autopsy
As of now, Barr is assigned to investigate supervisory failures that occurred under his watch featuring a bank that catered in particular to the crypto and fintech industries which Barr was so active in immediately prior to revolving back into government. Barr is a walking conflict of interest. His central role in the investigation is damning
March 13, 2023
RELEASE: Biden Betrays Campaign Promises And His Own Interior Department By Approving Willow Project
In response to the U.S. Department of the Interior approving three drilling pads to allow the controversial Willow Project to advance, Revolving Door Project Climate Research Director Dorothy Slater released the following statement:
March 13, 2023 | The American Prospect
President Biden Should Get Rid of Trump Holdovers
It’s been over 764 days since Donald Trump left the White House, yet his legacy still – even years into Biden’s own term – continues to pervade our highest echelons of government.
March 12, 2023 | Common Dreams
Wilson’s Parting Shots Draw Attention To Her Actual Conflicts of Interest
Christine Wilson leaving the FTC is good news for anyone who cares about effective antitrust enforcement. A quintessential revolving door figure, Wilson’s tenure was only useful to her job prospects once she decided it was time to leave the FTC.
March 10, 2023
The Willow Project Is Not A "Both Sides" Story
March 10, 2023
DOJ IN THE NEWS: Early March Trends
This is the latest installment of a new biweekly blog series from RDP. Every two weeks, we call out ongoing trends in media coverage of the Justice Department’s focus and priorities, giving context from our past DOJ oversight work as needed, with an eye to the impact of DOJ capacity and resources, as well as alignment with the Biden administration’s professed goals.