A new report today reveals the “extraordinary influence” the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has had in the Wisconsin legislature during the past 16 months—the same 16 months since Gov. Scott Walker (R) took power. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) which released the report says ALEC's influence

undermines the rights of Wisconsin families while advancing the agenda of huge corporations.

China has been dumping solar cells on the U.S. market at artificially low prices, the U.S. Commerce Department ruled today, imposing stiff new tariffs of about 31 percent on 60 Chinese firms to provide U.S. manufacturers a fair playing field.

House Republicans have blocked efforts to maintain strong workplace health safety rules for workers at the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities. Republicans leaders rejected even a vote on an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that would have preserved the current standards.They are pushing an extreme proposal to deregulate worker safety and allow employer self–regulation and self-oversight.

Tomorrow in Chicago, nurses from across the United States and U.S. and global activists will rally and call on world leaders to adopt a Robin Hood tax on financial speculation by banks and financial institution to create jobs and rebuild the economy that Wall Street broke. The Day of Action is sponsored by National Nurses United (NNU).

In an almost clandestine operation at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Missouri Republicans this week inducted radio hate-talk host Rush Limbaugh into the Hall of Famous Missourians. The ceremony was closed to the public and, behind closed doors, guarded by Missouri Highway Patrol officers.

The House vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is not a bill the majority of Americans can support. It is a badly watered-down version that eliminates protections for millions of women, produced after intense lobbying by a coalition of social conservative groups upon Republican members of Congress.

House Republicans continued their attacks on working women, and last night voted to pass a shameful version of the bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, filled with restrictions that undermine the very intent of a law (originally written by then-Sen. Joe Biden) designed to help victims of domestic violence. The House version, which passed 222 to 205, leaves working immigrant women, same-sex couples and even Native American women vulnerable and makes it harder to keep these women safe.

In Raleigh, N.C., state lawmakers returned to a cacophonous chorus of pots and spoons, clanging and ringing.

This was no serenade. North Carolinians, fed up with the General Assembly’s agenda of pursuing giveaways for the rich at the expense of everyone else, greeted lawmakers with a first-of-its-kind, 15-minute non-stop clamorous protest of politicians’ reckless ways.

Earlier this year, state and federal law enforcement officials negotiated a historic legal settlement with the Big Banks that had abused the rights of homeowners during the foreclosure crisis. As part of this settlement, the Big Banks agreed to pay $2.5 billion in penalties to the states for programs to help prevent foreclosures.

Sadly, in many states these funds are now at risk of being diverted away from helping struggling homeowners.

The documentary “Brothers on the Line,” which chronicles the lives of UAW leader Walter Reuther and his brothers, Roy and Victor—from the Great Depression to the Great Society, is picking up awards and packing theaters in special screenings around the nation. Take a look at this new trailer.