Politics

January 26, 2011 - When the BP spill commissioners testify today before House and Senate committees about their investigation into what caused the deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster and their recommendations for regulatory reform, they'll be speaking to politicians whose campaigns the oil and gas industry has invested in generously.

January 24, 2011 - In North Carolina, there's little argument: The most important backer of conservative causes and politicians is Raleigh retail magnate Art Pope.

January 24, 2011 - By Joe Atkins, Labor South The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission and its rulings will be

January 21, 2011 - Date on which the U.S. Supreme Court issued the landmark Citizens United decision by a 5-4 vote, ending the prohibition on corporate spending in elections and allowing certain anonymous contributions: 1/21/2010 Amount of spending by outside groups in the 2010 U.S. mid-term elections: $294.2 million

January 20, 2011 - NOTE: Welcome to those of you who ran across this story through Atlantic Wire, National Journal and

January 19, 2011 - If anyone needed evidence that the Great Recession is still reverberating through the economy, consider the situation state legislatures face as they come into session this month.

January 19, 2011 - The new head of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform recently invited companies and industry groups to submit a list of regulations they'd like to see scrapped. The responses have been coming in -- but the American public isn't allowed to see them yet.