Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, McDonald's, Wendy's, Intuit, Reed-Elsevier, and others have dropped their membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Click here to tell other firms bankrolling ALEC to do the same.
Welcome to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy!
The Center for Media and Democracy publishes SourceWatch, this collaborative resource for citizens and journalists looking for documented information about the corporations, industries, and people trying to influence public policy and public opinion. We believe in telling the truth about the most powerful interests in society—not just relating their self-serving press releases or letting real facts be bleached away by spin. With the help of volunteer editors, SourceWatch focuses on the for-profit corporations, non-profit corporate front groups, PR teams, and so-called "experts" trying to influence public opinion on behalf of global corporations and the government agencies they have captured. We also profile some of the individuals and groups shining a light on these PR campaigns and also feature clearinghouses for information about select "hot topics" (to your left). Please check out our other sites: PRWatch, BanksterUSA, and ALECexposed. —Lisa Graves, Executive Director
Wisconsin voters chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run against incumbent Governor Scott Walker in the first gubernatorial recall election in the state's history. It has been 450 days since the first protests against Walker's bill to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights sparked massive protests and an 18 day occupation of the Capitol building. Now, there are only 28 days left before a general election that will decide the next governor of the state.
The headlines in Wisconsin are all about the $25 million dollar man -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker's campaign committee has raised an eye-popping $25 million for the recall, $13 million since January 2012 when close to 1 million signatures were filed with the Wisconsin elections board triggering a recall election. Walker spent a huge sum $5 million on direct mail, rivaling the $4.5 million spent on TV. The direct mail allows him to build a national data base of funders to tap for the recall.
In total, Walker has spent $20,854,000, more money than any candidate in any race in Wisconsin history. "Wisconsin's never seen anything like this kind of money," said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin.
Herbicide manufacturer Syngenta had an interesting way of celebrating Earth Day this year, touting the joys of pesticides.
The multinational conglomerate sent out a press release during the approach to Earth Day exclaiming that "modern farming is grounds for Earth Day celebration" because, it continues, "conservation tillage and no-till farming are responsible for significant environmental benefits often overlooked by Earth Day observers." These "no-till" farming techniques, which reduce erosion and fuel use, depend "on the ability to control weeds, demonstrating the importance of the 50-year-old herbicide atrazine."
With the recent publication of additional American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) documents, new questions are being raised about the source of certain provisions in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining legislation. Some of those provisions may be adopted by ALEC for introduction in other states.
According to documents posted by good government organization Common Cause, the Koch-funded, Michigan-based think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy will ask ALEC at its Spring Task Force Summit on May 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina to adopt as a "model bill" a proposal that strongly resembles sections of Governor Walker's Act 10.
The national certifying body for teachers in the United States, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), participated in the Education Task Force of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) until April 2012. In an official statement sent to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) today, NBPTS spokesperson Brian Lewis said, "Given recent events, the new NBPTS President and CEO decided to discontinue engagement with ALEC. As a result, NBPTS terminated its membership as an Education Task Force Member of ALEC effective April 18, 2012, and also withdrew from participating in the upcoming ALEC conference. ... The decision to participate in ALEC had been made by previous NBPTS leadership." Read the rest of the item here.
With all the national media attention on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) over these past several weeks, few realize that a campaign to lift the veil on ALEC's operations and agenda began almost one year ago. This month marks the anniversary of the first public rallies in opposition to ALEC. This is the story of the power of ordinary extraordinary individuals to stand up, speak out and make an enormous difference in defense of democracy. Read the rest of the item here.
On April 17 the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) announced that it would disband its controversial "Public Safety and Elections Task Force" to "Sharpen its Focus on Jobs, Free Markets and Growth." The disbanding of the source of a few of its more extreme proposals on voter ID, "Stand Your Ground/Shoot to Kill," and AZ SB1070 will do little to clean up ALEC's reputation. Each of ALEC's nine task forces is a little shop of horrors of legislative proposals that only Milton Friedman could love. Read the rest of the item here.
Conservative columnist and Fox contributor Michelle Malkin was on Fox News with host Sean Hannity recently complaining about the "lynch mobs" going after Republican donors and organizations like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). According to Malkin, President Barack Obama is behind the grassroots efforts to push back on ALEC and on Rush Limbaugh for his offensive attacks on law student Sandra Fluke. Read the rest of the item here.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) recently spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) "undermining our democracy." In his address, Johnson urged Americans to visit the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org site to learn more about the shadowy organization. Johnson also mentioned ALEC on the House floor in April. Read the rest of the item here.
"Quid pro quo: something given or received for something else"
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
At about ten o'clock on the morning of March 23, 2011, Faith Williams walked into the office of Ohio House Majority Whip John Adams (R-District 78). Williams, a lobbyist with firm, Bricker & Eckler, LLP, (Bricker) had an appointment to speak with Adams about an "economic development study" created by some of her clients in the life insurance industry.
Somehow during the course of this meeting--though both Adams and Williams told DBA Press and The Center for Media and Democracy (DBA/CMD) that they have no recollection of how this came to pass--two noteworthy subjects were discussed: a proposed amendment to the state's 2011 budget and possible support for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Ohio "scholarship fund."
At 4:06 p.m. the following day, March 24, Williams emailed a copy of the discussed budget amendment to Adams' Senior Legislative Aide Kara Joseph. In the email, Williams expressed her gratitude to Adams for agreeing to run the amendment by House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-District 69) for insertion into the 2011 budget.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) not only allows corporations and special interests to hand state legislators "model bills," but also provides a vehicle for ALEC's corporate members to buy influence with legislators through gifts of flights, hotel rooms, and other perks denominated as "ALEC scholarships," according to information obtained through open records requests.
A Corporate-Funded Vacation?
ALEC's annual meetings and task force summits are usually held in vacation spots like New Orleans and at swank resorts like the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Most state legislators only work part-time and earn, on average, about $46,000 a year, so for many politicians these destinations and resorts would be unaffordable. Lucky for ALEC legislators, ALEC's corporate members bankroll their flights, hotel rooms, and meals.
As a further incentive to attend ALEC meetings, elected officials are encouraged to bring their families, and offered subsidized childcare for kids six months and older called "Kids Congress."
The tragic Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida has once again drawn attention to the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in spreading terrible public policy in the form of "model" bills across the nation. We are sending letters to the corporate leadership of the ALEC to demand that they withdraw their membership from ALEC and do what's right for our democracy.
Lisa Graves, Rashad Robinson and Nicole Neily join Shihab Rattansi, host of Al Jazeera's "Inside Story: US 2012," to discuss the American Legislative Exchange Council and its role in pushing "model" bills like the "Stand Your Ground" law through state legislatures across the country.
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