A L E C - The American Legislative Exchange Council.

[kiwiman127]

No corporation is a threat to liberty. Governments are threats to liberty. No corporation can write a law that can be upheld with deadly force. A government can.

Our government is not to be run for the benefit of anyone the way you mean it. It exits to settle disputes between the State, and to protect the people from the world outside our borders.

It does NOT exit to provide us with sustenance, money, benefits, housing, or jobs.

It does not exist to help the poor, the rich, or the middle class.. It does not exist to help people specifically at all..

This is the great failure of public education.

Our children are taught that government exists to provide things for the people.

I have yet to see a corporation write a law and enforce that law on the people in any manner at all.

To complain about corporations influencing government and ignoring other groups influencing government simply because you agree with THEIR influence is the height of hypocrisy.

You have yet to see a corporation write a law? Take another look at the organization called ALEC, do you live in a red state? Chances are they wrote most of the laws enacted in the last few years, enforcing the laws is the government's job but what the hell does it matter? The laws they are upholding came right from the desks of corporate paid lobbyists and if you break them chances are you will end up in a privatized, for-profit prison, another product of ALEC.

Do you think you are free with corporate control? Try doing anything or going anywhere without money. Freedom costs money in America and they want to make it more expensive every day.

Name one corporation that has been elected to sit in the house of representative, or the senate.

Name one bill they wrote, voted on, and enacted.

Oh, and in case you missed it. Money exited before the corporation did.

The secretive corporate outfit behind ‘Stand Your Ground'
The secretive corporate outfit behind ‘Stand Your Ground’ | The Great Debate

 

[Quantum Windbag]

Comprised mostly of Republican State Legislators, Governors and Corporate Sponsors, ALEC is a clearinghouse for legal corruption, diverting millions in state tax dollars to corporate members through tax favoritism and no-bid privatization of government services. This group brings corporate cronyism, corruption and mercenary lobbying to a whole new level.







More...

ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures | People For the American Way

What is ALEC? - Alec Exposed

ALEC Gets a Break From State Lobbying Laws | Mother Jones



Fair and simple taxes...

Public budgets that are balanced by law...​

Transparency in all things politics.​

Then, build an economy that your kids can drive to the stars.

It ain't rocket science, y'all.

Gee, I wonder why the left doesn't have anything like this.

Wait, they do, you just don't talk about them.

I'd like to keep this thread all about ALEC, but start a thread and bring it up - I appreciate any light that's shed on corruption and favoritism, especially when it's done in secret.

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

 

[occupied]

No corporation is a threat to liberty. Governments are threats to liberty. No corporation can write a law that can be upheld with deadly force. A government can.

Our government is not to be run for the benefit of anyone the way you mean it. It exits to settle disputes between the State, and to protect the people from the world outside our borders.

It does NOT exit to provide us with sustenance, money, benefits, housing, or jobs.

It does not exist to help the poor, the rich, or the middle class.. It does not exist to help people specifically at all..

This is the great failure of public education.

Our children are taught that government exists to provide things for the people.

I have yet to see a corporation write a law and enforce that law on the people in any manner at all.

To complain about corporations influencing government and ignoring other groups influencing government simply because you agree with THEIR influence is the height of hypocrisy.

You have yet to see a corporation write a law? Take another look at the organization called ALEC, do you live in a red state? Chances are they wrote most of the laws enacted in the last few years, enforcing the laws is the government's job but what the hell does it matter? The laws they are upholding came right from the desks of corporate paid lobbyists and if you break them chances are you will end up in a privatized, for-profit prison, another product of ALEC.

Do you think you are free with corporate control? Try doing anything or going anywhere without money. Freedom costs money in America and they want to make it more expensive every day.

Ever here of the UCC?

No, fill us in on you're cryptic alphabet soap.

 

[Dot Com]

Gee, I wonder why the left doesn't have anything like this.

Wait, they do, you just don't talk about them.

I'd like to keep this thread all about ALEC, but start a thread and bring it up - I appreciate any light that's shed on corruption and favoritism, especially when it's done in secret.

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

its well known board courtesy/netiquette to stay on-topic.

you're welcome. Glad to help

 

[dblack]

Conservatives say that they are not the party of the rich and corporate socialism while defending the actions and the very existence of ALEC. Which is it? Party of real Americans or puppet mouthpiece of aristocratic billionaires?

No corporate socialism exists.

However, I'll take corporatism over governmentism any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I can walk away from any corporation.

Where to I go to get rid of corrupt government? Because right now, government is a hundred times more corrupt than business; and they have guns. Businesses do not.

I agree with your general sentiment, but corporatism IS government. Under corporatism, government exercises power by divvying up power and influence among all the vested 'interest groups' - interest groups like 'ALEC'. The key feature of corporatism isn't corporations controlling government. It's government that distributes power and influence via ad hoc favors and penalties. It pursues a 'divide and conquer' approach to ruling society, keeping all of us competing for perks and dodging penalties.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

You have yet to see a corporation write a law? Take another look at the organization called ALEC, do you live in a red state? Chances are they wrote most of the laws enacted in the last few years, enforcing the laws is the government's job but what the hell does it matter? The laws they are upholding came right from the desks of corporate paid lobbyists and if you break them chances are you will end up in a privatized, for-profit prison, another product of ALEC.

Do you think you are free with corporate control? Try doing anything or going anywhere without money. Freedom costs money in America and they want to make it more expensive every day.

Ever here of the UCC?

No, fill us in on you're cryptic alphabet soap.

I would think an occupier would know about the UCC, try Google.

 

[kiwiman127]

Here's a cute story. I realize it's from Think Progress but,,,,,,,,,

Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill
<snip>
In November, Florida state Rep. Rachel Burgin (R) introduced a resolution (PDF here) that would officially call on the federal government to reduce corporate taxes, but she apparently forgot to remove ALEC’s mission statement from the top of the bill, which she seems to have copied word-for-word from ALEC’s model bill:

I tried to upload the entire file with the legislation, but it was too large. So here's a copy & paste. Or you can see the actual PDF @ Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill | ThinkProgress

HM 685 2012
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0685-00
Page 1 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1 House Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
4
5 WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative
6 Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free
7 markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty,
8 and9 WHEREAS, the combined United States average federal-state
10 corporate income tax rate is over 39 percent, according to the
11 Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD),
12 meaning the United States imposes the second-highest overall
13 statutory corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, much
14 higher than the OECD average of 25 percent, and
15 WHEREAS, effective United States corporate tax rates are
16 out of step with the rest of the world, with studies estimating
17 the United States tax is between 4 and 17 percentage points
18 higher than the averages of other countries, according to a Tax
19 Foundation survey, and
20 WHEREAS, the federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent
21 undermines the ability of every state in the nation to compete
22 against lower-tax nations such as Canada, China, Great Britain,
23 Ireland, Korea, and Singapore, and
24 WHEREAS, 75 nations have cut their corporate taxes since
25 2007, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to
26 attract new business investment and jobs, and
27 WHEREAS, corporate taxes have been identified by the OECD
28 as the most harmful tax for long-term economic growth by

 

[Quantum Windbag]

I'd like to keep this thread all about ALEC, but start a thread and bring it up - I appreciate any light that's shed on corruption and favoritism, especially when it's done in secret.

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

its well known board courtesy/netiquette to stay on-topic.

you're welcome. Glad to help

I am on topic, ALEC is hardly the only corporation that influences law to get an advantage for itself.

 

[dblack]

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

its well known board courtesy/netiquette to stay on-topic.

you're welcome. Glad to help

I am on topic, ALEC is hardly the only corporation that influences law to get an advantage for itself.

It's not a corporation, or, at least it's not one lobbying for itself. It's a clearing house for hooking up compliant legislators with lobbying interests. It organizes efforts to get legislation passed that favor it's member companies. It's fair to say this isn't "new", but ALEC really takes it to the next level. Corporate lobbyists write legislation in the form of 'templates' that are distributed by ALEC to legislators. What could be easier? "Legislators" can appease their backers and don't even have to bother writing laws. ALEC is ugly business.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Gee, I wonder why the left doesn't have anything like this.

Wait, they do, you just don't talk about them.

I'd like to keep this thread all about ALEC, but start a thread and bring it up - I appreciate any light that's shed on corruption and favoritism, especially when it's done in secret.

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

I can't respond to that until you define 'whinging' in this context.

The rest is too childish to warrant a response.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Let me see, you either think you own the fracking board, which is absurd, or you think you have a point in only whinging about one party engaging in cronyism and pretending the people who try to point out it is a non partisan issue are partisan hacks, which is even more absurd.

In other words, fuck off. If you start threads on a public message board they go where they go,

its well known board courtesy/netiquette to stay on-topic.

you're welcome. Glad to help

I am on topic, ALEC is hardly the only corporation that influences law to get an advantage for itself.

ALEC isn't a corporation in the sense you imply here. It's a 501 c "Association" of corporations, designed to make the profitable lobbying of the legislatures of all 50 states as efficient and secret as possible.

Read at least one link in the opening post or Google it for yourself and find a link you prefer. It helps in these discussions if you have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about.

 

[clevergirl]

its well known board courtesy/netiquette to stay on-topic.

you're welcome. Glad to help

I am on topic, ALEC is hardly the only corporation that influences law to get an advantage for itself.

ALEC isn't a corporation in the sense you imply here. It's a 501 c "Association" of corporations, designed to make the profitable lobbying of the legislatures of all 50 states as efficient and secret as possible.

Read at least one link in the opening post or Google it for yourself and find a link you prefer. It helps in these discussions if you have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about.

In other words it has an agenda like every other fucking lobbying group...right?

 

[AVG-JOE]

ALEC? Of course it does. ALEC is secret lobbying and corruption on steroids. That's the whole point to this thread... to assist Bill Moyers, The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the other sources in bringing some light to that agenda.

The point is that ALEC isn't a corporation... it's a professional lobbying association at the beck and call of MANY corporations and all of the dollars that that implies.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Here's a cute story. I realize it's from Think Progress but,,,,,,,,,

Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill
<snip>
In November, Florida state Rep. Rachel Burgin (R) introduced a resolution (PDF here) that would officially call on the federal government to reduce corporate taxes, but she apparently forgot to remove ALEC’s mission statement from the top of the bill, which she seems to have copied word-for-word from ALEC’s model bill:

I tried to upload the entire file with the legislation, but it was too large. So here's a copy & paste. Or you can see the actual PDF @ Oops: Florida Republican Forgets To Remove ALEC Mission Statement From Boilerplate Anti-Tax Bill | ThinkProgress

HM 685 2012
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hm0685-00
Page 1 of 2
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
1 House Memorial
2 A memorial to the Congress of the United States,
3 urging Congress to cut the federal corporate tax rate.
4
5 WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative
6 Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free
7 markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty,
8 and9 WHEREAS, the combined United States average federal-state
10 corporate income tax rate is over 39 percent, according to the
11 Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD),
12 meaning the United States imposes the second-highest overall
13 statutory corporate tax rates in the industrialized world, much
14 higher than the OECD average of 25 percent, and
15 WHEREAS, effective United States corporate tax rates are
16 out of step with the rest of the world, with studies estimating
17 the United States tax is between 4 and 17 percentage points
18 higher than the averages of other countries, according to a Tax
19 Foundation survey, and
20 WHEREAS, the federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent
21 undermines the ability of every state in the nation to compete
22 against lower-tax nations such as Canada, China, Great Britain,
23 Ireland, Korea, and Singapore, and
24 WHEREAS, 75 nations have cut their corporate taxes since
25 2007, making it increasingly difficult for the United States to
26 attract new business investment and jobs, and
27 WHEREAS, corporate taxes have been identified by the OECD
28 as the most harmful tax for long-term economic growth by

‘OOPS’ indeed.

 

[Oldguy]

In essence corporations writing Federal and state laws regulating corporations.

Republican members of Congress and in other legislative venues should simply turn over their seats to the CEOs, and cut out the middleman altogether.

This also exhibits the idiocy of the right&#8217;s whining about America becoming &#8216;socialist.&#8217;

In Oklahoma, they've got a sweeter deal than that. Gov. Mary Fallin ran on a promise, in part, to put "stakeholders" (a euphemism used to denote corporate people) right inside the state agencies which regulate them. In other words, corporate toadies have moved into the very same office as those public employees tasked with overseeing things like environmental regulations, bank regulations, public utilities etc.

Of course, it's all being done in the guise of making Oklahoma "business friendly," but in reality it's letting the fox not only guard the henhouse, but letting him live there.

Naturally, the good citizens of Oklahoma voted for this blatant cronyism and corruption because Fallin is a "conservative" Republican and they think that's the ticket to a better future. It is...but not for them!

 

[dblack]

I am on topic, ALEC is hardly the only corporation that influences law to get an advantage for itself.

ALEC isn't a corporation in the sense you imply here. It's a 501 c "Association" of corporations, designed to make the profitable lobbying of the legislatures of all 50 states as efficient and secret as possible.

Read at least one link in the opening post or Google it for yourself and find a link you prefer. It helps in these discussions if you have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about.

In other words it has an agenda like every other fucking lobbying group...right?

Not really, no. There's no specific agenda. Despite the general 'conservative' moniker, what they really offer is streamlined access to politicians for corporations out to influence legislation nationwide.

 

[AVG-JOE]

ALEC isn't a corporation in the sense you imply here. It's a 501 c "Association" of corporations, designed to make the profitable lobbying of the legislatures of all 50 states as efficient and secret as possible.

Read at least one link in the opening post or Google it for yourself and find a link you prefer. It helps in these discussions if you have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about.

In other words it has an agenda like every other fucking lobbying group...right?

Not really, no. There's no specific agenda. Despite the general 'conservative' moniker, what they really offer is streamlined access to politicians for corporations out to influence legislation nationwide.

Just my average opinion, but I'd call that an agenda. An agenda that's worth millions.

 

[Si modo]

Corporate List:

ALEC corporations - Common Cause

_______________

Corporations who have deserted ALEC (Current through 07/2012)

Corporations that have left ALEC - Common Cause

The HuffyPuffy is on the list!

 

[occupied]

ALEC isn't a corporation in the sense you imply here. It's a 501 c "Association" of corporations, designed to make the profitable lobbying of the legislatures of all 50 states as efficient and secret as possible.

Read at least one link in the opening post or Google it for yourself and find a link you prefer. It helps in these discussions if you have a fucking clue as to what you're talking about.

In other words it has an agenda like every other fucking lobbying group...right?

Not really, no. There's no specific agenda. Despite the general 'conservative' moniker, what they really offer is streamlined access to politicians for corporations out to influence legislation nationwide.

They do have an agenda and it is pretty specific, they are almost entirely responsible for privately owned for-profit prisons and many of the hikes in penalties for specific crimes most likely to fill them, especially juvenile crimes. That's just one example but one that pisses me off the most. They are active in a wide variety of lobbying efforts that seem sort of scattered until you really look and find that one or more of their members stands to make or save a pile of cash from it.

 

[AVG-JOE]

Corporate List:

ALEC corporations - Common Cause

_______________

Corporations who have deserted ALEC (Current through 07/2012)

Corporations that have left ALEC - Common Cause

The HuffyPuffy is on the list!

The more you know, eh?