Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
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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.
Look up ALICE. It does the exact same thing for the left. I refuse to pretend that the problem exist only on one side.
I posted links to ALICE earlier in the thread. The difference is money and transparency. ALICE promotes specific legislation, but it doesn't wine and dine legislators at 5-star resorts in secret and it's staffed by volunteers, not high-priced lobbyists.
I also posted earlier that ALL of these lobbying groups need to become and/or remain transparent. Businesses, environmental groups, unions, etc all have the right to lobby their government - just not in secret and not with secret campaign money and gifts.
Transparency, transparency, transparency. Just as important as a fair and simple tax code, and laws requiring public budgets that are balanced as our species pursues its quest for Sentience and the stars.
Oh, I get it, the difference is you like what one of them does, so you are willing to ignore the problems, which allows you to pretend the other side is evil.
ALEC has at least one activist group that watches everything they do, and various state laws require them to report donors and all lobbying activity, they are more transparent than most unions, all of which write sample legislation for various states and the federal government.