ALEC: The ultimate “smoke-filled room”

[Political Junky]

ALEC: The ultimate “smoke-filled room” with Fat Cats and our Politicians in NOLA this weekend - Three Sonorans

 

[BDBoop]

VIDEO: Security Guards At American Legislative Exchange Council Conference Physically Attack ThinkProgress Reporters | ThinkProgress

ALEC calls itself an open organization that exists simply to advance “principles of Jeffersonian democracy.” Facing recent scrutiny by the media, one prominent ALEC member told the Daily Iowan that there’s “nothing sinister, there’s nothing secretive about [ALEC].” However, the incident yesterday underscores the suspicion that the organization is a secret conduit for corporate lobbyists to literally write legislation for state lawmakers without having their fingerprints on the bill. To maintain this secrecy, ALEC appears more than willing to kick out media and close their doors to the public.

Earlier in the day, when Fang and Keyes were sitting in the first floor lobby, they witnessed ALEC public affairs official Raegan Weber point to them while speaking to the hotel security. However, contacted by ThinkProgress over phone after the incident yesterday, Weber denied telling the security to go after us, and said she would get back to us with a statement concerning what happened. Nearly a day later, we have not heard back from her.

 

[Oddball]

 

[Full-Auto]

VIDEO: Security Guards At American Legislative Exchange Council Conference Physically Attack ThinkProgress Reporters | ThinkProgress

‪ThinkProgress kicked out of ALEC conference‬‏ - YouTube

ALEC calls itself an open organization that exists simply to advance “principles of Jeffersonian democracy.” Facing recent scrutiny by the media, one prominent ALEC member told the Daily Iowan that there’s “nothing sinister, there’s nothing secretive about [ALEC].” However, the incident yesterday underscores the suspicion that the organization is a secret conduit for corporate lobbyists to literally write legislation for state lawmakers without having their fingerprints on the bill. To maintain this secrecy, ALEC appears more than willing to kick out media and close their doors to the public.

Earlier in the day, when Fang and Keyes were sitting in the first floor lobby, they witnessed ALEC public affairs official Raegan Weber point to them while speaking to the hotel security. However, contacted by ThinkProgress over phone after the incident yesterday, Weber denied telling the security to go after us, and said she would get back to us with a statement concerning what happened. Nearly a day later, we have not heard back from her.

They just kicked them out and didnt lock them in the closet like the President. How rude!

 

[BDBoop]

Origins of the debt showdown - The Washington Post

Lots of information.

 

[BDBoop]

The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor | The Nation

Somewhat more familiar is ALEC’s instrumental role in the explosion of the US prison population in the past few decades. ALEC helped pioneer some of the toughest sentencing laws on the books today, like mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenders, “three strikes” laws, and “truth in sentencing” laws. In 1995 alone, ALEC’s Truth in Sentencing Act was signed into law in twenty-five states. (Then State Rep. Scott Walker was an ALEC member when he sponsored Wisconsin's truth-in-sentencing laws and, according to PR Watch, used its statistics to make the case for the law.) More recently, ALEC has proposed innovative “solutions” to the overcrowding it helped create, such as privatizing the parole process through “the proven success of the private bail bond industry,” as it recommended in 2007. (The American Bail Coalition is an executive member of ALEC’s Public Safety and Elections Task Force.) ALEC has also worked to pass state laws to create private for-profit prisons, a boon to two of its major corporate sponsors: Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group (formerly Wackenhut Corrections), the largest private prison firms in the country. An In These Times investigation last summer revealed that ALEC arranged secret meetings between Arizona’s state legislators and CCA to draft what became SB 1070, Arizona’s notorious immigration law, to keep CCA prisons flush with immigrant detainees. ALEC has proven expertly capable of devising endless ways to help private corporations benefit from the country’s massive prison population.

New Expose Tracks ALEC Support of Replacing Union Workers With Prison Labor | Video Cafe

 

[kyzr]

You need to wear an aluminum foil hat to post on this thread...

 

[Political Junky]

Cons really hate having facts thrown at them. Lots of information, on this thread alone.

 

[BDBoop]

Truly. PLAYBOY Magazine, people. We're not talking ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, Space Oddity. ALEC got cocky, the Kochroaches got cocky, and they started making mistakes. Now, people are watching.

Anybody else find it interesting that since Rick Santelli had his little meltdown on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Kochroach brothers net worth has gone up $16b? From $28b to $44b. They orchestrated it, and the lemmings bought it hook, line and motherfucking sinker.

No wonder they attribute everything to tinfoil beanies. That's their comfort zone. That's what they know.

 

[dilloduck]

Truly. PLAYBOY Magazine, people. We're not talking ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, Space Oddity. ALEC got cocky, the Kochroaches got cocky, and they started making mistakes. Now, people are watching.

Anybody else find it interesting that since Rick Santelli had his little meltdown on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Kochroach brothers net worth has gone up $16b? From $28b to $44b. They orchestrated it, and the lemmings bought it hook, line and motherfucking sinker.

No wonder they attribute everything to tinfoil beanies. That's their comfort zone. That's what they know.

Are liberals powerless to change this ?

 

[BDBoop]

I don't know enough about the law to say either way, but I figure their reign is about over.

 

[Toro]

fwiw

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=138537515

 

[BDBoop]

fwiw

How ALEC Shapes States' Legislation Behind The Scenes : NPR

Exactly. The more people become aware and share what they find, the less the puppet masters can get away with.

 

[dilloduck]

fwiw

How ALEC Shapes States' Legislation Behind The Scenes : NPR

Exactly. The more people become aware and share what they find, the less the puppet masters can get away with.

One would think so but through the magic of politics our leaders just seem to feel free to screw us with impunity. Look how long it's worked for them.

 

[BDBoop]

I think this that we're experiencing right now has been a wake-up call. Politics will always be corrupt to some degree. All the machinations by outsiders is bordering on illegal, though. So the more people who become aware, spread the word, and demand action from their representatives, the better the chance we can actually start fighting back and gaining ground.

 

[Si modo]

I think this that we're experiencing right now has been a wake-up call. Politics will always be corrupt to some degree. All the machinations by outsiders is bordering on illegal, though. So the more people who become aware, spread the word, and demand action from their representatives, the better the chance we can actually start fighting back and gaining ground.

[Emphasis added}

"Outsiders"? What do you mean?

 

[Steelplate]

Truly. PLAYBOY Magazine, people. We're not talking ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, Space Oddity. ALEC got cocky, the Kochroaches got cocky, and they started making mistakes. Now, people are watching.

Anybody else find it interesting that since Rick Santelli had his little meltdown on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Kochroach brothers net worth has gone up $16b? From $28b to $44b. They orchestrated it, and the lemmings bought it hook, line and motherfucking sinker.

No wonder they attribute everything to tinfoil beanies. That's their comfort zone. That's what they know.

The part I bolded is what is going to make the Tea Party(in it's current form) a flash in the pan. Very few of their followers knew what they really stood for. They took Corporatism, elitism and wrapped it in an American Flag, the Cross of Jesus, and the basic idea that everyone doesn't like to be taxed, and ran with it. Now they are seeing a glimpse of that extremist ideology and all but the most ardent are gradually, but steadily... abandoning it.

The Tea Party is pretty much the antithesis of the Communist Party.... 180 degree difference... but just as extreme and just as dangerous.

 

[Oddball]

 

[BDBoop]

Truly. PLAYBOY Magazine, people. We're not talking ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, Space Oddity. ALEC got cocky, the Kochroaches got cocky, and they started making mistakes. Now, people are watching.

Anybody else find it interesting that since Rick Santelli had his little meltdown on the floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange, the Kochroach brothers net worth has gone up $16b? From $28b to $44b. They orchestrated it, and the lemmings bought it hook, line and motherfucking sinker.

No wonder they attribute everything to tinfoil beanies. That's their comfort zone. That's what they know.

The part I bolded is what is going to make the Tea Party(in it's current form) a flash in the pan. Very few of their followers knew what they really stood for. They took Corporatism, elitism and wrapped it in an American Flag, the Cross of Jesus, and the basic idea that everyone doesn't like to be taxed, and ran with it. Now they are seeing a glimpse of that extremist ideology and all but the most ardent are gradually, but steadily... abandoning it.

The Tea Party is pretty much the antithesis of the Communist Party.... 180 degree difference... but just as extreme and just as dangerous.

Actually, it's one-and-the-same. The Koch brothers created and funded the Tea Party. Google the two together and start reading.

BACKGROUND & COMMENTARY: The Koch brothers, the Tea Party movement, & the debt ceiling

 

[Si modo]

Who are these "outsiders" you referred to, Boob?

Freudian slip?