What is ALEC?

[georgephillip]

"WASHINGTON - July 13 - Today, the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) made available over 800 'model' bills and resolutions secretly voted on by corporate and legislative members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

"ALEC has become the premier institution for crafting and promoting model legislation and resolutions that largely benefit its corporate members. Until today, it has been difficult to trace the controversial and oddly uniform bills popping up in legislatures across the country directly to ALEC..."

Center for Media & Democracy Unveils Trove of Over 800 ALEC "Model Bills" Secretly Voted on by Corporations | Common Dreams

Behind closed doors, ALEC allows corporations to write changes in state law that directly benefit the corporate bottom line.

"Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations.

"Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills.

"ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a 'unique,' 'unparalleled' and 'unmatched' organization.

"We agree.

"It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door..."

What is ALEC? - Alec Exposed

ALEC boasts 2,000 legislative members and more than 300 corporate members (often registered lobbyists) sitting as equals on nine task forces where they have a "voice and a vote" on model legislation.

Like the austerity bills currently impoverishing states like Wisconsin, Ohio, and Michigan.

 

[georgephillip]

Is ALEC a policy making program uniting the public and private sectors in a dynamic partnership based on "Jeffersonian principles" or just another corporate pay-for-play operation where "state legislators and their families get to go on industry funded junkets and major corporations get to ghostwrite model laws and pass them on to receptive politicians..."?

"Corporations pay hefty fees for the opportunity to discuss policy with legislators at ALEC's conferences, and they also host banquets, open-bar parties and baseball games.

"Legislators, on the other hand, pay a nominal membership fee, and can be eligible for 'scholarships' that pay for their conference attendance.

"When the legislators bring the model bills back to their state capitals, the role played by ALEC—or by the corporations—seems to be rarely, if ever, disclosed."

Stay tuned.

A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write ‘Model Bills’ - ProPublica

 

[dblack]

Heard about this in Fresh Air today, and followed up on the website. This pretty much confirms whats I've been claiming was going on for the last twenty years. Gotta say, in this instance, it sucks to be right.

 

[georgephillip]

Apparently Paul Weyrich created ALEC in 1973 after convincing Joseph Coors to fund the Heritage Foundation. Three years later, Weyrich collaborated with Jerry Falwell to found the Moral Majority.

Paul is credited (in Wiki) with coining the phrase "Moral Majority."

I guess my first Big Question is whether or not ALEC is a lobbying organization?
From ProPublica:

"Crucially, ALEC says it is not a lobbying organization, and thus because of its nonprofit status, it does not have to disclose its donors or the amount of their donations. (The Times says Common Cause is trying to challenge ALEC's nonprofit status.)

"Perhaps the most striking example of this process is the involvement of officials from the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private prison company, in the creation of Arizona's immigration law.

"As NPR reported last year, officials from Corrections Corporation were in the room when Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce discussed his ideas about immigration at a 2009 ALEC conference.

"Reports from Corrections Corporation reviewed by NPR indicated that their executives saw immigrant detention as their next big market, and that the company expected to bring in a 'significant portion' of their revenue from Immigrations and Custom Enforcement."

A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write ‘Model Bills’ - ProPublica

 

[dblack]

I've seen so many legislative 'trends' over the last couple of decades and wondered how it worked; how things like mandatory insurance laws, phony 'privatization' campaigns, seat-belt laws, drug prohibition, smoking bans (etc, etc, etc ...) and all the other regulations that protect corporate interests, were being so consistently implemented across the country, state-by-state. Organizations like ALEC (and I'm sure there are others) fill in that blanks.

If there's any sense of justice left in our country, any legislator associated with this group will be shamed out of office.

That's a big 'if'.

 

[zzzz]

It is not surprising that the capitalistic (was going to say industrial but Walmart is even in ALEC) forces use every means to further their agenda to make money. After all that is what the stock holders want, returns on their investments. Sometimes its like a dog chasing its own tail.

... ALEC and the Kochs often pursue parallel tracks. Just as ALEC “educates” legislators, Koch funding has helped “tutor” hundreds of judges with all-expenses-paid junkets at fancy resorts, where they learn about the “free market” impact of their rulings. But ALEC also operates like an arm of the Koch agenda, circulating bills that make their vision of the world concrete. For a mere $25,000 a year, Koch Industries sits as an “equal” board member with state legislators, influencing bills that serve as a wish list for its financial or ideological interests.

It’s a pittance for the Kochs but far out of the reach of working Americans. Ordinary citizens rely on our elected representatives’ efforts to restore what’s left of the American Dream. But through ALEC, billionaire industrialists are purchasing a version that seems like a real nightmare for most Americans.

ALEC Exposed: The Koch Connection | The Nation

 

[georgephillip]

I've seen so many legislative 'trends' over the last couple of decades and wondered how it worked; how things like mandatory insurance laws, phony 'privatization' campaigns, seat-belt laws, drug prohibition, smoking bans (etc, etc, etc ...) and all the other regulations that protect corporate interests, were being so consistently implemented across the country, state-by-state. Organizations like ALEC (and I'm sure there are others) fill in that blanks.

If there's any sense of justice left in our country, any legislator associated with this group will be shamed out of office.

That's a big 'if'.

I hadn't made the connection between mandatory insurance and phony (crony?) privatization campaigns. With the exception of smoking bans which I see as a legitimate public health concern, it's becoming more clear how the corporation and limited liability limit our public space to militarized law enforcement and sham elections every two years.

I don't think shame stands a chance when it comes to disenfranchising elected Democrats OR Republicans.

There are enough established third party candidates already appearing on enough states' ballots to FLUSH hundreds of incumbents from DC in a single news cycle.

I suspect mostly Democrats would avail themselves of that "nuclear" option in 2012
.
Which means we could wind up with Republicans in control of congress and the White House two years from today.

Then what?

 

[georgephillip]

It is not surprising that the capitalistic (was going to say industrial but Walmart is even in ALEC) forces use every means to further their agenda to make money. After all that is what the stock holders want, returns on their investments. Sometimes its like a dog chasing its own tail.

... ALEC and the Kochs often pursue parallel tracks. Just as ALEC “educates” legislators, Koch funding has helped “tutor” hundreds of judges with all-expenses-paid junkets at fancy resorts, where they learn about the “free market” impact of their rulings. But ALEC also operates like an arm of the Koch agenda, circulating bills that make their vision of the world concrete. For a mere $25,000 a year, Koch Industries sits as an “equal” board member with state legislators, influencing bills that serve as a wish list for its financial or ideological interests.

It’s a pittance for the Kochs but far out of the reach of working Americans. Ordinary citizens rely on our elected representatives’ efforts to restore what’s left of the American Dream. But through ALEC, billionaire industrialists are purchasing a version that seems like a real nightmare for most Americans.

ALEC Exposed: The Koch Connection | The Nation

Do you think it's possible we've reached a level of technological evolution where capitalism, with its concern for profit above all else, is no longer able to provide a job to every US worker who needs one?

Finance capitalism in particular seems to have completely removed itself from its historical mission of providing funding for productive enterprises, it's even been alleged a substantial majority of trades in financial markets today are made by high-speed computers in securities held for fractions of a second.

Six Ways to Liberate America From Wall Street Rule | Truthout

 

[uscitizen]

Why do we need to produce anything?
We just need to play around with investments, money, etc and "make" our money that way?

then just buy everything produced in other countrys.

It is a large part of our current path.

 

[zzzz]

It isn't about jobs, its about profit. The ideal business model would to have no human workers just robots. No unemployment taxes, no health insurance, no sick days, no injuries, no lackadaisical efforts no meal rooms, no wages or other human entitlements. Of course if no body works then nobody can afford to buy anything so it is a "Catch 22" and there has to be a point of equilibrium between the optimum production of product, (just robots) and the need for (jobs) consumers. The trend has been toward production and away from total employment. What is the point of equilibrium? There is no simplistic answer but it appears that in the US we are looking at high unemployment rates as the norm and extreme unemployment rates occasionally in economic downturns.

The future looks bleak for the average American. It is the average American who pays taxes, who are losing their jobs, whose living is started to become threatened by rising prices. The more industries rely on technology and the elimination of the average worker the more the average American is threatened. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the big business pay no taxes, get tax abatement's by local governments seeking to keep the few jobs they promise, and continue to put cash into their coffers. What is the answer? I do not know. The point of equilibrium between production and consumer has been crossed but how far will it go till the pendulum swings back?

 

[ScreamingEagle]

It isn't about jobs, its about profit. The ideal business model would to have no human workers just robots. No unemployment taxes, no health insurance, no sick days, no injuries, no lackadaisical efforts no meal rooms, no wages or other human entitlements. Of course if no body works then nobody can afford to buy anything so it is a "Catch 22" and there has to be a point of equilibrium between the optimum production of product, (just robots) and the need for (jobs) consumers. The trend has been toward production and away from total employment. What is the point of equilibrium? There is no simplistic answer but it appears that in the US we are looking at high unemployment rates as the norm and extreme unemployment rates occasionally in economic downturns.

The future looks bleak for the average American. It is the average American who pays taxes, who are losing their jobs, whose living is started to become threatened by rising prices. The more industries rely on technology and the elimination of the average worker the more the average American is threatened. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the big business pay no taxes, get tax abatement's by local governments seeking to keep the few jobs they promise, and continue to put cash into their coffers. What is the answer? I do not know. The point of equilibrium between production and consumer has been crossed but how far will it go till the pendulum swings back?

Of course it's all about profit...or don't you understand what "making money" is all about....? That's why a company gets into business in the first place....not to necessarily provide people with jobs. If a company could buy cheap robots to do the jobs it probably would. Every company has the RIGHT to go after its own best interests. Companies are not some sort of "entitlement" playground for its workers....workers are either profitable to the company or they get "downsized"...if you don't like that you have the right to quit a job and find better employment elsewhere or else start your own company...

You liberals seem to think corporate lobbyists are somehow evil....but of course you only attack the Republican lobbyists....however there are plenty of Democrat lobbyists as well...both sides of the political spectrum are looking out for their own interests....

Lobbying and lobbyists are part and parcel of the whole Democratic process.....the right to lobby is protected by the RIGHT TO PETITION which if you took the time to look you would find in the FIRST AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION...

btw.....the Center for Media and Democracy....the group that did this hatchet job on the ALEC group.....is ITSELF a lobbying group (but like ALEC says it isn't).....a liberal non-profit American-based media research group....it was founded in 1993 by environmentalist writer and political activist John Stauber...it favors "grassroots citizen activism that promotes public health, economic justice, ecological sustainability and human rights."

The Capital Research Center, a conservative organization, which rates the ideological leanings of American non-profits on a 1-8 scale it describes as "1=Radical Left and 8=Free Market Right", gives the Center for Media and Democracy a ranking of "2", at the far left end of its scale.

Center for Media and Democracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[georgephillip]

Why do we need to produce anything?
We just need to play around with investments, money, etc and "make" our money that way?

then just buy everything produced in other countrys.

It is a large part of our current path.

The free-market fundamentalism you describe seems to be working pretty well for 1% of the US population while consigning millions of other Americans to perpetual unemployment.

"No one knows how much the Kochs have given ALEC in total, but the amount likely exceeds $1 million—not including a half-million loaned to ALEC when the group was floundering. ALEC gave the Kochs its Adam Smith Free Enterprise Award, and Koch Industries has been one of the select members of ALEC’s corporate board for almost twenty years.

"The company’s top lobbyist was once ALEC’s chairman.

"As a result, the Kochs have shaped legislation touching every state in the country.

"Like ideological venture capitalists, the Kochs have used ALEC as a way to invest in radical ideas and fertilize them with tons of cash."

ALEC Exposed: The Koch Connection | The Nation

Maybe it's time for some radical ideas on the Left.
Like a guaranteed annual income regardless of whether you are employed or not?

 

[georgephillip]

It isn't about jobs, its about profit. The ideal business model would to have no human workers just robots. No unemployment taxes, no health insurance, no sick days, no injuries, no lackadaisical efforts no meal rooms, no wages or other human entitlements. Of course if no body works then nobody can afford to buy anything so it is a "Catch 22" and there has to be a point of equilibrium between the optimum production of product, (just robots) and the need for (jobs) consumers. The trend has been toward production and away from total employment. What is the point of equilibrium? There is no simplistic answer but it appears that in the US we are looking at high unemployment rates as the norm and extreme unemployment rates occasionally in economic downturns.

The future looks bleak for the average American. It is the average American who pays taxes, who are losing their jobs, whose living is started to become threatened by rising prices. The more industries rely on technology and the elimination of the average worker the more the average American is threatened. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the big business pay no taxes, get tax abatement's by local governments seeking to keep the few jobs they promise, and continue to put cash into their coffers. What is the answer? I do not know. The point of equilibrium between production and consumer has been crossed but how far will it go till the pendulum swings back?

Is subsistence a human right?

FDR may have thought so, if you judge by his Four Freedoms:

"The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people 'everywhere in the world' ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of worship
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear

"His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional US Constitutional values protected by its First Amendment, and endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy that have come to be central tenets of modern American liberalism[citation needed].

"They also anticipated what would become known decades later as the 'human security' paradigm in social science and economic development."

Maybe it's time national security was enhanced by human security?

Four Freedoms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ScreamingEagle]

It isn't about jobs, its about profit. The ideal business model would to have no human workers just robots. No unemployment taxes, no health insurance, no sick days, no injuries, no lackadaisical efforts no meal rooms, no wages or other human entitlements. Of course if no body works then nobody can afford to buy anything so it is a "Catch 22" and there has to be a point of equilibrium between the optimum production of product, (just robots) and the need for (jobs) consumers. The trend has been toward production and away from total employment. What is the point of equilibrium? There is no simplistic answer but it appears that in the US we are looking at high unemployment rates as the norm and extreme unemployment rates occasionally in economic downturns.

The future looks bleak for the average American. It is the average American who pays taxes, who are losing their jobs, whose living is started to become threatened by rising prices. The more industries rely on technology and the elimination of the average worker the more the average American is threatened. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the big business pay no taxes, get tax abatement's by local governments seeking to keep the few jobs they promise, and continue to put cash into their coffers. What is the answer? I do not know. The point of equilibrium between production and consumer has been crossed but how far will it go till the pendulum swings back?

Is subsistence a human right?

FDR may have thought so, if you judge by his Four Freedoms:

"The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people 'everywhere in the world' ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of worship
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear

"His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional US Constitutional values protected by its First Amendment, and endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy that have come to be central tenets of modern American liberalism[citation needed].

"They also anticipated what would become known decades later as the 'human security' paradigm in social science and economic development."

Maybe it's time national security was enhanced by human security?

Four Freedoms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

freedom from want and fear...?

socialists will trade their freedom for security...security that always turns into bondage....

 

[Mustang]

I've heard about this. "Legislation" is created outside of the legislative process and then "handed off" like a football to politicians who are members to introduce at the state level.

 

[georgephillip]

It isn't about jobs, its about profit. The ideal business model would to have no human workers just robots. No unemployment taxes, no health insurance, no sick days, no injuries, no lackadaisical efforts no meal rooms, no wages or other human entitlements. Of course if no body works then nobody can afford to buy anything so it is a "Catch 22" and there has to be a point of equilibrium between the optimum production of product, (just robots) and the need for (jobs) consumers. The trend has been toward production and away from total employment. What is the point of equilibrium? There is no simplistic answer but it appears that in the US we are looking at high unemployment rates as the norm and extreme unemployment rates occasionally in economic downturns.

The future looks bleak for the average American. It is the average American who pays taxes, who are losing their jobs, whose living is started to become threatened by rising prices. The more industries rely on technology and the elimination of the average worker the more the average American is threatened. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the big business pay no taxes, get tax abatement's by local governments seeking to keep the few jobs they promise, and continue to put cash into their coffers. What is the answer? I do not know. The point of equilibrium between production and consumer has been crossed but how far will it go till the pendulum swings back?

Is subsistence a human right?

FDR may have thought so, if you judge by his Four Freedoms:

"The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people 'everywhere in the world' ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of worship
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear

"His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional US Constitutional values protected by its First Amendment, and endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy that have come to be central tenets of modern American liberalism[citation needed].

"They also anticipated what would become known decades later as the 'human security' paradigm in social science and economic development."

Maybe it's time national security was enhanced by human security?

Four Freedoms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

freedom from want and fear...?

socialists will trade their freedom for security...security that always turns into bondage....

How many Socialists voted for the Patriot Act?

Conservatives are the ones running for the shelter of the nanny (Homeland Security) state today.

"Every year 18 million of the earth's six billion inhabitants die from lacking means of subsistence.

"We who live in developed nations typically blame this catastrophe on drought, overpopulation, resource mismanagement, corrupt government, and other local factors, thereby relieving ourselves of any responsibility for this crime.

"At the same time, we do not hesitate to invoke the language of human rights in condemning this state of affairs.

"Either we do so in the name of moral progress – as when we say, following the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that the world has fallen short of achieving an aspiration essential to civilized humanity; or we do so in the name of moral offense, as when we condemn selected government officials for having committed acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the like.

"One might ponder whether either of these two senses of human rights... generates a moral discourse sufficient for coming to terms with globalization.

"In particular, one wonders whether they adequately respond to the fact that we are dealing with the imposition of impersonal social structures and institutions that prevent the poor from freely accessing their means of subsistence."

What do you see coming from globalization?
Freedom or security?

Habermas on the human right to subsistence — Site

 

[georgephillip]

I've heard about this. "Legislation" is created outside of the legislative process and then "handed off" like a football to politicians who are members to introduce at the state level.

ALEC began in 1973 as a "non-profit" for creating "model" state legislation:

"This week, both the Los Angeles Times and The Nation put the spotlight on a little-known but influential conservative nonprofit that creates 'model' state legislation that often make its way into law.

"The organization has helped craft some of the most controversial—and industry-friendly—legislation of recent years.

"The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, crafted a model resolution for states calling the EPA's attempts to regulate greenhouse gasses a 'trainwreck' and asking Congress to slow or stop the regulations, the Times reported.

"A press release on ALEC's site says that at least 13 other states have passed resolutions based on their model language."

A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write ‘Model Bills’ - ProPublica

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Is subsistence a human right?

FDR may have thought so, if you judge by his Four Freedoms:

"The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people 'everywhere in the world' ought to enjoy:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of worship
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear

"His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional US Constitutional values protected by its First Amendment, and endorsed a right to economic security and an internationalist view of foreign policy that have come to be central tenets of modern American liberalism[citation needed].

"They also anticipated what would become known decades later as the 'human security' paradigm in social science and economic development."

Maybe it's time national security was enhanced by human security?

Four Freedoms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

freedom from want and fear...?

socialists will trade their freedom for security...security that always turns into bondage....

How many Socialists voted for the Patriot Act?

Conservatives are the ones running for the shelter of the nanny (Homeland Security) state today.

"Every year 18 million of the earth's six billion inhabitants die from lacking means of subsistence.

"We who live in developed nations typically blame this catastrophe on drought, overpopulation, resource mismanagement, corrupt government, and other local factors, thereby relieving ourselves of any responsibility for this crime.

"At the same time, we do not hesitate to invoke the language of human rights in condemning this state of affairs.

"Either we do so in the name of moral progress – as when we say, following the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that the world has fallen short of achieving an aspiration essential to civilized humanity; or we do so in the name of moral offense, as when we condemn selected government officials for having committed acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the like.

"One might ponder whether either of these two senses of human rights... generates a moral discourse sufficient for coming to terms with globalization.

"In particular, one wonders whether they adequately respond to the fact that we are dealing with the imposition of impersonal social structures and institutions that prevent the poor from freely accessing their means of subsistence."

What do you see coming from globalization?
Freedom or security?

Habermas on the human right to subsistence — Site

Freedom will exist if countries pursue democratic processes along with free trade....

Security is only an empty promise made by international Socialists who want to control the world...even though history has proved that socialism is a big fat failure...

You bring up the problem of subsistence.....yet our socialist government is promoting ethanol subsidies which literally take food out of the mouths of babes....America can feed the world if only government regulations would get out of the way....instead BO and his avalanche of regulations are strangling our farmers...

 

[ScreamingEagle]

I've heard about this. "Legislation" is created outside of the legislative process and then "handed off" like a football to politicians who are members to introduce at the state level.

ALEC began in 1973 as a "non-profit" for creating "model" state legislation:

"This week, both the Los Angeles Times and The Nation put the spotlight on a little-known but influential conservative nonprofit that creates 'model' state legislation that often make its way into law.

"The organization has helped craft some of the most controversial—and industry-friendly—legislation of recent years.

"The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, crafted a model resolution for states calling the EPA's attempts to regulate greenhouse gasses a 'trainwreck' and asking Congress to slow or stop the regulations, the Times reported.

"A press release on ALEC's site says that at least 13 other states have passed resolutions based on their model language."

A Discreet Nonprofit Brings Together Politicians and Corporations to Write ‘Model Bills’ - ProPublica

yes....ALEC is an organization fighting the socialism of BO......see alec.org

if anybody does not like legislation being "handed off" by lobbyists to our congressmen then they need to wake up and smell the coffee.....this is the practice on both sides of the aisle....and a good reason to downsize government. i.e. cut spending....and make our politicians more accountable...

 

[dblack]

yes....ALEC is an organization fighting the socialism of BO......see alec.org

Not really.

if anybody does not like legislation being "handed off" by lobbyists to our congressmen then they need to wake up and smell the coffee.....this is the practice on both sides of the aisle....and a good reason to downsize government. i.e. cut spending....and make our politicians more accountable...

Yep. Both "sides".

They're not fighting socialism. They're promoting corporatism, which is much worse.