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Scooped by
Eric Byler
July 5, 2012 5:07 PM
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by JASON LEOPOLD, Truthout Will the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launch an investigation into the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the corporate-backed "nonpartisan" "stealth business lobbyist" group that has been accused of flouting civil and criminal tax laws?
That's the obvious question to ask after a prominent Washington, DC-based tax attorney, acting at the behest of one of his clients, sent the IRS a 30-page complaint two weeks ago, following a months-long exhaustive study of ALEC's tax filings, expenditures and public reports about its political activities. The study contained dozens of new examples of how ALEC, whose board is made up entirely of Republican lawmakers, has violated its tax-exempt status.
ALEC has claimed on its annual tax filings with the IRS that it has not engaged in lobbying activities, but publicly boasts that it has helped write and enact at least 1,000 pieces of legislation, such as the controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, used as a defense in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. ALEC's assertion is undercut by the fact that the organization's attorneys, Mark Behrens and Corey Schaecher, registered as lobbyists to represent ALEC in 2008 and 2009, according to North Dakota state records.
More: http://ht.ly/c2OLq
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 27, 2012 1:10 AM
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by LISA GRAVES, The Nation Hundreds of ALEC’s model bills and resolutions bear traces of Koch DNA: raw ideas that were once at the fringes but that have been carved into “mainstream” policy through the wealth and will of Charles and David Koch. Of all the Kochs’ investments in right-wing organizations, ALEC provides some of the best returns: it gives the Kochs a way to make their brand of free-market fundamentalism legally binding. 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. Take environmental protections. The Kochs have a penchant for paying their way out of serious violations and coming out ahead. Helped by Koch Industries’ lobbying efforts, one of the first measures George W. Bush signed into law as governor of Texas was an ALEC model bill giving corporations immunity from penalties if they tell regulators about their own violation of environmental rules. Dozens of other ALEC bills would limit environmental regulations or litigation in ways that would benefit Koch. http://www.thenation.com/article/161973/koch-connection
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 13, 2012 1:36 PM
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By Jessica Goad, Think Progress Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. just announced this morning that it is dropping out of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the right-wing corporate front group that drafts and shares conservative legislation with state legislators. It has been behind various state “stand your ground” gun laws, voter suppression laws and efforts to teach climate change denial in schools. ALEC has also endorsed various state attempts to “reclaim” federal public lands that belong to all Americans, which could eventually subject them to privatization and development. As the Associated Press reported: Lawmakers in Utah and Arizona have said the legislation is endorsed by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group that advocates conservative ideals, and they expect it to eventually be introduced in other Western states. In March, Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed an ALEC-backed bill into law that demands Congress turn over 30 million acres of public lands to the state or it will sue. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) vetoed similar legislation last month citing costs and dubious constitutionality.
More: http://ht.ly/byFgj
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Rescooped by
Eric Byler
from Coffee Party News
June 10, 2012 2:57 AM
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2005 Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signs the Stand Your Ground bill into law. It is the "first step of a multi-state strategy," says a top official with the National Rifle Association. Former NRA president Marion Hammer—who crafted language used in the bill—later presents Florida's law to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national corporate-sponsored consortium of lawmakers. ALEC adopts Stand Your Ground as model legislation.
2006 With help from ALEC, Stand Your Ground laws similar to Florida's pass in 13 other states, from Mississippi to Arizona. Meanwhile, in Miami, a man shoots 14 bullets at a car full of gang members and later avoids prosecution by citing the law.
2007 Justifiable homicides by civilians in Florida more than triple from the prior year (and will rise further by 2011). Four more states adopt Stand Your Ground laws: Missouri, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
2008 A 15-year-old Tallahassee boy dies while caught in a shoot-out between rival gangs; two of the gang members successfully take refuge behind the Stand Your Ground law. Ohio and West Virginia join the list of SYG states.
2009 Four months after Montana's Stand Your Ground law goes into effect, a Walmart employee in Billings is released from custody after claiming he shot a co-worker in the face with a .25-caliber Beretta handgun out of self-defense. (He would not be charged.)
2011 New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin join the list. Nationwide, between 2005 and 2010, justifiable homicides by civilians using firearms doubled in states with the laws, while falling or remaining about the same in states lacking them. [MORE]
Via Lynda Park
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:54 AM
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Virtual schools are great at making money, but they can't seem to educate kids.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:53 AM
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The editorial board of The Wall Street Journal and employees of Fox News have repeatedly shielded the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) from criticism without disclosing that parent company News Corp. is a member of that organization.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:53 AM
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The group, which has attracted protests and calls for investigations, writes legislation that conservative lawmakers try to get passed in their states.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:52 AM
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Walmart has improved when it comes to the Black community. Back in October of last year, I asked if Walmart’s $5 million donation to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African-American History was “too little too late.” “While a donation to the Smithsonian is certainly generous,” I wrote, “one wonders if that money couldn’t have been more helpful to African-Americans if it were put into something else, like higher wages and cheaper health insurance for the thousands of Blacks currently employed at Walmart.” Fast-forward seven months and Walmart appears to be showing a newfound commitment to the needs of the nation’s African-American community. In January, the company hired its first Black CEO, Rosalind Brewer, who now heads up the Sam’s Club warehouse retail chain. A month later, in February, Walmart donated nearly $10 million to promote healthy eating in minority communities. That donation came after working in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama and her campaign to fight childhood obesity throughout America.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 4, 2012 6:25 PM
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Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board will investigate whether the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) should be registered as a lobbyist in the state, according to a letter sent to Common Cause-Minnesota. The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has also asked Wisconsin's ethics board to investigate ALEC's activities, and this month the Wisconsin Attorney General referred a joint complaint about ALEC’s lobbying--by CMD and Common Cause-Wisconsin--to the state ethics board.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 4, 2012 6:24 PM
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Wal-Mart is a major multi-national corporation that can now be added to a growing list of companies including Amazon, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Wendy’s, Mars, Inc.,Arizona Public Service, the National Board for Professional Teaching StandardsScantron, TheNational Association of Charter School Authorizers, Kaplan, Procter & Gamble, Yum! Brands,five Pennsylvania legislators, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Reed Elsevier, American Traffic Solutions,Intuit, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Scooped by
Eric Byler
June 2, 2012 9:13 PM
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This Monday's program will be about the Tuesday recall election in Wisconsin. Will the Koch Brother billionairs keep their poster boy Scott Walker in the Governor's mansion, hacking away at the rights of working people and organized labor, or will the challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett send him to the U-Haul store? I want to hear from you, no matter what side you take! Tune in & Call in. Monday @ 8pm PT / 11pm ET
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
May 29, 2012 2:46 AM
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OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — nternet retailer Amazon.com Inc. is dropping its affiliation with a conservative political group, in part because of some of the positions the American Legislative Exchange Council has taken, a spokeswoman said Thursday. Amazon’s decision follows that of several major companies around the country who have announced in recent months that they are leaving ALEC. Liberal activists have led a coordinated campaign to highlight how ALEC operates and some of the controversial pieces of legislation the organization endorsed. MORE: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2012/may/24/amazon-breaks-ties-conservative-group-alec/
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
May 25, 2012 1:18 AM
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Is ALEC really a "charity"? They receive tax-exempt donations? REALLY? Seems suspect right - since they lobby so much?
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
July 4, 2012 9:09 PM
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Dell Computers confirmed today that they will not be renewing their membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council Education (ALEC). Dell, whose ads in the early 2000s included the slogan was a member of the ALEC Education Task Force and is the twentieth corporate member (and the twenty-fourth private sector member) to drop their ALEC membership in recent months.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 20, 2012 12:49 PM
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by Rebekah Wilce, PR Watch With Fox personalities defending the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Wall Street Journal publishing editorials criticizing its detractors (including the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), by name), some have wondered whether or not Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and many broadcast licenses, is an ALEC member. Yes, News Corp. is an ALEC member. It has funded ALEC operations. Documents obtained and released by Common Cause show that News Corp. was a member of ALEC's Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force as of April 2010. Adam Peshek, who staffs ALEC's Education Task Force, told Education Week that News Corp. has been a member of both ALEC's Education Task Force and Communications and Technology Task Force since January 2012. However, the public does not have complete records indicating when News Corp. first started supporting ALEC or the duration of its involvement on these two task forces or other ALEC task forces, if any, in 2011 and prior years. (The Common Cause documents begin in 2010, and ALEC has stopped circulating its task force member list even to other task force members.) MORE: http://tinyurl.com/7e8dy4v
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Rescooped by
Eric Byler
from Coffee Party News
June 13, 2012 1:33 PM
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by Annie-Rose Strasser, Think Progress Pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson announced todaythat they are dropping their membership from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).Johnson and Johnson has been facing mounting pressure following a push from Color of Change and other progressive groups to leave the conservative agenda-setting group. ALEC is responsible for crafting voter suppression legislation that has been used in state houses across the country, and the “Stand Your Ground” law that originally protected Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman. Johnson and Johnson is the latest in a huge wave of groups leaving ALEC. Other groups that have dropped ALEC include: Walmart, Amazon.com, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft, Wendy’s, Mars, Inc., Arizona Public Service, the National Board for Professional Teaching StandardsScantron, The National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Kaplan, Procter & Gamble, Yum! Brands, five Pennsylvania legislators, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Reed Elsevier, American Traffic Solutions, Intuit, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Via Lynda Park
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:54 AM
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OLYMPIA, Wash. — Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc. is dropping its affiliation with a conservative political group, in part because of some of the positions the American Legislative Exchange Council has taken, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:54 AM
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Just one day after the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) disbanded its Public Safety and Elections Task Force that was responsible for model voter ID and "Kill At Will" self-defense legislation like that linked to Trayvon Martin's death, a new organization emerged to carry the torch for the implementation of voter ID laws nationwide.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:53 AM
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Here’s a twist: A press release issued today identifies and praises 35 Virginia state lawmakers for NOT belonging to a national lobby group.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:53 AM
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This is the 19th, and largest, company to suspend its membership in the conservative advocacy group since its support for "Stand your ground" laws came under scrutiny.
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Suggested by
Michael Charney
June 9, 2012 11:27 AM
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by ROBERT GREENWALD If any doubt was left about the power of big money in our politics, the Wisconsin election destroyed it. Charles and David Koch goosed Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign with $10 million through their front group Americans for Prosperity, $1 million through the Republican Governors Association, and more from members of the “million-dollar donor club” of financial titans that meet regularly at Koch-hosted secret summits. Meanwhile, the official campaign of Democratic opponent Tom Barrett raised about $4 million. Is it any wonder that Walker climbed steadily in the polls and ultimately won?
Yet as my new film Koch Brothers Exposed illustrates, the Kochs’ political influence goes beyond buying the public debate
http://my.firedoglake.com/robertgreenwald/2012/06/08/the-kochs-double-whammy/
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
June 10, 2012 12:54 AM
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The Working Washington group led a week of action culminating in a large protest at Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting this morning.
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Suggested by
Lynda Park
June 4, 2012 6:22 PM
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by Rebekah Wilce, The Center for Media and Democracy's PR Watch With Fox personalities defending the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Wall Street Journal publishing editorials criticizing its detractors (including the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), by name), some have wondered whether or not Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and many broadcast licenses, is an ALEC member. Yes, News Corp. is an ALEC member. It has funded ALEC operations.
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
May 29, 2012 2:49 AM
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The American Association for Justice The Koch Brothers, big tobacco, insurance companies, and the drug industry: all behind the shadowy corporate front group known as the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). On the surface, ALEC is mostly comprised of thousands of state legislators, each paying a nominal fee to attend ALEC retreats and receive model legislation. In reality, corporations pay ALEC a king’s ransom to access legislators to distribute radical legislation that puts corporate interests over American workers and consumers. So, while the membership appears to be public sector, corporate money dominates ALEC. In fact, public sector membership dues account for only around one percent of ALEC’s annual revenues. ALEC claims to be nonpartisan, but its pro-corporate, anti-consumer mission is clear. Read about ALEC’s hand in protecting oil companies, chemical manufacturers and Wall Street banks in AAJ’s report here: http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/xchg/justice/hs.xsl/15044.htm
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Suggested by
Angie Sullivan
May 25, 2012 1:18 AM
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What is ALEC? Who is ALEC? What is ALEC doing?
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what prison did they send abramoff to?