ALEC Exposed

News

New Investigative Report Highlights Koch Brothers' Reach in Influencing Democracy

by Sara Jerving — November 7, 2011 - 8:00am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations

    • Charles and David Koch, each worth about $25 billion, could be the most influential duo in the United States. These brothers have accumulated their fortune through Koch industries -- an oil refining, chemical, paper products and financial services company with revenues of some $100 billion per year. A new documentary by Bob Abeshouse on the Kochs illustrates how these brothers use their billions to manipulate some in the public into voting for their right-wing agenda and to push policies that strip protections for people's health.

    News

    18 Arrested in Wisconsin Assembly for Using Cameras; Guns Still Allowed

    by Brendan Fischer — November 2, 2011 - 7:36am
  • Topics: Activism, ALEC Exposed, Democracy, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Eighteen people were arrested Tuesday, November 2 for using cameras in the Wisconsin Assembly gallery, including the editor of The Progressive magazine, Matt Rothschild.

    News

    Wisconsin GOP Stumbles in Effort to Rig Recalls

    by Brendan Fischer — November 2, 2011 - 6:17am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Democracy, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Republican efforts to inoculate themselves against recall hit a snag Monday when a moderate Republican announced his opposition to a plan that would permit recalls to happen in newly-drawn partisan districts.

    Senator Mary Lazich introduced two bills on Friday that opponents say will rig recall elections in favor of Republicans. Democrats plan to start collecting signatures on November 15 to recall Governor Scott Walker, as well as state Senators who voted in favor of collective bargaining limits. Lazich's bills are the latest in a series of moves by Wisconsin Republicans to change the recall election rules in their favor.

    Koch-Funded Climate Skeptic Admits Global Warming is Real

    by Anne Landman — October 31, 2011 - 2:11pm

    A prominent global warming skeptic funded by the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation has publicly reversed himself and now agrees with the vast majority of mainstream climate scientists who conclude Earth's temperature really is quickly rising. Richard Muller, a physicist and well known climate skeptic, did his own research and calculated that the land is now 1.6 degrees warmer than it was in the 1950s -- figures that match those produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). Billionaire Charles G. Koch, founder of the Charles G. Koch Foundation, is a well-known funder of global warming skeptics. Together with his billionaire brother, David, the Kochs own the country's largest, privately-held energy company, Koch Industries, which produces significant greenhouse gases and fights efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S. Koch Industries has long worked to undermine environmental protections and protect corporate polluters. Koch Industries is also a long-time member and funder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit group that helps corporate representatives draft and advance "model" bills that benefit their bottom line, and get the bills into the hands of legislators who introduce them in state houses as though they were their own ideas. ALEC also provides corporate-drafted "model" resolutions legislators can introduce that are aimed at thwarting efforts to address climate change.

    Main Source: 
    San Francisco Chronicle, October 31, 2011
    News

    Wisconsin Voter ID Law Challenged by League of Women Voters

    by Brendan Fischer — October 21, 2011 - 7:51am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Election 2012, Corporations, Election Protection, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Wisconsin's American Legislative Exchange Council-inspired voter ID law, which will make it harder for students and people of color to vote, is being challenged under the state constitution by the League of Women Voters.

    The law requires potential voters to show a valid state-issued driver's license or identification card before they can cast a ballot, rendering many state residents ineligible to vote. Wisconsin, like thirteen other states, passed the law earlier this year based on the ALEC "model" voter ID bill.

    News

    Flu with that Burger? ALEC Wants Sick People Serving You Food

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 19, 2011 - 6:00am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Labor, Politics

    • Last week, the city of Philadelphia mandated paid sick days for "workers whose employers have contracts with the city or apply for city subsidies." Last month, Seattle also passed a paid sick leave ordinance. Connecticut passed a bill in June that will make it the first state in the nation to mandate paid sick leave for service workers. Food service workers are a special concern of such laws.

    Workers in these locations will no longer have to come to work with the flu or other infectious illness, endangering the health of their coworkers and customers and exacerbating their own health.

    News

    ALEC Ties Bring Down British Defense Secretary, Threaten Prime Minister David Cameron

    by Brendan Fischer — October 18, 2011 - 8:12am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, International, Lobbying, Politics

    • British Defense Secretary Liam Fox has stepped down in the midst of an escalating scandal tied to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The ALEC connections have led opposition party leaders and the British press to question whether British Prime Minister David Cameron has been "allowing a secret rightwing agenda to flourish at the heart of the Conservative party."

    Op-Ed

    Gaming American Democracy: A Perfect Storm in Which Republicans Disenfranchise Voters While Giving Corporations Unchecked Powers

    by PRW Staff — October 17, 2011 - 6:06am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Democracy, Lobbying

    • by John Dean

    The Center for Media and Democracy is re-posting this article from John Dean at Justia's Verdict website as part of our efforts to expose the American Legislative Exchange Council. The original can be found here.

    Op-Ed

    ALEC Politicians Spin Special "Interest" Bill to Protect Corporate Wrongdoers as "Job Creation"

    by Lisa Graves — October 13, 2011 - 10:13am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Tort Reform, Corporations, Economy, Pharmaceuticals, Propaganda

    • For years, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has been itching to protect big corporations from high interest rates charged in cases where corporations have killed or injured Americans. Now, Wisconsin politicians serving on key ALEC task forces are pushing a bill embracing this idea as part of ALEC alumnus Scott Walker's latest effort to force the ALEC agenda into law based on claims that doing so will help "job creators."

    Op-Ed

    ALEC and Coca-Cola: A "Classic" Collaboration

    by Rebekah Wilce — October 12, 2011 - 9:51pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Democracy, Politics

    • What is Coca-Cola doing behind closed doors with Koch Industries and other multinational corporations in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)? Coca-Cola Refreshments' Director of Public Affairs and Communications, Gene Rackley, represents Coke on ALEC's "Private Enterprise" Board, along with Koch Industries' Michael Morgan.

    Coke and ALEC have a lot in common. Both love free trade and have been big boosters of free trade agreements, such as the Korea, Panama and Columbia agreements facing votes this week in Congress. Both are dubious about recycling, especially taxes applied to industry to pay for mandatory recycling. But in one area, ALEC policy benefits Coke and other sweet drink makers directly.

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