Corporations

Big Oil and the U.S. Chamber Fight to Keep Foreign Bribery Flourishing

by Sara Jerving and Mary Bottari

In a new lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), big energy extractors are pushing for carte blanche in their interactions with foreign governments, making it harder to track whether their deals are padding the coffers of dictators, warlords, or crony capitalists. The United States Chamber of Commerce, American Petroleum Institute, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and the National Foreign Trade Council filed a lawsuit on October 10, 2012 against a new SEC rule, which requires U.S. oil, mining and gas companies to formally disclose payments made to foreign governments as part of their annual SEC reporting.

On NFIB Conference Call, Romney Urges Employers to Tell Employees How to Vote, Just Like the Kochs

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested to business owners they tell their employees how to vote on a June conference call organized by the National Federation for Independent Business (NFIB), an organization the Center for Media and Democracy has recently exposed as a partisan lobbying group advancing big business interests.

Koch Social Media Policy May Be Unlawful; Employers Still Have Broad Leeway to Limit Employee Speech

The Koch Industries policy limiting employee speech on social media may be unlawful in light of recent decisions by the National Labor Relations Board, but employers still have broad leeway to impose their political views on workers and punish those who disagree.

Nationwide Presses for Distance from ALEC, although its Lobbyist Won Big ALEC Award when its Old Top Lobbyist Led ALEC in 2008

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, a "mutual" insurance and financial services company, published a press release last week distancing itself from the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In the release, the company said it had not funded ALEC for over a decade.

Index of PRWatch Articles About ALEC

This is an index of in-depth analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) of the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC's) agenda and corporate involvement published starting in July 2011, when CMD launched ALECexposed.org:

Obama Campaign Chases Big Checks while Decrying Citizens United and Unlimited Fundraising

President Barack Obama rode into office in 2008 on a wave of small donations that some expected would change politics. The small-dollar strategy is still helping Obama fill his campaign accounts, but the electoral landscape has changed rapidly over the past four years and candidates' official campaigns are being overshadowed by unlimited spending from nominally "independent" groups funded by a handful of ultra-wealthy donors.

Sanofi Dumps ALEC, Making 41 Corporations Out

Pharmaceutical company Sanofi (formerly Sanofi-Aventis), a $33.4 billion a year company based in Paris, France, is cutting ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Center for Media and Democracy and Common Cause File Open Records Lawsuit Against ALEC Members in Wisconsin

Evidence Shows Officials Using Personal Email Accounts to Evade Sunshine Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2012

CONTACT: Brendan Fischer, Brendan@prwatch.org

MADISON -- The Center for Media and Democracy and Common Cause filed suit today against five Wisconsin legislators who also are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) over their failure to provide ALEC-related records sought under Wisconsin's Open Records Law.

CMD Special Report: ALEC's (Corporate) Love Affair with Fracking

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Just one look at the cover of the brochure for this year's annual meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) reveals where some of the corporate bill mill's loyalties lie: with the "natural" gas industry. The full-page ad on the brochure's inside cover -- paid for by the American Gas Association, a trade group for gas utilities companies -- identifies just one of the corporate underwriters that litter the pages of the conference booklet shared with all of the elected representatives and unelected corporate lobbyists who attended the convention at the luxurious Grand America resort.

"Moyers & Company" ALEC Documentary Launches This Weekend

Bill Moyers will be examining the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) this weekend on his weekly television show "Moyers & Company." The show entitled "The United States of ALEC" will highlight the work of the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy and its many allies in the effort to expose ALEC's inner workings.

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