Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, McDonald's, Wendy's, Intuit, Reed-Elsevier, and others have dropped their membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Click here to tell other firms bankrolling ALEC to do the same.
Welcome to SourceWatch, a project of the Center for Media and Democracy!
The Center for Media and Democracy publishes SourceWatch, this collaborative resource for citizens and journalists looking for documented information about the corporations, industries, and people trying to influence public policy and public opinion. We believe in telling the truth about the most powerful interests in society—not just relating their self-serving press releases or letting real facts be bleached away by spin. With the help of volunteer editors, SourceWatch focuses on the for-profit corporations, non-profit corporate front groups, PR teams, and so-called "experts" trying to influence public opinion on behalf of global corporations and the government agencies they have captured. We also profile some of the individuals and groups shining a light on these PR campaigns and also feature clearinghouses for information about select "hot topics" (to your left). Please check out our other sites: PRWatch, BanksterUSA, and ALECexposed. —Lisa Graves, Executive Director
MADISON -- Today, the Madison-based Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) released a new report that details the exclusive network of corporate lobbyists and special interest groups that influence the Wisconsin legislature through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
“This report reveals details of the extraordinary influence of ALEC and its agenda on the Wisconsin legislature and our laws over the past 16 months,” said Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy. “This corporate-backed agenda undermines the rights of Wisconsin families while advancing the agenda of huge corporations and special interest groups.” Read the rest of the item here.
"Quid pro quo: something given or received for something else"
-- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
At about ten o'clock on the morning of March 23, 2011, Faith Williams walked into the office of Ohio House Majority Whip John Adams (R-District 78). Williams, a lobbyist with firm, Bricker & Eckler, LLP, (Bricker) had an appointment to speak with Adams about an "economic development study" created by some of her clients in the life insurance industry.
Somehow during the course of this meeting--though both Adams and Williams told DBA Press and The Center for Media and Democracy (DBA/CMD) that they have no recollection of how this came to pass--two noteworthy subjects were discussed: a proposed amendment to the state's 2011 budget and possible support for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Ohio "scholarship fund."
At 4:06 p.m. the following day, March 24, Williams emailed a copy of the discussed budget amendment to Adams' Senior Legislative Aide Kara Joseph. In the email, Williams expressed her gratitude to Adams for agreeing to run the amendment by House Speaker Bill Batchelder (R-District 69) for insertion into the 2011 budget.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) not only allows corporations and special interests to hand state legislators "model bills," but also provides a vehicle for ALEC's corporate members to buy influence with legislators through gifts of flights, hotel rooms, and other perks denominated as "ALEC scholarships," according to information obtained through open records requests.
A Corporate-Funded Vacation?
ALEC's annual meetings and task force summits are usually held in vacation spots like New Orleans and at swank resorts like the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Most state legislators only work part-time and earn, on average, about $46,000 a year, so for many politicians these destinations and resorts would be unaffordable. Lucky for ALEC legislators, ALEC's corporate members bankroll their flights, hotel rooms, and meals.
As a further incentive to attend ALEC meetings, elected officials are encouraged to bring their families, and offered subsidized childcare for kids six months and older called "Kids Congress." Read the rest of this item here.
A downer cow at a California dairy was recently found to be infected with an "atypical" strain of "bovine spongiform encephalopathy" (BSE), or "mad cow" disease. There has been some significant media coverage of the case, and the USDA wants the media to know they are not pleased.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) press secretary, Courtney Rowe, issued a memo saying there were an, "unfortunate amount of misleading articles meant for our public."
But the Columbia Journalism Review's analysis of the coverage concluded that, "The media have exaggerated many public-health scares, to be sure, but not this time." Read the rest of the item here.
Wisconsin voters chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run against incumbent Governor Scott Walker in the first gubernatorial recall election in the state's history. It has been 450 days since the first protests against Walker's bill to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights sparked massive protests and an 18 day occupation of the Capitol building. Now, there are only 28 days left before a general election that will decide the next governor of the state. Read the rest of the item here.
The headlines in Wisconsin are all about the $25 million dollar man -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker's campaign committee has raised an eye-popping $25 million for the recall, $13 million since January 2012 when close to 1 million signatures were filed with the Wisconsin elections board triggering a recall election. Walker spent a huge sum $5 million on direct mail, rivaling the $4.5 million spent on TV. The direct mail allows him to build a national data base of funders to tap for the recall. Read the rest of the item here.
With the recent publication of additional American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) documents, new questions are being raised about the source of certain provisions in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's controversial collective bargaining legislation. Some of those provisions may be adopted by ALEC for introduction in other states.
According to documents posted by good government organization Common Cause, the Koch-funded, Michigan-based think tank Mackinac Center for Public Policy will ask ALEC at its Spring Task Force Summit on May 11 in Charlotte, North Carolina to adopt as a "model bill" a proposal that strongly resembles sections of Governor Walker's Act 10. Read the rest of the item here.
ALEC announced it was dropping that task force in the wake of the controversy over the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin and so-called “Stand Your Ground” (SYG) laws. However, the co-leader of that task force, Rep. Jerry Madden (R-TX), revealed ALEC's announcement to be a PR maneuver when he reassured The Christian Post that his task force's work would continue through other ALEC task forces.
Koch Industries has vigorously defended ALEC, and has assailed reporting that noted that the company, led by billionaire brothers Charles and David, is a long-time funder and leader of ALEC and that ALEC has long advanced the NRA agenda through "model" gun bills, including Florida's controversial SYG law that was ratified by ALEC in 2005.
ALEC’s Extreme Gun Agenda Was No Secret Since Koch Joined its Board
A new examination of the gun agenda of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) reveals numerous extreme bills advanced on the watch of Koch Industries as a leader and funder of ALEC. Koch has had a seat on ALEC's board for almost two decades, as many NRA bills became ALEC’s “policy” and priority. An exploration of other entities funded by David or Charles Koch shows that this is no outlier and that other Koch-fueled organizations have also helped advance the NRA's efforts in a variety of ways. Read the rest of this item here.
The tragic Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida has once again drawn attention to the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in spreading terrible public policy in the form of "model" bills across the nation. We are sending letters to the corporate leadership of the ALEC to demand that they withdraw their membership from ALEC and do what's right for our democracy.
Lisa Graves, Rashad Robinson and Nicole Neily join Shihab Rattansi, host of Al Jazeera's "Inside Story: US 2012," to discuss the American Legislative Exchange Council and its role in pushing "model" bills like the "Stand Your Ground" law through state legislatures across the country.
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