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Now to the heart of the diary - and matter. Follow the Money recently matched political contributions from ALEC's corporate members to politicians. Take notice that this publication was made possible through funding from foundations - not corporations. They compiled that data and have made it available for review and downloading by those of us also tracking this kind of corruption. The records turned over to CMD and released last week show that over the last 20 years, (and in addition to) ALEC's corporate members paying millions on expensive membership dues to ALEC, contributions to their "Initiatives", purchasing seats upon ALEC's various task forces...they spent an additional and whopping $500,000,000.00 to buy our democracy outright.
This is the wholesale price ALEC and their legislative members placed upon America - half - a - billion dollars. The price for their integrity, corruption and for helping to silence the other 98% of us so Koch, DeVos, Coors, Scaife and other large private and corporate donors could have their way with America; raping our economy, Wall Street, healthcare...and most sadly of all, theft of the freedoms of 2.4 million that now languish behind bars so the purchasers of America and democracy can continue to profit off of their imprisonment. Yes, that's right ALEC is responsible for imposing all of the harsh criminal laws that have been enacted over the past thirty years. The likes of Koch, Corrections Corporation of America, Geo Group and the other 300 corporate ALEC members then contributed to the campaigns of hundreds of state "lawmakers" to ensure passage of these vile and oppressive laws.
In 2010 they opened a new campaign to imprison not just Americans for profit, but to also imprison immigrants to the U.S. These unfortunate people who come here from the poverty of third world countries, fleeing from that poverty and government oppression, have worked for many U.S. corporations for cheap wages, wanting nothing more than a chance at a real future. Instead ALEC has another future mapped out for them: languishing behind bars where ALEC members CCA and Geo Group reap huge profits in tax dollars for housing these men and women -fellow humans - for as long as possible to rake in more and more of our money. Where they can, CCA and Geo put many of these "Detainees" to work (figuring they came here to work, so so let's put 'em to work!) in prison factories operated by affiliated corporations where they make products sold on open markets to you and I.
Through cooperation with the Main Stream Media (MSM) outlets they spew propaganda to the rest of us, heralding the need for more laws, more imprisonment, tougher laws to put more immigrants in detention facilities. The MSM print articles advising crime is up (not) illegal immigrant apprehensions are on the rise (the opposite is true) that for safe streets and communities all of these prisoners and detainees must remain behind bars for as long as possible for our protection. Many among our communities believe what these media outlets tell them and dutifully pay higher taxes (the middle class) and agree to reduce funding for education and health, medicaid and other necessary programs and increase expenditures for prisons, in order to be "safe". This is the horrendous country ALEC has turned America into. We now all work for or support these corporate efforts. I don't have to go into ALEC's model legislation, their resolutions and initiatives here - all of you reading this are already well aware of what they do, what they've done and how they've done it.
My response to ALEC, Koch, DeVos, Coors and their many foundations, institutes, and supporters, and their response, "Much Ado About Nothing," and again here, here, here, here, here, here. Follows below the fold...but first, I have to put these quotes before you to set the stage. It comes from a May 2011 article titled "How to Pass Bills and Influence Legislators" by the Washington Spectator:
Marching Orders
"Introduce a resolution supporting repeal of ObamaCare to send the repeal message to members of your state's congressional delegation.
"Decline to enforce ObamaCare's "consumer protections."
—from ALEC's Repealing ObamaCare
"Adopt legislation prohibiting EPA by any means necessary from regulating Green House Gasses.
"States should pursue all available legal means for opposing EPA regulation…"
—from ALEC's EPA's Regulatory Train Wreck
Now that the stage is set, let me show you just one of the dozens of prime and pertinent examples available, of how this CABAL operates using phony statistics and data from "experts" in the field of healthcare to wage war upon the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act and our access to true health assistance. It would cost ALEC's corporate insurance and pharmaceutical members too much money to allow us fair and affordable healthcare, so it must be eliminated at all cost. What follows is a an example of the pure, unadulterated propaganda all of us are being fed by ALEC on behalf of their corporate masters. Please take a moment and just listen to where all this "Factual" information relied upon is coming from - and think Koch...
Research and hundreds of articles link the Koch name and their foundations to the Pacific Research Institute, Heritage Foundation, Reason Foundation, ALEC and dozens of others. The Host for this event, the Washington Policy Center, has many links to and ties with Koch and their money. This video demonstrates how all of them work together to misinform legislators, individuals, independent media outlets and to influence all of them to accept the irrefutable "Facts", "Studies", "Reports", and "research" articles. If you watched the above video and heard the introductions of Herrera and Graham you noted their extensive "expert" work in the field of healthcare...that both are/were affiliated with many other of Koch's shadow organizations (the links take your to sites showing Koch funding for these organizations): Center for Policy Analysis, Macinac Center, James Madison Institute of Health, CATO Institute in D.C. Herrera claims responsibility for 38 states passing or enacting ALEC's Healthcare legislation since joining ALEC. She testified before 11 separate state Legislatures on ALEC's healthcare initiative.
For years ALEC has denied all accusations of lobbying for corporations. They deny lobbying for initiatives, their model legislation, they deny lobbying is accomplished at their Summits, Annual Conferences. They deny that they lobby lawmakers in any way, shape or form. Instead they say they are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that educates and provides training to the public, lawmakers and that they bring lawmakers and corporate interests together so the interests of business also have a voice in legislation that affects them. But this is not lobbying...lobbying would be illegal and force them to surrender their non-profit (c)(3) status, so they avoid lobbying altogether.
How does ALEC's (employee, not member) Director of their Health and Human Services Task Force describe her work regarding the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act on behalf of ALEC? She claims that ALEC is educating legislators, health officials, businesses and citizens on the tragic impact of "Obamacare" upon society. She has spoken before the U.S. House of Representatives in favor of repealing healthcare in addition to the various state legislatures. The message is always the same "Repeal" and her reason for making these presentations and providing the "Facts"...again to educate lawmakers and citizens of the huge financial impact upon Americans and businesses if this terrible universal healthcare legislation is not repealed.
However, when questioned about this in 2007 when ALEC was already gearing up their arguments against Presidential Candidate Obama's push for universal healthcare and a single payer option...she presented a different description of what she and ALEC were doing...(Have to turn volume up, audio is poor - but worth it).
That's right you heard her clearly and plainly state that "We support lobbying groups fighting against universal healthcare and it's good that we're lobbying...for Liberty!!" Now I don't know if this will help Common Cause in pursuing a revocation of ALEC's 501(c)(3) exempt status, but I certainly believe ALEC's true motives, agenda have been identified and that at least one of their employees they are sending back and forth across the nation in support of repealing the healthcare laws feels that what she and ALEC are doing is in fact lobbying. How does the repeal of healthcare benefit us as a society?
Need more proof of direct campaign contributing from ALEC? Look no further than California in the 2010 election cycle:
The two campaign contributions above ALEC's on Huffs report, are from another ALEC corporate member, ALTRIA, that has a seat upon ALEC's Private Enterprise Board. Those two contributions total $7,900.00. Visit the link provided and check out the other contributions provided to Sen. Huff from ALEC's cabal...
Who is Bob Huff and how is he related to ALEC? He is a CA. Senator that represented California at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force’s annual Tax Academy in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2008. Looks like he was rewarded a bit of that half billion paid out by ALEC's corporate members.
The previous year it looks like he paid his two year dues to ALEC...however, he failed to report his check was for dues, rather he claimed it as a "Civic" donation.
Thanks to MNDem999 for this information!
Thanks to Herrera's admission on camera and Sen. Huff's campaign records, we all now know factually what ALEC is doing is lobbying and campaigning. When that is put together with the hundreds of millions put into funding institutes, colleges, foundations and research centers, the hundreds of million spent on campaign contributions, it is obvious that ALEC erected a "For Sale" sign upon our country and found a buyer in a cabal consisting of corporate interests led by Koch money and influence.
Clearly all of this has been secret, transactions hidden behind curtains and accomplished not in smoke filled back rooms, rather in well lit board rooms where high paid executives, conservative legislators and financiers sat and plotted out the purchase of America...and democracy itself. You say that what you're doing is to benefit us...that you have our best interests at heart. So I have to ask you - how does this benefit us as a society?
Today as the Republican argument against the debt ceiling and eliminating corporate tax loopholes continues on Capitol Hill, it is led by ALEC Alumni House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor. This position is stiffened by another 80 Congressional members in the U.S. Congress who are confirmed former Alumni of ALEC. The MSM ignores this aspect of the argument, and thus continues to enable the takeover of America and possession of democracy as well. Shame on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and all the others who enable rather than expose and report factually. Through YOU this has been accomplished by ALEC and their spawn.
To all of these Alumni, MSM and the corporations I have a response on behalf of all Americans, regardless of party affiliations or political beliefs.
____________
"You belong to and support ALEC and their agenda, obviously so this discussion may fall upon deaf ears, but for what it's worth...an analysis of ALEC's activities over the past 38 years and counting, indicates they have a right wing agenda. Now others have a left wing or moderate stance involving politics and legislation. The difference between all these various factions is that what ALEC has done - and we're complaining about - is that they have brought together dozens of openly conservative right wing groups, think tanks, Institutes, foundations and individuals in pursuit of a particularly dangerous and undemocratic agenda, in a concerted effort to force your minority conservative ideology upon the entire American population. How does this benefit the majority and us as a society?
"Your agenda involves bringing corporations to the table aligned side by side with legislators of the same conservative bent. They determine legislation, policy and resolutions beneficial to the corporations then through their legislative members introduce it into state General Assemblies as proposed laws for all people to live by - not just conservatives or corporatists - you, me and everyone else. Most of the model legislation developed by ALEC is designed to eliminate consumer rights and protections, to make it harder to sue corporations (tort reform), to allow privatization of state duties and responsibilities by turning them over to corporations to operate in search of increased profits. You advocate legislation to reduce regulating anything to do with preserving or protecting our environment or conservation of America's resources. How do any of these laws benefit us as a society?
"Your legislation was designed to issue new laws to incarcerate more Americans, laws to extend and increase sentences handed down, to remove discretion of the court when sentencing, imposing harsh long terms for minor violations of drug possession or use. In conjunction with those criminal justice laws, you wrote - and managed to enact - companion legislation allowing fellow ALEC members CCA and Geo Group to contract with states to build prisons to house those prisoners caught up by those laws and incarcerated - at a profit ($2.9 billion last year in gross income). You helped ALEC introduced and pass your Prison Industries Act to allow other corporations access to the millions incarcerated as a cheap labor force for manufacturing and services. Entire companies have removed operations from our communities and relocated them behind prison fences - taking tens of thousands of civilian jobs and handing them over to prisoners who are paid a pittance to manufacture many of the products found in your home and mine right now. How do any of these laws benefit us as a society?
"Today you have introduced other model legislation in most of our states to end collective bargaining, abolish the minimum wage, impose strict Voter ID legislation to disenfranchise the elderly and students by the way they're written and to enact Right to Work legislation, to privatize education and replace that with "Distance Learning" that allows many students to be taught at once from long distance (the software for this is coincidentally owned by and distributed by a fellow ALEC member). Because of a handful of actual voter fraud, that were caught and prosecuted, you want to disenfranchise millions? How do any of these laws benefit us as a society?
"Now all of this may align with your political views but they go against the grain of the majority in this country - this is why so many are protesting nationwide as we discuss this here in this forum. Bottom line is that all of your model legislation to date has been written to protect corporations, lower wages, eliminate jobs, reduce taxes upon your corporations and you as their wealthy owners. Most of this was neither seen nor understood by us, the constituents of those ALEC legislators who wrote, introduced and helped pass these into our laws. How do any of these laws benefit us as a society?
Your National Chairman, Representative Ellington saying that the public is involved in the discussion about ALEC legislation "because I am at the table, and I represent them," is disingenuous and deliberately misleading at best He is a Conservative with conservative values, ideals and ideology and his representation at "the table" represents only those views. He is not representing the moderates of either party, Independent, Democratic or Progressive voters or their views. How does this strictly conservative representation benefit all of us and our majority views as a society?
"This entire process involving you as; Conservatives, wealthy, corporations and ALEC, is designed and operates as a way of ruling America through a prism representing only your view - such as is/was done in fascist regimes. The desires, wealth and influences of you as the corporate elite, are the only agenda being advanced and through that you work to control and oppress the rest of us who disagree with your minority objectives. What you're doing - and have done now for nearly a half century - vbears no resemblance of democracy. It is instead a "Corporatocracy." If you don't understand fascism and corporatocracy and want to define it for yourselves, visit Wikipedia or other sites for a precise definition. ALEC and their activities are a direct threat against democracy (little d) and designed to wrest any form of representation of the people from our grasp. It's wrong, immoral and has to be stopped.
"One thing you and supporters of ALEC and other corporate benefactors and especially your legislative enablers must begin to understand is this: once you and ALEC overcome democracy, eliminate any voice in opposition and leave the middle class without jobs, money or a means to live in anything but poverty - you won't go on a diet, satisfied with your work and lose the hunger for more wealth and influence. No, your appetite will have grown exponentially and the only meal left on the menu?...the only one's left to consume?...will be those politicians, journalists, media owners who assisted you in this pursuit and profited by it. THEY will be next on that menu...served up on golden platters and brought to the table by subservient prisoners." How will this then benefit what's left of a once thriving and diverse society?