In the ALEC Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform (2010) the following statement is made:
Report Card on American Education: Ranking State K-12 Performance, Progress, and Reform has been published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as part of its mission to discuss, develop, and disseminate public policies that expand free markets, promote economic growth, limit the size of government, and preserve individual liberty. ALEC is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators, with 2,000 members across the nation. ALEC is governed by a Board of Directors of state legislators, which is advised by a Private Enterprise Board representing major corporate and foundation sponsors.
We know ALEC legislators discuss "Model Legislation" with the ALEC corporations.
We know ALEC legislators develop "Model Legislation" with the ALEC corporations.
We have seen examples of ALEC members disseminating "Model Legislation" for the ALEC corporations.
We know ALEC expands free-markets for ALEC corporate members.
We know ALEC promotes economic growth for ALEC corporate members.
We know ALEC wants to limit the size of "federal government" and advance state sovereignty - probably for the benefit of ALEC corporate members.
But what about this “preserve individual liberty”. How does ALEC define “individual liberty”? Individual liberty for whom? Individual liberty toward what end? What does ALEC individual liberty look like?
Well, I’m going to “disseminate" some ALEC “public policies” and let you be the judge about the preservation of individual liberty.
I recently had the good fortune to be introduced to a document entitled
Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995
Which was published by
Author: American Legislative Exchange Council. Committee on Suggested State Legislation.
If you read the webpage carefully it notes
Responsibility: developed by the ... Committee on ALEC's Suggested State Legislation, American Legislative Exchange Council.
With me? – I didn’t make this stuff up.
The Committee on Suggested State Legislation – American Legislative Exchange Council
ALEC corporate and Legislative members made this stuff up.
Now keeping with the TRUE intent of ALEC “Model Legislation” it is important to remember that
ALEC is one of America’s most dynamic public-private partnerships. ALEC provides its public and private sector members with a unique opportunity to work together to develop policies and programs that effectively promote the organization’s mission.
The corporations and OUR state legislators come together to “develop policies”.
The Sourcebook of American State Legislation was published in 1995.
I think most would agree with me that they wouldn’t publish this "Sourcebook" if there was a chance it would immediately become obsolete, correct?
So let’s say, at a minimum, that "The Sourcebook" was around and being used in 2002 when ALEC released their 2001 Annual Report that stated one of their purposes was
To prepare the next generation of political leadership through educational programs that promote the principles of Jeffersonian democracy, which are necessary for a free society.
Oh yeh, they prepared them all right!
They restate in the ALEC annual report of 2001 that they were committed to education of their corporate and state legislative members
The project will educate members...
..will educate legislators
…and educates ALEC members through Task Force meetings, issue papers, state-based issue briefings, and special workshops.
(?? Educate = brainwash, indoctrinate, program, condition ??)
AND don’t forget
“and disseminate public policies”
In 1997 – it has been proven that Scott Walker was a member of ALEC.
In 2001 ALEC released "The Leaders in the States" which included a list of their alumni – these are people who “graduated” from "ALEC University” with advanced degrees in ALECism and had been promoted to prestigious jobs in the US Congress - they made it to the big time!!!!!.
That list includes:
U.S. Senate
Senator Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) ; Senator George Allen (R-Va.); Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.); Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.); Senator Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.); Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.); Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.); Senator Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.); Senator Don Nickles (R-Okla.); Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.); Senator Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.);
U.S. House of Representatives
Representative Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.); Representative Richard H. Baker (R-La.); Representative James A. Barcia (D-Mich.); Representative Charles F. Bass (R-N.H.); Representative John A. Boehner (R-Ohio); Representative Leonard L. Boswell (D-Iowa); Representative F. A. Boyd (D-Fla.); Representative Kevin Brady (R-Texas); Representative Dan Burton (R-Ind.); Representative David Camp (R-Mich.); Representative Eric Cantor (R-Va.); Representative Howard Coble (R-N.C.); Representative Michael Collins (R-Ga.); Representative Philip M. Crane (R-Ill.); Representative Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.); Representative John Culberson (R-Texas); Representative James O. Davis (D-Fla.); Representative Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.); Representative Tom DeLay (R-Texas); Representative Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.); Representative John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.); Representative Robert L. Ehrlich (R-Md.); Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.); Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.); Representative Paul E. Gillmor (R-Ohio); Representative Virgil H. Goode (I-Va.); Representative Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Representative Sam Graves (R-Mo.); Representative Mark Green (R-Wisc.); Representative James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.); Representative Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.); Representative Melissa Hart (R-Pa.); Representative Richard Hastings (R-Wash.); Representative Joel Hefley (R-Colo.); Representative Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.); ALEC Founding Member/1998 ALEC Pioneer; Award Recipient; Representative Ernest J. Istook (R-Okla.); Representative Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.); Representative Sam Johnson (R-Texas); Representative Walter B. Jones (R-N.C.); Representative Jack Kingston (R-Ga.); Representative Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.); Representative John Linder (R-Ga.); Representative Frank A. LoBiondo (R-N.J.); Representative Frank D. Lucas (R-Okla.); Representative Karen McCarthy (D-Mo.); Representative John M. McHugh (R-N.Y.); Representative Scott McInnis (R-Colo.); Representative John L. Mica (R-Fla.); Representative Jerry Moran (R-Kan.); Representative Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio); Representative Anne M. Northup (R-Ky.); Representative John E. Peterson (R-Pa.); Representative Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.); Representative Todd Platts (R-Pa.); Representative Adam Putnam (R-Fla.); Representative Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.); Representative Mike Rogers (R-Mich.); Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla); Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.); Representative Edward Royce (R-Calif.); Representative Robert W. Schaffer (R-Colo.); Representative Ed Schrock (R-Va.); Representative Nick Smith (R-Mich.); Representative Bob Stump (R-Ariz.); Representative W. J. Billy Tauzin (R-La.); Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.); Representative Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio); Representative Gerald C.Weller (R-Ill.); Representative Roger Wicker (R-Miss.); Representative Don Young (R-Ark.)
In order to get their advanced degree in ALEC-ism and become ALUMNI of ALEC their curriculum included
Meetings with ALEC corporations
More meetings with ALEC corporations
Writing, reviewing, revising “Model legislation” with ALEC corporations
Advanced copying, pasting and claiming you wrote it
Wining and Dining with ALEC corporations
And the final exam – the coup d grace – that brought you ALL the ALEC PAC money you could want or need for the US Congress.
They had to introduce and hopefully pass massive amounts of corporate centered ALEC “Model Legislation” in their state legislatures.
And their study guide for “ALEC Model Legislation” - their “ALEC QUICK NOTES was the
Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995
Author: American Legislative Exchange Council. Committee on Suggested State Legislation.
And here – just for you –
featuring summaries of ALEC 1995 “Model Legislation”
never before seen by the general public
and guaranteed to shock and amaze you.
AFDC APPLICANT JOB SEARCH PROGRAM
Summary
Employment is the single means to long-term self-sufficiency for all Americans. Substituting a pay-check for a welfare check restores dignity to the individual and opens many doors of opportunity to secure a better quality of life.
(2) Any individual eligible to receive AFDC assistance who is eligible to participate in the Applicant Job Search Program, hereinafter referred to as an “eligible applicant,” shall have the processing of his or her AFDC application postponed for 30 days while he or she participates in the Applicant Job Search Program. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part VI: Empowerment, Opportunity and Urban Poverty; p. 368)
AFDC LIMITS ON BENEFITS FOR ADDITIONAL CHILDREN ACT
Summary
This act would eliminate the increment in benefits under the AFDC program for which the family would otherwise be eligible as a result of the birth of a child during the period in which the family is eligible for AFDC benefits. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part VI: Empowerment, Opportunity and Urban Poverty; p. 371)
CASH BENEFITS TO UNWED MINOR PARENTS
The [Social Services] department shall not provide any cash benefits to a child born out-of-wedlock or to an individual who has not attained eighteen years of age, or for the individual, until the individual attains such age.
MINORS ON WELFARE RESIDENCY ACT
Summary ; There is a higher rate of welfare dependency by teenage, single parents who set up their own residence then those who remain at home. This Act requires that single, teenage parents live at home in order to receive AFDC benefits. By continuing adult supervision in the young parent’s life, the family unit is thereby strengthened.
Section 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, no Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) grant payment shall be made on behalf of a minor under the age of eighteen who has never married and who has a child or is pregnant unless such minor resides with a parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other adult-supervised living arrangement. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part VI: Empowerment, Opportunity and Urban Poverty; p. 367)
Does this one sound kinda familiar? This one is still mentioned on their webpage.
ACCESS TO MEDICAID ACT
Summary
The purpose of this Act is to privatize Medicaid through the use of vouchers and thereby create a program that would decrease state expenditures, streamline state Medicaid programs, improve access to quality health care, and provide health care to a greater number of needy families. ALEC’s Medicaid Plan would provide a publicly financed voucher program to provide access to privately delivered health insurance coverage for eligible Medicaid recipients. Vouchers would be limited to AFDC recipients, beginning at 100 percent of the federal poverty level. Each eligible recipient would receive a voucher for a specified, reimbursable amount to purchase a family health care policy. The state would work with insurance companies and organized health care systems to provide a policy containing certain core benefits at a reasonable rate. Each health insurance policy would be exempt from the existing mandated benefits but include the nine federal Medicaid mandates. Employers would be allowed to buy into the program in order to provide insurance during transitional stages of employment. Cost containment mechanisms would be included, such as cash refunds to Medicaid recipients for utilizing only a percentage of yearly benefits. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part VIII: Healthcare; p. 118)
And the one that we thought existed, but we weren't sure it existed but..., which is still listed on the ALEC "Model Legislation" web page:
GOVERNMENT SERVICES COMPETITION ACT
This model bill provides a general model for state government privatization efforts. States should adapt this ~ model to meet their own particular needs and circumstances regarding privatization. It prohibits state agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions supported in whole or part by any state revenues, from engaging in any activity which is in competition with private enterprise unless the agency, institution, or political subdivision can demonstrate that there is an overriding or compelling public interest served by the state’s provision of the service. It also sets standards for state agencies, authorized to engage in an activity in competition with private enterprise, to follow. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part Ill: Competitiveness; p. 128)
Or you may have wondered if this one existed (which by the way is still listed on their webpage).
RIGHT To WORK ACT
Summary
ALEC’s model Right-to -Work Act provides that no employee-need join or pay dues to a union, or from joining a union, as a condition of employment. The Act establishes penalties and remedies for violations of the Act’s provisions.
This Act may be cited as the Right to Work Act.
Section 2. {Declaration of public policy.} It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of (state), in order to maximize individual freedom of choice in the pursuit of employment and to encourage an employment climate conducive to economic growth, that the right to work shall not be subject to undue restraint or coercion. The right to work shall not be infringed or restricted in any way based on membership in, affiliation with, or financial support of a labor organization. (Volume I: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995; Part I: Business and Labor; p. 27)
An excerpt from the 2001 ALEC Annual Reports states
The foundation of this organization
is the more than 2,400 legislative members
that span the country,
who provide the service and innovative ideas
that make ALEC great.
Our members are committed to this organization and the principles for which it stands.
One government ---- controlled by ALEC, ---- with liberty and justice for corporations.
Oh yeh, we were suppose to talk about individual liberty.
Individual liberty?
Liberty for whom?
That must be on another page in "The Sourcebook".
The page I'm missing - the one entitled The Citizens United Act.
WELL FOLKS…
What do you think about the excerpts from the “ALEC Study Guide for State Legislators”?
Protest ALEC – August 5, 2011 – New Orleans
If you can’t be there – please participate with a donation to cover costs
If you don’t know what ALEC is – please read this, or this, or this, or this, or this.