The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a secretive corporate lobbying group, has a lot of enemies. Over the years, ALEC has not shied away from calling them out. They like to call leaders of organizations that fight for better working conditions and higher wages "big labor bosses." The call leaders of the movement to protect people from pollution and address the pressing issue of climate change "radical environmental activists." They've called us partisans, radicals, uninformed, socialists, and communists.
But today, in a desperate fundraising email, ALEC decided not to do that. Instead, ALEC attacked Common Cause, a good government group that works to protect voting rights, get big money out of politics, and promote government transparency, and the Unitarian Universalist Church, a religious movement that has historically supported radical things like the end of American slavery and voting rights for women.
It is clear, now more than ever, that ALEC has lost its way. In their fundraising email, ALEC even attempted to say that it "plays a vital role in the democratic process." ALEC cites the fact that they bring politicians and corporate lobbyists behind closed doors to "learn from one another" as their vital role in our democracy. I, like most Americans, actually disagree with the idea that politicians and corporate lobbyists sitting behind closed doors to rewrite our laws is good for democratic process. It fact, this secretive and non-transparent process goes against everything democracy is supposed to be about.
ALEC is facing a crisis as major companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Yahoo all recently cut ties with the organization over its denial of climate science. This desperate fundraising email shows ALEC is completely out of step with the American people. It is puzzling why any elected official or respectable corporation would want to affiliate itself with this corrupt organization.
See ALEC's full fundraising email below, and instead of giving them money, make sure you vote on November 4th to show that people matter more than ALEC's corporate special interests.
