legislative exchange council | TeaPartyWire.com – Tea Party News by and for Tea Party Members

You are browsing the archive for legislative exchange council.

How ALEC became a political liability

8:04 am in american legislative exchange council, conservative activists, Conservative Philosophy, Editorials, exxon mobil, henry hyde, legislative exchange council, legislative leadership, paul weyrich, republican legislators, state legislators by PinkTeaPatriot

Source: WashingtonPost.com

By: Rachel Weiner

Posted: April 25th, 2012

South Carolina State Rep. Ted Vick (D) announced today that he’s resigning from the American Legislative Exchange Council.

“When I joined ALEC eight years ago, it was a very different organization,” Vick said in a statement. “Over the years, ALEC has steadily drifted to the right and away from its original purpose.”

Vick is far from alone. Major corporations are pulling out. Politicians are backing away. An IRS complaint has been filed.

So what is ALEC, and why is it causing such a fuss?

ALEC was formed in 1973 by conservative activists Lou Barnett and Paul Weyrich (who also founded the Heritage Foundation), along with then-State Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) and other Republican legislators. The goal: bring conservative economic policy ideas to the state and local level.

Task forces for various issues were originally formed in conjunction with the Reagan Administration, but over time those policy shops evolved into partnerships with private companies. While the group has some Democratic members, like Vick (until today), most of its legislative leadership is Republican.

While legislators pay $50 a year to belong to the group, most of the ALEC’s money comes from corporations. According to tax returns obtained by the New York Times, in 2010 the group had a $7 million dollar budget, with some companies paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in dues.

ALEC and its supporters argue that the group provides a unique opportunity for the public sector and private sector to work together on everything from education to healthcare to environmental policy. Exxon Mobil, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart are among the major corporations on its board. About 2,000 state legislators are members.

Criticism, an ALEC spokeswoman said, is inspired by the group’s conservative philosophy, not its methods.

“It really comes down to a difference of principle and ideology,” said Kaitlyn Buss. “ALEC stands for free markets and limited government, and they want to silence that.”

Critics say lawmakers are selling out their constituents by pushing corporate wishlists behind closed doors.

At ALEC summits, corporations vote with representatives on task force legislation in committees, before they reach the full legislative board. Lawmakers often bring those bills nearly verbatim to their statehouses.

Activists who have been working against ALEC say the real turning point came last summer, when a whistleblower leaked 800 pieces of ALEC model legislation to the Center for Media and Democracy. The group created a new website, ALEC Exposed, to house the drafts and publicize ALEC’s work.

“The outpouring of concern about ALEC today is the result of enormous work and preparation behind the scenes by numerous public interest organizations and researchers and writers and journalists across the country,” said Lisa Graves of CMD.

The leaked documents made it easier for ALEC’s critics to tie controversial legislation back to the group — including the “Stand Your Ground” laws that drew national attention after the death of Florida teenage Trayvon Martin.

“A confluence of events created an opening for people to focus a little bit more on what this organization was about,” said Marge Baker of People For the American Way, a liberal group. “Part of ALEC’s modus operandi was to operate behind the scenes without a lot of visibility. It’s getting that visibility now.”

The civil rights group Color of Change began pressuring the group’s corporate partners late last year over ALEC’s support of voter ID laws. Pepsi Co. dropped out in January. But the boycott really gained steam after the Martin case; a dozen groups have now pulled out.

‘As we started focusing on stand your ground laws, that connected back to ALEC,” said Executive Director Rashad Robinson, and “Stand Yoru Ground” laws became part of the group’s pressure campaign.

ALEC is trying to do a bit of damage control. It recently disbanded its Public Safety and Elections Task Force, announcing that the group would return to focusing solely on economic issues.

Buss said that the public attention is “a good way to get our message out there” and that “in the end I think we’ll come out stronger than before.”

But ALEC’s critics are not satisfied.

Common Cause is challenging ALEC’s status as a tax-exempt charity in a complaint to the IRS, based on more leaked documents and FOIA requests. .

Whether the lawsuit succeeds or not, like the Koch Brothers (themselves ALEC supporters), the American Legislative Exchange Council has gone from a little-known acronym to a political fireball.

Source: WashingtonPost.com

Tags: opinion
Comments Off

by Rachel Alexander

Progressives Using Jesse Jackson Shakedown Tactics to Outsmart ALEC

11:15 am in alec, american legislative exchange council, blue cross blue shield, Federalism, Free Markets, gates foundation, George Soros, gun legislation, intimidation campaign, jesse jackson shakedown, legislative exchange council, model legislation, nonpartisan membership organization, people for the american way, progressive organizations, racism, scottsdale arizona, spotlight, state legislators, state legislatures, target, walmart by Rachel Alexander

The left’s latest target du jour is ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for state legislators. It promotes limited government, free markets and federalism. ALEC provides model legislation for legislators to copy for their states. More than 2000 Republican and Democrat legislators are members. Almost one thousand of ALEC’s bills are introduced every year and 20% become law. ALEC has been around for 40 years, but operated under the radar until conservatives started making record gains in state legislatures.

Funded by left wing billionaire George Soros, the left started an intimidation campaign against ALEC nine months ago, launching an “ALEC Exposed” website that lists 800 bills the organization has promoted. Obama’s former controversial green czar Van Jones, who co-founded the race-baiting organization Color of Change, is spearheading the shakedowns. Other progressive organizations involved include George Soros’s Common Cause, People for the American Way and Progress Now. The Occupy movement has made ALEC one of its top targets. Last fall, the left organized disruptive protests in Scottsdale, Arizona outside of ALEC’s annual meeting.

Color of Change recently began a shakedown campaign against corporations that are members of ALEC, meeting face to face with them to intimidate them. Color of Change used race-baiting to convince Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, PepsiCo, Mars, Intuit and Kraft to withdraw their membership over ALEC’s support for “stand your ground” gun legislation. Blue Cross Blue Shield will not be renewing its membership. The Gates Foundation said it will cease contributing to ALEC. Color of Change’s next targets are Walmart, State Farm, AT&T and Johnson & Johnson. The left is also targeting state legislators, inundating them with threatening emails demanding they resign their membership.

The “stand your ground” law allows someone to attack a perceived assailant if they believe they are in imminent danger. 24 states have adopted it. Florida’s version of that legislation initially provided protection from prosecution for George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. Even though the case has not yet been adjudicated in a court of law, and the evidence appears to exonerate Zimmerman, the left is exploiting the Trayvon Martin shooting case with race-baiting to drum up negative publicity against ALEC and other associated organizations on the right like the NRA. Color of Change has Martin’s photo featured prominently at the top of its website.

How is “stand your ground” legislation, also known as “shoot first” legislation, racist? Democrat Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and former Democrat Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona both signed “stand your ground” legislation.

ALEC responded and clarified that it had not drafted Florida’s legislation, but merely copied it for its model legislation. If the left can convince enough corporations to withdraw their memberships, it could cripple ALEC. Over 98% of ALEC’s budget comes from corporations, not membership dues. ALEC has over 300 corporate members.

The left is also attacking ALEC’s support of voter ID legislation, claiming that these laws are racist. Liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote, “ALEC has played a key role in promoting bills that make it hard for the poor and ethnic minorities to vote.” The left chooses to ignore that the opposite is true. Earlier this month, a young white male, directed by video journalist James O’Keefe, asked for and was offered Attorney General Eric Holder’s ballot at a polling place without showing any identification. Even the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that voter identification requirements are constitutional. Other ALEC-supported legislation which the left is attacking include school vouchers, border security, unions, private prisons and stopping Agenda 21.

The left demands that the Koch Brothers, conservative financial backers who support ALEC, resign from the organization. The Koch Brothers refuse to leave, saying that the left intends “not only to intimidate, but to silence supporters of free-market principles.” ALEC calls it a “campaign launched by a coalition of extreme liberal activists committed to silencing anyone who disagrees with their agenda.”

The left is attempting to force the Koch Brothers to resign through a boycott of their products. Of course, those on the right will start their own “buycott” and urge Americans to go out of their way to buy their products; paper towels, napkins, plates and cups by Brawny, Dixie, Sparkle, Mardi Gras, Vanity Fair and Zee, and toilet paper by Angel Soft, Quilted Northern and Soft’n’Gentle.

ALEC finally retreated this week under pressure, and shut down its public safety and elections task forces in charge of gun and voting rights legislation. ALEC announced it would no longer be involved in socially conservative legislation, but would be sticking to economic issues. This is unfair because many of these corporations are members of ALEC for other kinds of legislative assistance. Now they will no longer receive help with legislation in their interests.

This is nothing less than legalized extortion. The left is using threats and the race card to stamp out conservative activism. Instead of fighting it out fairly in the battlefield of ideas, the left is blackmailing corporations into making irrational decisions they do not want to make, which are detrimental to their interests. Corporations are being threatened that they will be boycotted and branded as racist if they do not withdraw from ALEC. This is a repeat of the tactics Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have successfully used in the past to coerce corporations into contributing money to radical left wing causes and hiring their cronies.

It is no coincidence that this is occurring during Obama’s reelection year. It is part of an overall strategy by the left to stir up the race card in order to gin up support for Obama’s reelection. The left knows they cannot win fairly, so they are resorting to false accusations of racism to force a victory. They have taken one isolated shooting incident that most likely did not involve racism, and turned it into the reason why a perfectly harmless nonprofit organization must be destroyed, and why Obama should win reelection.

Comments Off

by PinkTeaPatriot

NRA: 10 ways they have weakened gun-control laws in the US

4:38 pm in american legislative exchange council, background checks, conservative groups, gun control advocates, gun control laws, gun controls, gun lobby, gun sales, gun sellers, gun shows, hidden guns, legislative exchange council, loaded gun, manchin, US Senate by PinkTeaPatriot

More than 60,000 people are expected to attend the annual NRA convention this weekend in St. Louis, Missouri. Photograph: Whitney Curtis/Getty Images

How the organization behind Florida’s stand-your-ground law has been exploiting loopholes – and creating more – for years

Source: Guardian.co.uk

By: Ed Pilkington

Posted: April 13th, 2012

The NRA, working alongside like-minded conservative groups such as Alec, the American Legislative Exchange Council, has developed sophisticated lobbying networks designed to push back gun controls both at the federal and state level.

Here are key areas where the gun lobby has either pushed laws that weaken controls or blocked laws intended to tighten loopholes:

1. Concealed carry reciprocity

The NRA is backing two bills currently being considered by the US Senate that would extend the right to carry concealed weapons right across the US. The Begich-Manchin and Thune-Vitter bills would override the laws of almost every state by forcing them to allow people with out-of-state concealed carry permits to carry a hidden loaded gun, even in cases where the individual would not have qualified for a permit in that particular state. The Thune bill goes further – it would allow people from states that don’t even require permits to carry hidden guns throughout the country.

2. Private gun sales loophole

Under existing federal law, unlicensed gun sellers are allowed to sell weapons without a background check of the buyer at gun shows and other private sales. Paradoxically, only licensed dealers are required to conduct such background checks, which gun control advocates see as crucial in cutting off the supply of weapons to criminals and mentally unstable individuals. The NRA strongly opposes legislation that would close this glaring loophole by requiring background checks for all gun sales.

3. Terror watch list

The NRA has strongly opposed legislation to prohibit the sale of guns to people on the federal government’s terrorist watch list. Under current law, a suspected terrorist can be put on the no-fly list and be kept off a plane, but can’t be prevented from buying a gun.

4. Stand-your-ground laws

The NRA successfully lobbied for Florida’s stand-your-ground law in 2005, the same shoot-first provision that was invoked by Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman. Working with Alec, the NRA has encouraged the passage of similar legislation in 24 other states, and now it is actively pursuing bills that would codify similar legislation in at least seven states: Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota (where the bill was vetoed by governor), Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and Washington.

5. Guns on campuses

This year, at least 14 states have introduced 35 bills, with NRA encouragement, that would allow students and faculty to carry concealed weapons on the campuses of state colleges and universities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Alec, too, has put forward a model bill for guns on campuses. Remarkably, the argument is often made that having hidden guns on campus would help prevent another Virginia Tech, America’s deadliest shooting by a single gunman, in which 33 people were killed in April 2007.

7. Guns in schools

NRA-backed gun proponents have tried in several states to pass legislation eliminating “gun-free zones” and allowing weapons in elementary schools and even day-care centers. In February, the Georgia state assembly passed HR 981, which would have made it legal to carry guns on college campuses, elementary and secondary schools, state mental hospitals and bars.

8. Guns in the workplace, bars and restaurants

For several years the NRA has pushed legislation prohibiting businesses and employers from banning guns in locked cars in parking lots. It has been successful in several states, including Florida, Georgia and Utah, and is currently pushing for passage in Tennessee. Indiana and North Dakota have enacted laws allowing employees to sue if they are asked about gun possession at work. The NRA has also been lobbying for several years to expand the right to carry hidden loaded guns into bars and restaurants.

9. Tracing guns used in shootings

In 2004, a Republican congressman from Kansas, Todd Tiahrt, a long-time ally of the NRA, added an amendment to bill regarding the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives (ATF). Until that point, data had been kept on the history of guns used in murders and shootings, which allowed police and policymakers to trace them back to corrupt dealerships and other holes in the system. The rule change, known as the Tiahrt amendment, made this data much harder to acquire. It also forced the justice department to destroy within 24 hours the records of any gun buyer whose background check was approved. The overall impact of the amendments was to make it much harder for police to clamp down on illegally distributed guns.

10. Revoking licenses from corrupt dealers

The NRA has made several attempts to usher through Congress an “ATF reform bill” that would make it much harder – some say virtually impossible – to revoke the gun-selling licenses of crooked dealers. If the bill passed – and the NRA is expected to try again soon – the ATF would have to prove the dealer’s state of mind, in terms of his or her premeditated intention to break the law.

SOURCE: Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Tags: topics
Comments Off

by PinkTeaPatriot

Coca-Cola, Kraft leave conservative ALEC after boycott launched

9:17 pm in advocacy group, american legislative exchange council, coca cola co, draft legislation, economic growth and development, enterprise board, kraft foods inc, legislative exchange council, protest campaign, soft drink giant, Vote Fraud by PinkTeaPatriot

Source: AmericanC2C.com

By Laura J Alcorn National Director

Posted: April 7th, 2012

Kraft Joins Coke In Leaving ALEC, We Must Stop Van Jones

The lattices confirm:

Coca-Cola Co. and Kraft Foods Inc. bowed to consumer pressure this week and cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative lobbying group that has recently backed controversial voter ID and so-called “stand your ground” laws.

Within hours of advocacy group Color of Change launching a boycott against Coca-Cola for its participation on ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board, the soft drink giant issued a statement saying that it had “elected to discontinue its membership.”

But the company blamed ALEC’s support of “discriminatory food and beverage taxes” instead of “issues that have no direct bearing on our business.”

“We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our company and industry,”Coca-Cola said.

Kraft followed late Thursday, saying in a statement that it has “made the decision not to renew” its ALEC membership, which is expiring. The company was opaque in its reasoning, citing “limited resources” and saying that its involvement with ALEC “has been strictly limited to discussions about economic growth and development, transportation and tax policy.”

Still, the withdrawals pleased ALEC detractors, which includes the Center for Media and Democracy. The liberal-leaning nonprofit said it had launched a protest campaign in tandem with Color of Change opposing what it said were ALEC’s efforts to deny climate change, undermine public schools and encourage laws that would require voters to present various forms of identification before voting.

Critics of the policies, which have already been implemented in several states, say that they are more likely to shut out minorities, the poor, the elderly and even college students.

Draft legislation from ALEC has also helped fan the debate over “stand your ground” laws, which have played a central role in the February shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Color of Change, an African American advocacy group co-founded by James Rucker and Van Jones,issued a statement saying that the group would direct its sights at other companies associated with ALEC.

ALEC helps corporations and individuals draft model legislation to send to politicians. Its website says that the group’s mission is “to advance the Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty.”

Other members of ALEC’s Enterprise Board include executives from Wal-Mart, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, Pfizer, AT&T, UPS and Exxon Mobil. In January, PepsiCo quietly pulled itself off the board.

Here is a list the extensive Kraft foods: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Kraft_brands

Here is the list of the Legislators (Board of Directors) that work with ALEC currently. Go to your state, contact that legislator and ask them what you can do to help them to counteract what Van Jones is doing.