Forum Post: Protest ALEC's 40th ~ Boycott ALEC Members ~ Fight Back!
Posted 11 years ago on Aug. 6, 2013, 3:01 a.m. EST by WSmith
(2698)
from Cornelius, OR
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
BOYCOTT ALEC MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS & PROTEST THEIR 40th Anniversary in Chicago! THIS WEEK!
Fight Back Against the 1% Class War on You!
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) crafts model bills like Stand Your Ground (SYG) and anti-abortion laws that pursue right-wing 1% agendas.
(From Wiki) The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a 501(c)(3) American organization composed of legislators, businesses and foundations which produces model legislation for state legislatures and promotes "free"-markets, limited government, and federalism at the state level.
Organization
ALEC currently has more than 2,000 legislative members representing all 50 states, amounting to nearly one-third of all sitting legislators, as well as more than 85 members of Congress and 14 sitting or former governors who are considered "alumni". The vast majority of ALEC's legislative members belong to the Republican Party. ALEC also claims approximately 300 corporate, foundation, and other private-sector members.
ALEC mission statement language included in bills
In November 2011, Florida State Representative Rachel Burgin (R), introduced legislation to call on the federal government to reduce its corporate tax rate. The text still included the boilerplate "WHEREAS, it is the mission of the American Legislative Exchange Council to advance Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism, and individual liberty..." The bill was quickly withdrawn, the phrase removed, and was resubmitted as HM717.
Florida 'Stand Your Ground' law
After Florida passed its Stand-your-ground law, the American Legislative Exchange Council adopted its legislative language into one of its model policies.
Animal rights
"The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act," a bill drafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council and used as a model in some of about a dozen U.S. state legislatures that have proposed such legislation, makes it against the law to film, videotape or make photographs on livestock farms in order to "defame the facility or its owner". People found to be in violation (for example, with a cellphone) would be put on a "terrorist registry."
Contributions from the prison industry and sentencing policies
Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, two of the largest for-profit prison companies in the US, have been contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council. Under their Criminal Justice Task Force, ALEC has developed bills which State legislators can then consult when proposing “tough on crime” initiatives including “Truth in Sentencing” and “Three Strikes” laws. Critics argue that by funding and participating in ALEC’s Criminal Justice Task Forces, private prison companies directly influence legislation for tougher, longer sentences. ALEC has also worked to pass state laws to create for-profit prisons, which served as a boon to both of the aforementioned contributors.
ALEC 40th Anniversary in Chicago August 7-9!!!
ALEC is funded by Reynolds American, Altria, and other tobacco firms. They will be blowing smoke in the Windy City August 7-9.
ALEC Exposed in Chicago Rally | Thursday, August 8, 2013 - 12:00pm
http://afsc.org/event/alec-exposed-chicago-rally
Chicago ALEC Protests - this week
by MNDem999Follow
August 7 - 9
Chicago, IL
ALEC Annual Meeting
ALEC 40th Anniversary
The union rally against ALEC on August 8 is getting the most press.
I just want people to be aware that there are three days of action planned. I've heard a group is planning an OLB.
Follow both - on their webpages linked above.
If you don't know why you should be in Chicago to protest ALEC - please read my reprint of an earlier diary - below.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/03/1228636/-Chicago-ALEC-ProtestS-this-week#
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC_Corporations
http://www.buycott.com/campaign/588/boycott-alec-corporations
[Removed]
We're Crashing ALEC's Party!
Jobs with Justice/American Rights at Work
Dear Americans,
Sallie Mae has no business belonging to ALEC – the powerful "Stand Your Ground," anti-democratic, pay-to-play front group for right-wing corporate interests.
Already, nearly 10,000 people have signed our petition urging the nation's largest private student loan lender to end ties with ALEC. Will you join them?
http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4022/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6950&track=20130731_adv_salliemae_alec_rem
We're crashing ALEC's 40th annual meeting in Chicago at noon on Thursday – and we're taking our petition directly to Sallie Mae representatives at the ALEC meeting. Sign our petition by tomorrow and we'll include your name!
http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4022/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6950&track=20130731_adv_salliemae_alec_rem
Don't delay – we're ready to make sure Sallie Mae feels the heat for putting profits and politics above public education. Stand with us so we can hold Sallie Mae accountable together.
http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4022/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6950&track=20130731_adv_salliemae_alec_rem Chris
Tell Sallie Mae to end its membership in ALEC. Sign the petition now! http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4022/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6950&track=20130731_adv_salliemae_alec_rem
Dear Americans,
It only takes three words to explain why ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is bad for our country: Stand Your Ground.
But it takes a few more words to describe all of the ways that Sallie Mae, the nation's largest private student loan lender and proud member of ALEC, is condemning students to a lifetime of debt.
Sallie Mae is supposed to be in the business of making education a reality. Instead the company profiteers off its student borrowers by granting risky loans with high interest rates. Last year, U.S. student debt hit $1 trillion – meanwhile, Sallie Mae cleared $1 billion in profits.
And then there's Sallie Mae’s latest scheme – joining ALEC. Through its ALEC membership, Sallie Mae proposed legislation that limits public investment in higher education, which in turn makes college less affordable and forces students and families to take out more school loans.1 So we're launching a big campaign to push Sallie Mae to leave ALEC. Will you join us? Sign our petition now.
For decades, ALEC has successfully – albeit secretively – pushed an extremist, right-wing, Big Business agenda by promoting copycat state legislation essentially written by corporations. ALEC finally attracted widespread public attention and criticism last year for advancing anti-democratic voter ID laws, anti-union right-to-work laws, and – most famously – pro-gun "stand your ground" laws. After public shaming from activists around the country, hundreds of corporations had the good sense to end their ties with ALEC. Despite these controversies – Sallie Mae had the gall to join ALEC.
Sallie Mae is throwing money at politicians to ensure the entire higher education system benefits its bottom line. We think Sallie Mae shouldn’t be in bed with ALEC. If you agree, sign our petition to urge them to leave the group today.
It's no wonder that Sallie Mae is so emboldened. For too long, the company has effectively skirted regulation, ignored calls for transparency, and stayed out of the public's eye despite its major role in the student debt crisis. Too concerned with its bottom line, Sallie Mae thinks no one is watching them. And the lender would love to continue operating under the radar. But that's about to end.
We're escalating our campaign to hold Sallie Mae accountable. We have journalists on their trail. We encouraged shareholders to push the company to be more transparent. We made a ruckus demonstrating at their annual meeting. And now, we're ready to create a PR nightmare for Sallie Mae. But we need you to join us.
We're crashing ALEC's 40th annual meeting in Chicago next week and will be delivering our petition directly to Sallie Mae. Sign by August 6 so your name can be included!
If you think what Sallie Mae is doing doesn't matter to you – think again. Sallie Mae is a prime example of another corporation running our economy into the ground in pursuit of profits. Student debt is actively standing in the way of the economic recovery, and Sallie Mae is partially to blame. The company's lending practices have turned getting a college education into a drag on our economy. As student debt and student loan defaults escalate at an unsustainable pace, private student loan lenders like Sallie Mae strike it rich.
Enough is enough. Take a key step in reigning in the largest private student loan lender. Sign our petition today.
http://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4022/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=6950&track=20130731_adv_salliemae_alec_rem Thanks for all that you do,
Chris,
Jobs with Justice/American Rights at Work
1 http://www.studentlabor.org/2013/07/29/alecs-legislative-agenda-on-higher-education
As ALEC Celebrates its 40th Birthday in Chicago, Protesters Prepare to Blow Out the Candles
by Harriet Rowan — July 26, 2013 - 8:13am
The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, the corporate "bill mill" which has advanced a potpourri of extreme anti-worker, anti-environment, and pro-gun legislation (SYG), is turning 40 years this year, and will hold its annual meeting in Chicago from August 7-9 in 2013.
ALEC will be greeted in the Windy City by a broad coalition of good government groups, labor unions, as well as civil rights and religious groups, who will rally to say that 40 years of ALEC is nothing to celebrate.
ALEC's 40th, like their previous meetings, will consist of closed-door meetings where corporate lobbyists and state legislators sit together on task forces and pass "model" bills, which the legislators then bring back and introduce in their home states with no disclosure. The state legislators in attendance will also be wined and dined at corporate-sponsored events and taken to fancy dinners with special interest lobbyists. Protests and Educational Activities Planned to Counter ALEC's Agenda
The special guests at ALEC's 40th annual meeting include former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, sweetheart of the school privatization movement.
The Chicago Federation of Labor has put together a Facebook event, and explains why Chicagoans and others are raising their voices against ALEC: "ALEC is bringing state politicians to Chicago to push a dangerous agenda that rewards greedy CEOs at the expense of middle class families and our public schools and puts our safety at risk. Forty years of ALEC is nothing to celebrate," the site says.
MOVIE SCREENING: On Wednesday, August 7, at 6 p.m. Common Cause, the Center for Media and Democracy, and others will host a screening of the documentary the "United States of ALEC" narrated by Bill Moyers, followed by a panel discussion. The screening will be held at the University Center, 525 South State Street in Chicago.
RALLY: At noon on Thursday, August 8, a coalition of groups, spearheaded by the Chicago Federation of Labor, is calling on people to gather outside the ALEC conference at the Palmer House Hotel, located at 17 East Monroe Street for a march and rally. You can tell them you are coming here.
ALEC's Influence Highlighted in CMD's Special Reports
In the weeks leading up to ALEC's 40th Annual Meeting, the Center for Media and Democracy is releasing a series of reports identifying hundreds of ALEC bills that have been introduced around the country in 2013 that privatize public education, make it harder to hold corporations accountable for harm they cause, and block attempts to raise the minimum wage or give workers basic benefits like paid sick days.
Read our Special Reports below and stay tuned for more to come at PRWatch.org:
Cashing in on Kids: 139 ALEC Bills in 2013 Promote a Private, For-Profit Education Model
Justice Denied: 71 ALEC Bills in 2013 Make It Harder to Hold Corporations Accountable for Causing Injury or Death
Just How Low Can Your Salary Go?: 117 ALEC Bills in 2013 Fuel Race to the Bottom in Wages and Worker Rights
See the growing list of ALEC bills offered in 2013 here.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/12194
Will enough people find another way to meet their needs?
Because free speech is abridged it is doubtful enough will know.
ALEC needs to stopped. But Impeaching their political pretense of constitutional Intent without having to look at al the business is something everyone can do. Because they were pro Article V. To be constitutional they have to focus on constitutional intent because Article V depends on it for all amendments.
I found this thread here that had a socially advanced angle in the academics of constitutional intent. Good exercise for the people.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/action-petition-alec-to-make-a-statement-about-the/
I don't know your language.
Sorry, bad typos now and then posting with a phone. I fixed 'em.