What a topic! What a program!! What a day!!!
"All About ALEC" was a one-day forum held on 10/22/2011 in Fitchberg, WI, hosted by the Oregon (WI) Area Progressives. Moderated by John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine, speakers included U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL), WI Rep. Mark Pocan, and WI Sen. Mark Miller, as well as Lisa Graves of the Center for Media and Democracy (publisher of AlecExposed.org) and representatives of other organizations recognizing the dangers of ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).
In short, ALEC is a Koch-funded organization (in existence since 1973) which circumvents the need for a lobbying process by having corporations draft the legislation they want passed and then handing it out to state legislators to take back for enactment. ALEC is the source of much of the nearly identical legislation being pushed through conservative legislatures in various states regarding issues such as voter suppression, union-busting, privatizing education, eliminating environmental regulation, corporate prisons, and overthrowing federalism. Others have written extensively on these topics here at DK and elsewhere ... please check out the references at the bottom of this diary.
About 250 attendees participated in the forum by listening to speakers, asking questions, and cheering on the efforts of those who are ahead of the curve on identifying the dangers of ALEC ... both the content of the model legislation and the stealth method by which it is being created, distributed, and enacted. I encourage readers to educate themselves about this menace to democracy and then to spread the word.
For more about ALEC, read Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America, The Voice of Corporate Special Interests in State Legislatures, Legislating Under the Influence, this series of articles by John Nichols at The Nation, or any of the diaries posted here at Daily Kos under the ALEC tag.
Thu Oct 27, 2011 at 11:04 PM PT:
For a detailed account of the day's presentations, go to And The Truth Will Make You Mad!
For the video of the day's presentations, go to Wisconsin Eye
