We’ve Been Had by Alec
by Sylvia Matousek
What is Alec?
ALEC (American Legislative Council) is a well-funded organization, which operates outside of the political parties. ALEC is a “corporate bill mill, “ which groups conservative Republicans and corporate billionaires together to write legislation. Its existence was virtually unknown until 2010, when, by accident, a reporter happened to stumble upon a meeting of the group.
ALEC meets in secret locations to draft legislation to limit the role of government, and hence direct more money into corporate pockets. The draft legislation is discussed/written at these meetings. The Legislators then fan out to carry the drafts back to respective state houses where they are introduced state by state. And frequently become (bad) law.
Why Are We Bothering With ALEC?
ALEC has molded American politics and public opinion and, in large part, engineered the Trump Victory. Working for a decade with a razor-like-focus on a “state by state strategy,” note the restrictive voter access laws popping up, increased attacks on virtually every public institution from schools to Medicare, anti-environment and anti-climate attacks…. This is ALEC.
ALEC is beholden to no one except the Koch Brothers and the Corporate Billionaires who use ALEC to further enrich themselves. The Koch Brothers, big investors in pipe lines and fossil fuels, have spawned the anti-environment legislation coming out of STATE houses, sponsored by state legislators who are ALEC members. Hydro fracking is one such contentious issue, a damaging process supported by Trump and ALEC.
ALEC Has Been Very Successful:
Alec is well-funded by the infamous Koch Brothers. Additionally, corporations “pay big bucks to play, “i.e. to get a seat at the table to draft/write legislation. Using their “state by state’ strategy, 31 of our states have Republican Governors, 18 Democratic and 1 independent. This has permitted Republican gerrymandering of these states, making it near impossible for Dems to win LOCAL offices. That is where ALEC focus has been.
The Koch Brothers were not particularly thrilled with candidate Trump. (Pence, however is a known ALEC supporter.) Despite that, ALEC pressed hard in the recent election to fund the “down Ballot” offices and the Dems across the country took a bad beating!
ALEC’S Goals:
* Repeal of Obamacare
* Restrict Voter Access
* Scale back public pensions
* Destabilize Unions
* Loosen environmental regs
* Institute charter schools
* Privatize Medicare and Social Security