Research Cited

ALEC Is Like a Swamp Inhabited by Creatures of the Past

Source: Truthout | Published: 7/25/2017

Experiencing ALEC is like diving into a swamp inhabited by creatures of the past. ALEC pushes policies that take us back to a federal government sitting on the sidelines while people suffered and starved, drank contaminated water and sustained injuries at work with no recourse. They are still lamenting the 1965 law that created the Medicaid and Medicare programs, as this, according to Avik Roy of the conservative Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, was the “real government takeover of health care.”

Fierce Push Back on Trump “Voter Fraud” Commission

Democracy, Trump

Source: Daily Kos | Published: 7/25/2017

The Trump administration has set up what Trump calls a “voter fraud panel.” Billed as an official “Advisory Commission on Election Integrity Resources,” the commission is being met with stiff resistance from many states, lawsuits by civil rights, and privacy watchdogs, and it is even prompting some worried voters to take the names off the voter rolls.

Koch-Trained Pundit Says London Fire Isn’t Government’s Problem — Tell It to the Victims

Bradley Files, Koch

Source: Truthout | Published: 7/22/2017

Koch Family Foundations have provided a massive stream of funding to IHS over the years — more than $30 million, according to Greenpeace. Charles G. Koch has been actively involved in IHS, serving as a board member or board chair for decades. Emails obtained by the Center for Media and Media and Democracy and reviewed by this writer show that the equally far-right Bradley Foundation has also been funding IHS.

Watchdog Group Sues Utah AG for Emails Showing Relationship with Fossil Fuel Boosters

RAGA

Source: ThinkProgress | Published: 7/20/2017

The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) filed the lawsuit Monday in state court after the office of Attorney General Sean Reyes (R) refused to comply with public records requests for email communications and documents that would show a relationship between Reyes and the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and the Rule of Law Defense Fund, RAGA’s advocacy arm.

Betsy DeVos Claims Philosophy of Margaret ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher as Her Own

ALEC, Education

Source: The Washington Post | Published: 7/20/2017

DeVos was in friendly territory when she spoke in Denver at the annual conference of ALEC, a powerful organization of corporate lobbyists and conservative state legislators who craft “model legislation” on issues important to them and then help shepherd through legislatures. ALEC calls itself “the largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism,” while it has been called a “stealth business lobbyist” by the New York Times and “a corporate bill mill” by the watchdog nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy.

Betsy DeVos Speech Greeted by Protesters She Calls ‘Defenders of the Status Quo’

ALEC, Education

Source: NPR | Published: 7/20/2017

ALEC created the original school voucher bill in 1984. Free-market economist Milton Friedman, widely credited as the originator of the idea, spoke at the annual gathering in 2006. According to the Center for Media and Democracy, an organization critical of ALEC, Friedman said the ultimate goal was “abolishing the public school system,” but that vouchers form a “politically feasible” way of getting there.

Zinke Heads West to Meet Conservative Groups

ALEC, Koch

Source: E&E News | Published: 7/20/2017

Past funding for ALEC, in addition to dues paid by legislators, has come from conservative foundations associated with the Koch family, trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute and corporations like Exxon Mobil Corp., according to studies by the Center for Media and Democracy.

All the Bad News You Need to Know about ALEC Agenda

ALEC, Democracy, Economy, Education, Environment

Source: AlterNet | Published: 7/20/2017

The Center for Media and Democracy reported that there will be a debate on the ALEC draft model bill to repeal the 17th Amendment, but many other controversial issues will be on the ALEC agenda as the meeting gets underway tomorrow. ALEC will be debating bills related to sexual assault on college campuses, campus protest, taxpayer vouchers for private schools and well-off families, the rollback of popular renewable energy programs, the dismantling the Affordable Care Act and more.

Suit Filed Against Fil-Am Utah Attorney General

RAGA

Source: ABS-CBN News | Published: 7/19/2017

According to a press release from the Center for Media and Democracy or CMD, the group filed a request last March for Reyes’s correspondence with the Republican Attorney Generals Association and the rule of law defense fund.

A New Deal for Wall Street

ALEC, Koch

Source: In These Times | Published: 7/19/2017

Macquarie also flexed its muscles to influence state and local politics as a member of the Koch-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). For decades, the ALEC agenda has helped set the stage for infrastructure privatization by “depriving the government of key revenue,” says Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, which runs the website ALEC Exposed. “If you make it harder for governments to raise taxes, you create a situation where the government has to resort to public-private partnerships.”