Investigating Power
According to the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy, corporate sponsors of ALEC include Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Peabody Energy and PhRMA.
In the last few years, Republican-controlled state legislatures have intensified the use of what are known as pre-emption laws, to block towns and cities from adopting measures favored by the left. The states aren’t merely overruling local laws; they’ve walled off whole new realms where local governments aren’t allowed to govern at all.
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“It’s like quick-fire,” said Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, which tracks pre-emption bills. “Once it passes some place, other legislatures go, ‘Oh, we could just pre-empt all of this.’ “
Pruitt’s dodging of public records requests in recent years prompted the Center for Media and Democracy to file a lawsuit in February alleging that Pruitt violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act “for failing to provide public access to official emails and other documents for more than two years.” The lawsuit also asks the attorney general not to destroy any documents that are relevant to CMD’s open records requests. As a result of the lawsuit, the attorney general released 7,564 emails and other records. The lawsuit is still pending in court.
The International Climate Science Coalition and other denial organizations have roots reaching into companies like ExxonMobil. Even though they say their donations come from individuals, the coalition received a $45,000 donation in 2007 from the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, according to SourceWatch.
“If single payer ever took off anywhere, it could threaten their anti-government messages,” Mary Bottari, of the Center for Media and Democracy, told Truthout in a previous interview about the Kochs’ activities on health policy.
The thousands of documents obtained for The New York Times investigation were organized and published online in a searchable format by the Center for Media and Democracy. Those memoranda, emails, and other materials offer an insightful window into the cozy relationships among the upper echelons of the U.S. media, the U.S. military, and the U.S. government. General Marks fits neatly in the intersection of these three entities.
ALEC, Bradley Files, Koch, SPN
However the Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive research group, has identified many of its principal contributors, including Donor’s Trust, the State Policy Network and the American Legislative Exchange Council, as closely tied to oil tycoons Charles and David Koch, along with the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, a backer of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s high-profile efforts to constrict public employee unions.
While the Trumpian turmoil is new, past presidents’ attempts to compel localities to comply with federal policies have met with mixed success. A new report, “Reagan vs. Cities: The 20th Century Battle Over South African Apartheid & Lessons for the Trump Era,” from Jobs to Move America and the Center for Media and Democracy, details the 40th president’s efforts to stamp out the U.S. anti-apartheid movement by several means, including denying federal funds to cities and states that took actions against companies that did business in South Africa.
Lisa Graves joins Allen Ruff on today’s program. Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy here in Madison. Graves joined the CMD in 2009, where she and her associates investigate dark money donations, and a ever-broadening examination of policy shapers and democratic investigations.
Today they discuss the potential changing of the U.S. Constitution, the Convention of State project, her recent piece on undermining public policies that help women and families, and more.
Up until her confirmation as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos had financial ties to a large student loan servicer in contract negotiations with the Department of Education. PRWatch reported in January that one of the firms DeVos divested from — LMF WF Portfolio — helped finance a $147 million loan to a student debt collection agency called Performant, which had more than 346 complaints brought against it with the Better Business Bureau.