Corporations caught writing, voting on legislation in secret meetings with lawmakers

[Demosthenes11]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07/...t-alec-exposed

In April 2011, some of the biggest corporations in the U.S. met behind closed doors in Cincinnati about their wish lists for changing state laws. This exchange was part of a series of corporate meetings nurtured and fueled by the Koch Industries family fortune and other corporate funding.

At an extravagant hotel gilded just before the Great Depression, corporate executives from the tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, State Farm Insurance, and other corporations were joined by their "task force" co-chairs -- all Republican state legislators -- to approve “model” legislation. They jointly head task forces of what is called the “American Legislative Exchange Council” (ALEC).

There, as the Center for Media and Democracy has learned, these corporate-politician committees secretly voted on bills to rewrite numerous state laws. According to the documents we have posted to ALEC Exposed, corporations vote as equals with elected politicians on these bills. These task forces target legal rules that reach into almost every area of American life: worker and consumer rights, education, the rights of Americans injured or killed by corporations, taxes, health care, immigration, and the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink.

The Center obtained copies of more than 800 model bills approved by companies through ALEC meetings, after one of the thousands of people with access shared them, and a whistleblower provided a copy to the Center. Those bills, which the Center has analyzed and marked-up, are now available at ALEC Exposed.

The bills that ALEC corporate leaders, companies and politicians voted on this spring now head to a luxury hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter for ALEC’s national retreat on August 3rd. In New Orleans, Koch Industries -- through its chief lobbyist -- and lobbyists of other global companies are slated for a “joint board meeting” with a rookery of Republican legislators who are on ALEC's public board. (ALEC says only the legislators have a final say on all legislation.
ALEC has previously said that "The policies are debated and voted on by
all members. Public and private members vote separately on policy.") Before the bills are publicly introduced in state legislatures by ALEC politicians or alumni in the governor’s offices, they will be cleansed of any reference to the secret corporate voting or who really wrote them.

With CMD’s publication of the bills, the public can now pierce through some of the subterfuge about ALEC, and see beyond the names of the bills to what the bills really do, alongside the names of corporations that lead or have helped lead ALEC's agenda and accompanied by analysis to help decode the bills.

Many of the bills have obvious financial benefits for corporations but little or no direct benefit to the constituents that a particular legislator was elected to represent. Still, it may be tempting to dismiss ALEC as merely institutionalizing business as usual for lobbyists, except that ALEC’s tax-free donations are linked to it not spending a substantial amount of time on lobbying to change the law. ALEC has publicly claimed its “unparalleled” success in terms of the number of model bills introduced and enacted. But seeing the text of the bills helps reveal the actual language of legal changes ALEC corporations desire, beyond what can be known by the PR in their titles. ALEC says it has created a “unique” partnership between corporations and politicians. And it has.

It is a worrisome marriage of corporations and politicians, which seems to normalize a kind of corruption of the legislative process -- of the democratic process--in a nation of free people where the government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people, not the corporations.

The full sweep of the bills and their implications for America’s future, the corporate voting, and the extent of the corporate subsidy of ALEC's legislation laundering all raise substantial questions. These questions should concern all Americans. They go to the heart of the health of our democracy and the direction of our country. When politicians -- no matter their party -- put corporate profits above the real needs of the people who elected them, something has gone very awry.

As President Teddy Roosevelt observed in response to corporate money corrupting the democratic process a century ago, "The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth . . . . The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have called into being."

--Lisa Graves, Executive Director, Center for Media and Democracy

P.S. ALEC anointed the billionaire Koch Brothers as two of the first few recipients of its “Adam Smith Free Enterprise Award.” Smith argued that self-interest promoted more good in society than those who intend to do good. "Greed is good!" is how Oliver Stone translated this concept to fiction on screen.

On that score, perhaps, the award was apt, except that ALEC apparently ignores Smith’s caution that bills and regulations from business must be viewed with the deepest skepticism. In his book, ''Wealth of Nations'', Smith urged that any law proposed by businessmen “ought always to be listened to with great precaution . . . It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it."

One need not look far in the ALEC bills to find reasons to be deeply concerned and skeptical.Take a look for yourself.

I know this is something everyone knew but this is still pretty significant news. Proof of this level of corruption is pretty bad. I'm not even sure anything here is technically illegal, but it obviously goes against the fabric of democracy.

[Milkster]

Democracy at work boys and girls... Democracy is good in theory but people are too corrupt and easily swayed for it too work. The few people who actually are true to their beliefs get swept up in scandal.

[Ragnus]

Is this really surprising?

[Demosthenes11]

Is this really surprising?

again, that's not the point.

If Obama came out and said we are still in afghanistan for profit reasons with other corporations, it would not be a bit surprising, but it would be a shitstorm. This should be a shitstorm

[Tyche]

There's no penis pictures, this will be lucky to get 5 minutes of airtime.

[hey]

Might want to remove the word "secret" from the title.

[Stumblingdrunk]

Yeah, but netflix just increased its fees. Stop wasting people's time with this shit so we can focus on things that matter.

[Kurokikaze]

Not sure that anything here is illegal but as you stated... it's a slap in the face to the democratic process.

Won't even get mentioned in the mainstream media.

[kuronosan]

lolamerica.

Land of the Freebies and Home of the Slaves.

[solanis]

the meetings weren't that interesting tbh

Spoiler: show

jay kay they were totally interesting

[Ghost_Wheel22]

Worry not, for the invisible free hand of the market will decide. Not you.

[notorious bum]

not that I'm even remotely surprised that these meetings were happening, but I didn't think I'd read a leak of awesomeness without a wikileaks announcement preceding it.

[Caiyuo]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07/...t-alec-exposed



I know this is something everyone knew but this is still pretty significant news. Proof of this level of corruption is pretty bad. I'm not even sure anything here is technically illegal, but it obviously goes against the fabric of democracy.

I almost thought this was like a really lazy day for The Onion, but you're right; more than anything else, it's corruption that kills my hope and it's what I wish there was a much, much bigger emphasis on instead of all the party-based irrelevance.

[Demosthenes11]

only returned results from the major news sites when searching "ALEC" is some alec baldwin news from a few days ago.

shameful.

[Hakataka]

I'm not really seeing much of a difference between this and lobbyists other than the word "secret"

[hey]

only returned results from the major news sites when searching "ALEC" is some alec baldwin news from a few days ago.

shameful.

Why would they cover this? This isn't news. No reason to cover things that every single person in the country already knows.

[Antithesis]

lolamerica.

[Hakataka]

lolamerica.

Land of the Freebies and Home of the Slaves.

Because corruption exists in no other governments.

[notorious bum]

What was once commonly dismissed as paranoia, conspiracy theorist talk, anti-american, etc. is now just more fuel to the flames of pessimism towards the govt., well, for those who actually hear about this story lol

[Hakataka]

The people who say this kind of talk is "anti-american" are just going to dismiss this as a hoax anyway. This, sadly enough, will change nothing.