Thanks to the work from the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), investigative journalists like Beau Hodai and The Nation’s exposé, we now know that ALEC (the American Legislative Exchange Council), a front group for major corporations, the Koch brothers and right-wing lobbying groups, actively disseminated model bills promoting its agenda to state leaders.
ALEC creates plausible deniability for state legislators by claiming it’s not lobbying, of course, but merely making friendly suggestions and, in turn, the legislators ultimately reap the rewards of being extra nice to ALEC’s corporate clients.
Though many of ALEC’s activities are still only recently coming to light, we can already see the group has widespread influence in national politics.
Using its hilariously titled bills (one called ‘Economy Civil Rights Act’ openly wages war on regulation and public services), the right-wing group aims to distribute its propaganda in all 50 states.
In one of their models, the group outlines its opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) regulation of greenhouse gases. ALEC claims the rise in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases is not linked to a decline in welfare or public health. ‘Indeed,’ ALEC’s bill remarks, ‘quite the opposite is true.’
The model bill continues in an attempt to refute other […]
