While I usually don't re-post articles that I write, this one is not only relevant, but something that anybody who missed it the first time should read due to it's importance in politics today.
By Joshua Sager
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a completely nonpartisan group of corporate and banking interests that writes legislation and regulations that they believe will improve the economy as a whole. After ALEC members write the laws that they believe will be fair and effective, they meet with politicians and try to convince them to support these model laws. Overall, ALEC is composed of economic specialists who just want to help craft good policy out a sense of altruism and community mindedness. Right, and there is a really nice bridge I want to sell you, sorry no refunds.
ALEC is a right wing think tank supported entirely by big money interests who simply want to wring just a little more money out of the impoverished and jobless. The sample "regulations" are a cynical joke created by the industry in order to profiteer, pollute and harm anybody they want with no consequences. ALEC presents itself as non-partisan, but 95% of its members are Republicans and all of its legislation is in line with the right wing's ideology. ALEC's meetings with legislators are little more than legitimized bribery of our politicians to betray their oaths of office.
ALEC has been working behind the scenes to deregulate every industry represented in its leadership council as well as to increase the profits of every member company. I honestly don't have a problem with ALEC representing the interests of its member companies, but I see two major problems that have arisen due to their actions.
ALEC is represented by some as a non-partisan policy group with society's best interests at heart. This characterization is simply false as they are not a non-partisan policy group any more than a defense lawyer is a crusader for social justice; both serve to advocate for their clients no matter the evil that they have committed in the past. ALEC exists to serve the corporate interest that created and fund it and representing it as anything else gives them the ability to confuse the goals of their legislation. It is supported exclusively by right wingers, demonstrated by the fact that nearly every one of ALEC’s “sample legislation” pushed into law was rubber stamped by a Republican.
The politicians (primarily Republicans/Tea Partiers) who go to ALEC meetings are not revealed as the corrupt, traitors that they are. The politicians know that the legislation they receive from ALEC is not in the interests of the public that elected them, but they push it anyways. In my opinion, any politician to simply sell their office does not deserve to hold it in the first place and should be either recalled (where allowed), voted out of office, or charged if their conduct is criminal.
The USA is edging past the point where it transitions from a democratic country to a corporatist/fascist country. We are at the point where the government is simply a tool of business and no longer representing the interests of the people who live in this country. THE CORPORATE INTERESTS ARE NOW WRITING THE LAWS and we are so inured to the corruption that there are only a few people talking about this.
Every American citizen should be outraged, partisanship be damned, because this type of corruption affects everybody. Pollution and economic collapses don't see partisan affiliation, and we need politicians who do what they were "hired" to do: represent the best interests of society based upon their beliefs. I have no problem with right wingers like Ron Paul because they do what they believe is best for their constituents, and that is what a politician is supposed to do. While I don't subscribe to right wing philosophy, it is perfectly valid and there should always be a debate over what the best policy is. I define a good politician as somebody who always pushes for what they believe is best for their constituents. Left or right wing, every politician who fails to advocate for their voters and the country is in my opinion a failure even if their results agree with my ideological beliefs. A politician who takes money for votes from the green energy lobby is as guilty as a politician who does the same for the Koch brothers.
ALEC Politicians: VOTE THESE SELLOUTS OUT OF OFFICE
ALEC Corps.: TOO DIVERSE TO BOYCOTT, BUT LOOK AT THE REACH THIS GROUP HAS
The Sarcastic Liberal
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