United States of ALEC: A Follow-Up

00:56:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hmhdv_OSvA

概要

TLDRThe video delves into the operations of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an influential consortium of corporations and state legislators that drafts and promotes model state legislation. ALEC facilitates corporate influence over public policy across numerous sectors, such as health, education, and environment, by creating bills that legislators can introduce in state governments, bypassing federal scrutiny. The documentary reveals ALEC's methods and the extensive reach of its agenda, heightened by the financial backing of major companies. Despite being a nonprofit, ALEC's activities resemble those of lobbyists, drawing criticism for lack of transparency and public engagement in policy-making. The segment also covers the backlash ALEC has faced, including protests and corporate withdrawals following its involvement in controversial legislation like the Stand Your Ground laws.

収穫

  • 🏛️ ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) heavily influences state legislation by drafting model bills.
  • 🏢 Corporations collaborate with ALEC to push legislative agendas favoring business interests.
  • 🔒 Meetings and discussions within ALEC often occur behind closed doors, lacking transparency.
  • 📢 Public scrutiny has increased due to ALEC’s role in controversial laws like Stand Your Ground.
  • 🚦 ALEC influences a broad range of policy areas, including education, healthcare, and environmental regulations.
  • 📉 Several corporations have cut ties with ALEC following public backlash.
  • 💼 ALEC claims its work focuses on limited government, yet its operations closely mimic corporate lobbying.
  • 🌍 The organization has attempted to challenge renewable energy standards in several states.
  • 🕵️‍♂️ Investigative efforts continue to reveal ALEC's extensive network and legislative impact.
  • 📜 ALEC arguments sometimes involve rebranding efforts to reduce negative perceptions.

タイムライン

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The introduction discusses how a corporation could bypass federal environmental laws by influencing state legislation through ALEC, a network that effectively changes laws at the state level without the need for federal involvement. It also lists funding sources for the film, aiming to raise awareness of ALEC's operations.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    ALEC is described as a consortium that facilitates partnerships between state legislators and corporations to influence laws in their favor. The text highlights ALEC's success in passing legislation that often lacks public debate and contrasts this with the perception that corporate influence shouldn't dominate state lawmaking.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    The investigation into ALEC by the Center for Media and Democracy reveals ALEC's widespread influence on state laws. Leaked documents showed ALEC's role in promoting laws that limit voting rights, weaken unions, and boost corporate immunity. Researchers identify a wide network of corporate and legislative members involved with ALEC.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Efforts to expose ALEC's influence continue as researchers uncover model bills and identify corporations involved in crafting legislation. These bills often preemptively address corporate interests, like preventing local living wage laws, revealing a systematic approach to legislative influence beneficial to private corporations.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    ALEC's covert operations and legislative influence are under scrutiny, including its promotion of education privatization, health care measures against public mandates, and financial limitations on lawsuits. ALEC operates under the guise of education to maintain tax-exempt status while pushing state-level legislation.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The text describes ALEC as a strategic tool for conservative corporate agendas, offering corporations access to lawmakers without traditional lobbying rules. ALEC's gatherings allow corporations to mold laws directly, influencing legislation across various sectors from energy to education to health care, reflecting ALEC's wide-reaching legislative impact.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    The narrative shows how ALEC integrates conservative agendas at the state level, particularly how it has promoted private education and healthcare reform bills benefitting corporations. ALEC's roots are traced back to conservative and Christian activists aiming for long-term political changes beyond immediate electoral cycles.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    Documents and historical recounts outline the strategic transformation of ALEC from policy setting to gaining corporate backers, enhancing its capabilities to influence state policies broadly. A focus on state legislatures was considered a more pragmatic path for advancing conservative and corporate interests effectively.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    ALEC's legislative strategies are driven by corporate interests, yet aim for broader policy changes affecting public sectors like education and health care. Various examples include laws that extend corporate protections and reduce public health regulations, showcasing ALEC's effective legislative reach.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    Public backlash and targeted opposition to ALEC's methods are growing, pointing out ALEC's opaque operations and corporate-driven legislative efforts. Despite significant corporate support loss, ALEC continues to expand its influence, particularly in renewable energy policies. Activists remain vigilant in exposing its operations.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:56:46

    The program predicts Alec's continued influence despite public protests and corporate disassociation. The text stresses the covert, impactful nature of ALEC's model legislation as an ongoing issue affecting state laws nationwide, emphasizing the need for public awareness and continued scrutiny on ALEC.

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ビデオQ&A

  • What is ALEC and how does it operate?

    ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, is a consortium of corporations and state legislators. It operates by creating and promoting model legislation to be introduced across states, often benefitting its corporate members.

  • Why is ALEC controversial?

    ALEC is controversial because it allows corporations to influence legislation directly, often behind closed doors, impacting laws related to environmental policies, education, and labor, without public input.

  • How does ALEC influence state legislation?

    ALEC influences state legislation by drafting model bills that legislators can introduce in their states. These bills often align with corporate interests, ranging from education privatization to environmental deregulation.

  • What was the public reaction to ALEC's activities?

    Public reaction has been critical, particularly when ALEC's connection to controversial laws, such as Stand Your Ground, became known. This led to protests and several corporations ending their association with ALEC.

  • How has ALEC responded to increased scrutiny?

    ALEC has attempted to downplay its role by rebranding and limiting the use of its acronym, focusing more on phrases like "exchange" and "council" to emphasize the intended broad exchange of ideas.

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    [Music]
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    welcome what if you were a corporation
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    that stood to make a bundle if oil from
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    the Canadian tarand was imported by the
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    United States and what if you thought
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    federal laws to protect the environment
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    were going to stop that oil importing
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    from happening you'd set your sights on
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    Washington spread some money around
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    inside the Beltway how big gun lobbyist
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    to whine and dine the politicians and
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    stroke The Regulators to let the free
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    market work
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    right right you would do all that but
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    you wouldn't stop there you'd also take
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    your battle to the States because if you
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    can get laws that serve your interest in
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    one state capital after another it might
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    not matter much what Washington has to
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    say about it especially in a time like
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    this when our national government is
  • 00:02:19
    polarized paralyzed and dysfunctional
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    and an obstinate minority is determined
  • 00:02:24
    to keep it that way our 50 state
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    capitals have long been the place where
  • 00:02:29
    things happen the taxes you pay the road
  • 00:02:31
    you drive on the quality of the air you
  • 00:02:33
    breathe and the water you drink your
  • 00:02:35
    right to privacy and your right to vote
  • 00:02:38
    these all bear the imprint of laws
  • 00:02:40
    passed by the legislature in your home
  • 00:02:43
    state this report is about how some of
  • 00:02:46
    those laws get enacted thanks to an
  • 00:02:48
    organization called Alec the American
  • 00:02:51
    legislative exchange Council a
  • 00:02:53
    Consortium of Corporations and state
  • 00:02:55
    legislators with so much muscle they're
  • 00:02:57
    changing the country one law at a time
  • 00:03:00
    one state at a time in the case of those
  • 00:03:03
    Canadian tarand Alec reportedly turned
  • 00:03:06
    to an oil industry Lobby for a bill that
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    makes it hard for the states to slow the
  • 00:03:11
    flow of Canadian crude into this country
  • 00:03:14
    no matter the environmental
  • 00:03:16
    consequences this is how Alec has worked
  • 00:03:18
    for years pushing changes state by state
  • 00:03:21
    that could never have been achieved if
  • 00:03:23
    they had been put to the test of open
  • 00:03:25
    and Broad popular support Alec has been
  • 00:03:29
    so successful working its will behind
  • 00:03:31
    closed doors in secret that most
  • 00:03:33
    Americans had never even heard of it
  • 00:03:35
    until recently Alec had never even been
  • 00:03:38
    subjected to scrutiny on National
  • 00:03:40
    Television until the documentary report
  • 00:03:42
    we broadcast last fall that was a
  • 00:03:45
    collaboration between okopy Productions
  • 00:03:48
    and the Schuman Media Center that I head
  • 00:03:50
    Schuman supports independent journalists
  • 00:03:52
    and public Watchdog groups like the
  • 00:03:54
    center for media and democracy and
  • 00:03:56
    common cause their investigators have
  • 00:03:58
    been tracking the intersection between
  • 00:04:00
    money and politics and finding Alex
  • 00:04:03
    squarely in the middle of it all across
  • 00:04:05
    the country there have been some new
  • 00:04:07
    developments since our broadcast so
  • 00:04:10
    here's that report expanded and updated
  • 00:04:13
    on the United States of
  • 00:04:27
    Alec they want every body to vote I
  • 00:04:31
    don't want everybody to vote as a matter
  • 00:04:34
    of fact our leverage in the elections
  • 00:04:35
    quite candidly goes up as the voting
  • 00:04:37
    populist goes
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    down I've often told people that I talk
  • 00:04:43
    to out on the campaign Trail to when
  • 00:04:46
    they say State what when I say I'm
  • 00:04:48
    running for the state legislature I tell
  • 00:04:50
    them that the decisions that are made
  • 00:04:53
    here in the legislature are often more
  • 00:04:54
    important for your everyday life than
  • 00:04:56
    the decisions the president
  • 00:04:58
    makes
  • 00:05:03
    if you really want to influence the
  • 00:05:05
    politics of this country you don't just
  • 00:05:07
    give money to presidential campaigns you
  • 00:05:09
    don't just give money to Congressional
  • 00:05:11
    Campaign committees smart players put
  • 00:05:14
    their money in the
  • 00:05:17
    states Alec has forged a unique
  • 00:05:19
    partnership between state legislators
  • 00:05:22
    and leaders from the corporate and
  • 00:05:23
    business Community this partnership
  • 00:05:26
    offers businessmen the extraordinary
  • 00:05:29
    opportunity
  • 00:05:30
    to apply their talents to solve our
  • 00:05:32
    nation's problems and build on our
  • 00:05:37
    opportunities I was stunned at the
  • 00:05:41
    notion that politicians and corporate
  • 00:05:43
    Representatives corporate lobbyists were
  • 00:05:45
    actually voting behind closed doors on
  • 00:05:48
    these changes to the law before they
  • 00:05:50
    were introduced in state houses across
  • 00:05:52
    the
  • 00:05:55
    country Alec has been I think a
  • 00:05:57
    wonderful organization uh not only does
  • 00:06:00
    it bring uh like-minded legislators
  • 00:06:03
    together but the private sector uh
  • 00:06:05
    engagement and partnership uh in Alec is
  • 00:06:08
    is really what I think makes it the
  • 00:06:11
    organization that it is Corporate
  • 00:06:13
    influence is tainting the legislative
  • 00:06:17
    process particularly out across the
  • 00:06:19
    states and average Americans are paying
  • 00:06:23
    the
  • 00:06:28
    price the American legislative exchange
  • 00:06:31
    Council
  • 00:06:33
    Alec it's headquartered in Arlington
  • 00:06:35
    Virginia but it operates in every
  • 00:06:37
    capital in the country and its efforts
  • 00:06:40
    produce some hundreds of new state laws
  • 00:06:42
    each year Well I cover politics for a
  • 00:06:44
    living so I've known about Alec for a
  • 00:06:46
    long time I was always conscious of Alec
  • 00:06:48
    but to be honest not that excited about
  • 00:06:51
    it I just thought it was you know folks
  • 00:06:53
    got together and discussed their policy
  • 00:06:56
    issues that's all I knew and uh and
  • 00:06:59
    that's not unusual and uh and that's how
  • 00:07:02
    they portray themselves today uh but now
  • 00:07:04
    with this project we've learned all
  • 00:07:05
    sorts of things that we didn't
  • 00:07:08
    know in 2011 an investigation began clo
  • 00:07:12
    and Dagger style at the nonprofit Center
  • 00:07:15
    for media and
  • 00:07:17
    democracy in the spring I got a call
  • 00:07:19
    from a person who said that all of the
  • 00:07:22
    Alec bills were available and was I
  • 00:07:25
    interested in looking at them uh and I
  • 00:07:28
    said I was
  • 00:07:30
    in early April Lisa Graves the head of
  • 00:07:32
    the center received a document drop from
  • 00:07:35
    an Alec
  • 00:07:37
    Insider these are the bills that were
  • 00:07:39
    provided by The
  • 00:07:42
    Whistleblower that's just the
  • 00:07:45
    index they would come to tell a story
  • 00:07:47
    she says of how a seemingly innocuous
  • 00:07:50
    nonprofit was actually fronting for some
  • 00:07:52
    of the world's most powerful
  • 00:07:57
    corporations Alec had been ch changing
  • 00:07:59
    the country by changing its laws one
  • 00:08:02
    state at a time I remember the day well
  • 00:08:05
    it was uh first thing in the morning and
  • 00:08:07
    I looked at the
  • 00:08:09
    bills and I was astonished until I saw
  • 00:08:13
    the bills and the depth and breadth and
  • 00:08:16
    duration I did not have a full
  • 00:08:18
    understanding of their reach and their
  • 00:08:19
    impact Graves was familiar with some of
  • 00:08:22
    the bills because versions of them had
  • 00:08:24
    already become law in many states but
  • 00:08:27
    she'd had no idea Alex was behind them
  • 00:08:30
    bills to change the law to make it
  • 00:08:32
    harder for American citizens to vote
  • 00:08:33
    those were Alec bills bills to
  • 00:08:35
    dramatically change the rights of
  • 00:08:37
    Americans who were killed or injured by
  • 00:08:38
    corporations those were Alec bills bills
  • 00:08:41
    to make it harder for unions to do their
  • 00:08:44
    work were Alec bills bills to basically
  • 00:08:47
    block climate change agreements those
  • 00:08:50
    were Alec
  • 00:08:51
    bills the sener for median democracy is
  • 00:08:54
    a small nonprofit investigative
  • 00:08:56
    reporting group researchers here new
  • 00:08:59
    knew the documents they'd gotten had
  • 00:09:01
    enormous implications Alec had been
  • 00:09:03
    around for nearly four decades but no
  • 00:09:06
    one on the outside was even certain
  • 00:09:08
    exactly who belonged to it Graves and
  • 00:09:11
    her team began to plow through Alec
  • 00:09:13
    documents as well as public sources to
  • 00:09:15
    compile a list of the organizations and
  • 00:09:18
    people who were or had been Alec member
  • 00:09:21
    they found hundreds of Corporations from
  • 00:09:24
    Coca-Cola and Coke Industries to Exxon
  • 00:09:26
    Mobile fizer and
  • 00:09:28
    Walmart dozens of right-wing think tanks
  • 00:09:31
    and
  • 00:09:32
    Foundations two dozen corporate law and
  • 00:09:34
    lobbying firms and some thousand state
  • 00:09:38
    legislators a few of them Democrats the
  • 00:09:40
    majority of them
  • 00:09:42
    Republican after I spent some time
  • 00:09:44
    really looking through the bills I went
  • 00:09:46
    to dinner with my colleague here Mary
  • 00:09:48
    barari and her husband John Nichols Lisa
  • 00:09:51
    called us and said I have some stuff I
  • 00:09:53
    don't know how much stuff I have but I
  • 00:09:55
    have some stuff I think this is going to
  • 00:09:56
    be a big story this is an incredible
  • 00:09:58
    thing you know Alec this organization
  • 00:10:00
    that's usually been you know very much
  • 00:10:01
    behind the scenes sort of The Wizard of
  • 00:10:03
    Oz behind the curtain the sitter was
  • 00:10:06
    about to go on a mission I was
  • 00:10:08
    determined to really break through the
  • 00:10:10
    story of Alex and how its operations
  • 00:10:12
    actually work I was also determined that
  • 00:10:14
    this not be like a Wiki leaks situation
  • 00:10:17
    where there was no context and and no
  • 00:10:20
    real storytelling about them but telling
  • 00:10:22
    that story wouldn't be easy Alec does
  • 00:10:25
    its most important business behind
  • 00:10:27
    closed doors and just
  • 00:10:29
    understanding all of the bills was a
  • 00:10:31
    task in
  • 00:10:34
    itself and we decided to call in the
  • 00:10:37
    troops University of Wisconsin Professor
  • 00:10:39
    Joel Rogers has written widely on public
  • 00:10:42
    policy he was enlisted to examine the
  • 00:10:44
    bills affecting working people so one
  • 00:10:46
    big thing that Alec was excited about
  • 00:10:48
    were these living wage laws have you
  • 00:10:50
    heard of that that were passing around
  • 00:10:52
    cities and they they had a bill where
  • 00:10:53
    they said the states should preempt that
  • 00:10:55
    they should use their power to forbid
  • 00:10:57
    that so it's not it's not cuddly you
  • 00:11:00
    know let's have some neighborhood
  • 00:11:02
    Grassroots you know Lively democracy for
  • 00:11:05
    healthc care issues they called in a
  • 00:11:07
    former insurance company executive
  • 00:11:09
    turned industry Watchdog and
  • 00:11:10
    whistleblower wendle Potter even though
  • 00:11:13
    I had known of the organization for a
  • 00:11:14
    long time I was astonished just about
  • 00:11:17
    everything that that I knew that the
  • 00:11:19
    health insurance industry wanted out of
  • 00:11:21
    um uh any state lawmaker was included in
  • 00:11:24
    that package of of of bills Potter found
  • 00:11:28
    among the Alec documents are resolution
  • 00:11:30
    to urge Congress to privatize Medicare A
  • 00:11:33
    bill that would limit the amount of
  • 00:11:34
    money a plaintiff could win in a medical
  • 00:11:36
    malpractice suit and another that would
  • 00:11:39
    thwart any effort by the federal
  • 00:11:41
    government to impose a health insurance
  • 00:11:43
    mandate also in the Alec archive there's
  • 00:11:46
    a giant stack of school choice bills and
  • 00:11:49
    they're fat bills too that's this little
  • 00:11:51
    slice of school choice and that little
  • 00:11:52
    slice slice of school vouchers and it's
  • 00:11:55
    basically a long-term agenda of how to
  • 00:11:57
    privatize public education and it was
  • 00:12:00
    this was not our issue area so I started
  • 00:12:02
    asking friends who can I talk to about
  • 00:12:04
    school choice and school vouchers and
  • 00:12:06
    everybody pointed to Julie Julie
  • 00:12:08
    Underwood attorney and professor of
  • 00:12:10
    education at the University of Wisconsin
  • 00:12:12
    I've done education policy for a long
  • 00:12:15
    time many times said you know people are
  • 00:12:17
    trying to defund and dismantle public
  • 00:12:19
    education but I'd never put all of these
  • 00:12:22
    forces together until I saw all of those
  • 00:12:26
    documents they kind of changes Alec is
  • 00:12:29
    trying to impose in on public education
  • 00:12:32
    isn't really just mild reform it's
  • 00:12:34
    actually creating a drastically
  • 00:12:36
    different kind of educational system
  • 00:12:38
    than what we have
  • 00:12:40
    now Alec describes itself as a
  • 00:12:43
    nonpartisan Partnership of state
  • 00:12:45
    legislators members of the private
  • 00:12:47
    sector and the general public devoted to
  • 00:12:49
    limited government free enterprise and
  • 00:12:52
    Jeffersonian principles founded close to
  • 00:12:55
    40 years ago it produces what it calls
  • 00:12:58
    model legislation propos laws that its
  • 00:13:00
    legislative members introduce into State
  • 00:13:03
    houses throughout the country as their
  • 00:13:05
    own Alex says close to a th000 bills
  • 00:13:08
    based at least in part on its models are
  • 00:13:11
    introduced each year and an average of
  • 00:13:13
    200 pass Alec doesn't run candidates
  • 00:13:16
    Alec doesn't train candidates Alec
  • 00:13:19
    doesn't uh really play politics you know
  • 00:13:22
    on Election Day Alec plays the day after
  • 00:13:24
    the election they look at who got
  • 00:13:26
    elected and they say you should join
  • 00:13:27
    Alec Alec's m members and
  • 00:13:29
    representatives either refused or didn't
  • 00:13:31
    respond to interview requests for this
  • 00:13:33
    story but it's not hard to get the
  • 00:13:36
    group's philosophical point of view
  • 00:13:38
    Alex's own videos helped to do
  • 00:13:43
    that if you want to get more revenues
  • 00:13:46
    out of rich people the enduring lesson
  • 00:13:47
    of the last 50 years you cut their tax
  • 00:13:49
    rates you don't raise them and by the
  • 00:13:50
    way that's an important lesson for you
  • 00:13:52
    all state
  • 00:13:58
    legislators this is really a great time
  • 00:14:00
    to resize government and really hold the
  • 00:14:04
    feet to the fire thank
  • 00:14:06
    [Music]
  • 00:14:09
    you actually it's it's a pleasure to be
  • 00:14:11
    able to stand here today and say that uh
  • 00:14:12
    there are actually cities that very
  • 00:14:14
    closely resemble what we envisioned uh
  • 00:14:16
    many decades ago where you have pretty
  • 00:14:18
    much the private sector running almost
  • 00:14:19
    entirely everything in the
  • 00:14:22
    [Music]
  • 00:14:23
    city Alec is a corporate dating service
  • 00:14:26
    for lonely legislators and corporate
  • 00:14:28
    special interests that eventually the
  • 00:14:31
    relationship culminates with uh some
  • 00:14:33
    special interest legislation and
  • 00:14:35
    hopefully uh that lives happily uh ever
  • 00:14:37
    after is the Alec model uh unfortunately
  • 00:14:41
    what's excluded from that equation is
  • 00:14:42
    the public democrat Mark poan now a
  • 00:14:46
    member of the US Congress was until
  • 00:14:48
    recently a Wisconsin state
  • 00:14:50
    representative he is one of Alex's
  • 00:14:52
    loudest critics this is part of a
  • 00:14:54
    national conservative movement that's
  • 00:14:56
    involved in all 50 states that
  • 00:14:57
    introduces the same cookie cutter
  • 00:14:59
    legislation state by state on behalf of
  • 00:15:01
    their corporate paid members by one
  • 00:15:04
    count nearly a third of Wisconsin's
  • 00:15:07
    lawmakers are Alec members when you look
  • 00:15:09
    around uh especially on the Republican
  • 00:15:11
    side of the aisle uh a lot of members of
  • 00:15:14
    Alec uh front row Alec when you start
  • 00:15:18
    going down to um you know the chair of
  • 00:15:21
    finance and some of the other members
  • 00:15:23
    are all Alec members in fact Alec
  • 00:15:24
    co-chair for the State uh row by row you
  • 00:15:28
    can point out people who've been members
  • 00:15:30
    of Alec uh over the years there's two
  • 00:15:33
    main categories they have one is uh how
  • 00:15:36
    to reduce the SES of government uh and
  • 00:15:38
    the other half of it is this model
  • 00:15:40
    legislation that's in the corporate good
  • 00:15:42
    in other words there's a profit driven
  • 00:15:43
    legislation how can you open up a new
  • 00:15:45
    market how can you privatize something
  • 00:15:47
    that can open up a market for a company
  • 00:15:49
    and between those two divisions you're
  • 00:15:51
    kind of getting to the same end goal
  • 00:15:53
    which is really kind of ultimate
  • 00:15:54
    privatization of everything Mark poan is
  • 00:15:57
    something of an expert Alec in fact to
  • 00:16:00
    learn as much about it as he could he
  • 00:16:03
    became a
  • 00:16:04
    [Music]
  • 00:16:12
    member but I what I'd realize is if you
  • 00:16:14
    join Alec for a mere $100 as a
  • 00:16:17
    legislator you have the full access like
  • 00:16:19
    any corporate member those corporate
  • 00:16:21
    members pay up to $25,000 for that
  • 00:16:25
    privilege for a firsthand look at how
  • 00:16:27
    corporations interact with Alec
  • 00:16:29
    legislators poan took himself to an Alec
  • 00:16:32
    conference hi I'm state representative
  • 00:16:34
    Mark poan and welcome to my video blog
  • 00:16:36
    uh I'm outside of the Marriott on Canal
  • 00:16:38
    Street in New Orleans at the Alec
  • 00:16:40
    convention the American legislative
  • 00:16:42
    exchange Council that was where you
  • 00:16:44
    watched the interaction of a room full
  • 00:16:46
    of lobbyists you know free drinks free
  • 00:16:49
    cigars whining dining uh many people
  • 00:16:51
    just came from a dinner that was
  • 00:16:53
    sponsored by some special interest
  • 00:16:54
    coming to a party that's sponsored by a
  • 00:16:56
    special interest so they can continue to
  • 00:16:58
    talk about special interest this is from
  • 00:17:01
    um the New Orleans Convention this
  • 00:17:03
    includes a number of seminars um that
  • 00:17:06
    they held for legislators including one
  • 00:17:09
    called uh warming up to climate change
  • 00:17:13
    the many benefits of increased
  • 00:17:15
    atmospheric
  • 00:17:16
    CO2 that 2011 Alec conference lo and
  • 00:17:19
    behold was sponsored by BP Exon Mobile
  • 00:17:23
    Chevron and shell among others another
  • 00:17:26
    event featured guns this is the NRA
  • 00:17:30
    sponsored uh shooting event for
  • 00:17:32
    legislators and for lobbyists free there
  • 00:17:36
    was even one offering free cigars
  • 00:17:39
    sponsored by Reynolds American which is
  • 00:17:41
    one of the biggest tobacco companies in
  • 00:17:43
    the world uh and the cigar Association
  • 00:17:45
    of America despite it all Alec says it's
  • 00:17:48
    not engaged in a lobbying effort in fact
  • 00:17:51
    Alec operates not as a Lobby group but
  • 00:17:53
    as a nonprofit a charity in his filing
  • 00:17:57
    with the IRS Alex says its mission is
  • 00:18:00
    education which means it pays no taxes
  • 00:18:03
    and its corporate members get a tax
  • 00:18:05
    right off it's legislators get a lot too
  • 00:18:08
    in Wisconsin I can't take anything of
  • 00:18:10
    value from a lobbyist I can't take a cup
  • 00:18:12
    of coffee from a lobbyist at Alec it's
  • 00:18:15
    just the opposite you know you get there
  • 00:18:17
    and you're being wind and DED by
  • 00:18:19
    corporate interests I can go down there
  • 00:18:21
    and be winded and DED for for days in
  • 00:18:24
    order to hear about their special
  • 00:18:26
    legislation I mean the head of Shell Oil
  • 00:18:28
    flew in on his private jet to come to
  • 00:18:29
    this conference the head of one of the
  • 00:18:31
    largest utility companies in the country
  • 00:18:33
    was there on a panel a utility company
  • 00:18:35
    in 13 states and here he is presenting
  • 00:18:37
    to legislators I mean they clearly
  • 00:18:39
    brought in some of the biggest corporate
  • 00:18:41
    names uh in special interest Dum and uh
  • 00:18:45
    had them meeting with uh legislators
  • 00:18:47
    because a lot of business transpires at
  • 00:18:49
    these
  • 00:18:50
    events the most important business takes
  • 00:18:52
    place behind closed doors researcher
  • 00:18:55
    Nick sery of the Watchdog group common
  • 00:18:57
    cause would deep into internal Alec
  • 00:19:00
    documents to figure out what goes on
  • 00:19:02
    inside Alex's task forces there are
  • 00:19:05
    currently eight of them with a corporate
  • 00:19:07
    take on every important issue in
  • 00:19:09
    American life from health and safety to
  • 00:19:11
    the environment and
  • 00:19:13
    Taxation they have corporate members and
  • 00:19:16
    legislators who are members of these
  • 00:19:17
    task forces corporations can pay to be
  • 00:19:20
    members of a task force or multiple task
  • 00:19:23
    forces depending on what interests they
  • 00:19:25
    have and what legislation they want to
  • 00:19:27
    promote sery who who now works for the
  • 00:19:29
    center for median democracy has in some
  • 00:19:32
    cases been able to determine which
  • 00:19:33
    corporations sit on which task forces
  • 00:19:36
    producing which model bills for example
  • 00:19:39
    there's a Civil Justice task force that
  • 00:19:42
    mainly concerns access to the courts in
  • 00:19:45
    2011 that task force included lobbyists
  • 00:19:48
    from companies that could face serious
  • 00:19:50
    legal penalties if their products are
  • 00:19:52
    found to harm or to kill they included
  • 00:19:55
    tobacco giant Altria and Drug makers
  • 00:19:58
    fizer and glos Smith Klein there's
  • 00:20:01
    another task force with a bill designed
  • 00:20:03
    to exempt energy companies from
  • 00:20:05
    disclosing some of the chemicals they
  • 00:20:07
    inject
  • 00:20:08
    underground that task force has included
  • 00:20:10
    companies that manufacture or inject
  • 00:20:13
    plenty of those chemicals Coke
  • 00:20:15
    Industries Chevron BP and the company
  • 00:20:18
    that sponsored the bill at Alec Exxon
  • 00:20:21
    Mobile five states have introduced or
  • 00:20:24
    passed versions of that Alec
  • 00:20:26
    Bill Alec says elected legislators not
  • 00:20:30
    corporations fully control the model
  • 00:20:32
    legislation process but Nick sery read
  • 00:20:35
    Alex operating procedures and found a
  • 00:20:38
    different story if the corporations do
  • 00:20:40
    not vote for a model bill it does not
  • 00:20:42
    become an Alec model we've seen an
  • 00:20:44
    example uh in the Telecommunications
  • 00:20:46
    task force where the legislators voted
  • 00:20:49
    17 to1 to approve a telecoms bill they
  • 00:20:52
    clearly the will of the legislators was
  • 00:20:54
    for it to become an Alec model however
  • 00:20:56
    the corporations voted and tied 88 which
  • 00:21:00
    meant that it was killed it didn't
  • 00:21:02
    become an alect model and I can
  • 00:21:04
    understand why a corporate lobbyist
  • 00:21:05
    wants to have an equal say to an elected
  • 00:21:08
    representative who wouldn't um but the
  • 00:21:11
    fact is that I have been a lobbyist
  • 00:21:13
    before it has never been the case that
  • 00:21:16
    any any legislator has said to me uh
  • 00:21:19
    here's the plan you get an equal say to
  • 00:21:21
    me and if you don't if you don't agree
  • 00:21:23
    the bill doesn't go
  • 00:21:27
    forward there is
  • 00:21:30
    is a model bill for you to review if you
  • 00:21:35
    might be interested in introducing such
  • 00:21:37
    a measure this is Jerry Watson senior
  • 00:21:39
    legal councel for the American Bail
  • 00:21:41
    Coalition speaking at an Alec meeting in
  • 00:21:44
    2017 now if you don't like the precise
  • 00:21:48
    language of these suggested documents uh
  • 00:21:52
    can they be tweaked by your legislative
  • 00:21:54
    Council well absolutely and will we work
  • 00:21:57
    with them on that and work with you and
  • 00:21:59
    your staff on that absolutely this video
  • 00:22:02
    provides a rare look at a private sector
  • 00:22:04
    representative pitching a bill to Alex
  • 00:22:07
    legislative members but I'm not so crazy
  • 00:22:10
    as not to know that you've already
  • 00:22:12
    figured out that if I can talk you into
  • 00:22:14
    doing this bill my clients are going to
  • 00:22:16
    make a some money on the bond
  • 00:22:21
    premiums
  • 00:22:22
    but if we can help
  • 00:22:27
    you save Crime Victims in your
  • 00:22:30
    legislative
  • 00:22:32
    district and generate positive revenue
  • 00:22:35
    for your
  • 00:22:36
    state and help solve your prison
  • 00:22:39
    overcrowding problem you don't mind me
  • 00:22:42
    making a dollar these guys who are
  • 00:22:46
    paying to be part of this organization
  • 00:22:49
    are not there just to be nice they're
  • 00:22:51
    there to get something out of it the
  • 00:22:53
    late Bob Edgar was the president of
  • 00:22:55
    common cause until early this year we
  • 00:22:58
    interviewed him in 2012 normally
  • 00:23:01
    lobbyists have to register normally
  • 00:23:04
    corporations have to disclose their
  • 00:23:06
    lobbying activity but here under the
  • 00:23:09
    guise of a
  • 00:23:10
    nonprofit these corporate lawyers and
  • 00:23:13
    corporate officials are sitting side by
  • 00:23:16
    side with mostly conservative state
  • 00:23:19
    legislators um they're shaping these
  • 00:23:21
    bills when I went down to New Orleans to
  • 00:23:24
    the Alec convention last August there
  • 00:23:27
    was a proposal
  • 00:23:29
    to provide special needs
  • 00:23:31
    scholarships and lo and behold all of a
  • 00:23:33
    sudden I come back to Wisconsin and what
  • 00:23:35
    gets introduced get ready I know you're
  • 00:23:37
    going to have shock look on your face a
  • 00:23:39
    bill to do just that that special needs
  • 00:23:42
    bill was sponsored by 26 Alec members in
  • 00:23:45
    the Wisconsin State Legislature but the
  • 00:23:47
    real sponsor was Alec Mark poan knew
  • 00:23:51
    because the bill bore a striking
  • 00:23:53
    resemblance to Alex model have a
  • 00:23:57
    look
  • 00:24:05
    if the average person knew that a bill
  • 00:24:08
    like this came from some group like Alec
  • 00:24:11
    you look at the bill very differently
  • 00:24:13
    and you might look at that legislator a
  • 00:24:14
    little differently about why they
  • 00:24:15
    introduced it this is not about
  • 00:24:17
    education this is not about helping kids
  • 00:24:20
    with special needs uh this is about
  • 00:24:23
    privatization this is about corporate
  • 00:24:25
    profits and this is about dismantling
  • 00:24:29
    public education the bill passed in the
  • 00:24:31
    Wisconsin house but failed to make it
  • 00:24:34
    through the Senate however in its 2012
  • 00:24:37
    education report card Alec boasted that
  • 00:24:40
    similar bills have become law in
  • 00:24:42
    Oklahoma Louisiana North Carolina and
  • 00:24:45
    Ohio and it's not just special needs
  • 00:24:48
    education Alex's education agenda
  • 00:24:51
    includes online schooling as well
  • 00:24:54
    there's a model Alec bill called the
  • 00:24:55
    virtual Public Schools act which
  • 00:24:58
    actually creates cyberis when kids
  • 00:25:01
    enroll in Connections Academy where
  • 00:25:03
    children receive all of their
  • 00:25:05
    instruction in front of a computer um
  • 00:25:07
    they don't go to school they don't
  • 00:25:09
    interact with adults they don't interact
  • 00:25:10
    with other children all of their
  • 00:25:12
    instruction is received online thank you
  • 00:25:15
    Mr Speaker um House Bill 10:30 has to do
  • 00:25:19
    with the establishment of virtual public
  • 00:25:21
    schools in 2011 an online schooling Bill
  • 00:25:25
    based on the Alec model turned up in a
  • 00:25:28
    another state where Alec has a powerful
  • 00:25:30
    influence Tennessee it was introduced in
  • 00:25:33
    both the state Senate and House by Alec
  • 00:25:37
    members like the special needs bill in
  • 00:25:39
    Wisconsin this one too had its opponents
  • 00:25:42
    we have never opened up our state to
  • 00:25:45
    Virtual schools broadly and that's why
  • 00:25:47
    we have an army of lobbyists outside
  • 00:25:49
    many of you may have talked to them
  • 00:25:51
    trying right now to pass this virtual
  • 00:25:53
    schools Act and the concern I have is
  • 00:25:55
    that whether you like them or don't like
  • 00:25:58
    them the fact is that virtual schools
  • 00:26:01
    involve a dramatic transfer of sizable
  • 00:26:03
    amounts of money to private sector
  • 00:26:05
    for-profit companies and there was
  • 00:26:07
    something else that Julie Underwood
  • 00:26:09
    found dramatic about Alex model online
  • 00:26:12
    education bill in 2004 Alec had credited
  • 00:26:16
    two of the nation's largest for-profit
  • 00:26:18
    online education corporations
  • 00:26:20
    Connections Academy and K12 Inc with
  • 00:26:23
    helping to craft the virtual schools act
  • 00:26:26
    you can actually Follow The Line where
  • 00:26:28
    you see a corporate interest and this
  • 00:26:32
    model piece of legislation that then was
  • 00:26:34
    proposed pretty much in whole um in
  • 00:26:39
    Tennessee K12 then lobbied for the bill
  • 00:26:42
    and began to benefit almost immediately
  • 00:26:44
    after it was passed in Tennessee lo and
  • 00:26:47
    behold they get a no bid contract to
  • 00:26:50
    provide these services in Tennessee so
  • 00:26:53
    it's not even a leap of faith or
  • 00:26:57
    imagination you can can see the steps
  • 00:26:59
    where you see the corporations creating
  • 00:27:01
    a piece of model legislation lobbying
  • 00:27:04
    for it being successful and then having
  • 00:27:07
    that acrew to their bottom
  • 00:27:11
    line what's the purpose of privatizing
  • 00:27:13
    Education in the United States because
  • 00:27:16
    there are some things in the United
  • 00:27:18
    States like courts legislatures public
  • 00:27:22
    education that really need to remain
  • 00:27:25
    public I mean that's the heart of what
  • 00:27:27
    we are as a Dem ocracy and what Alex
  • 00:27:30
    seems to be doing is taking public
  • 00:27:32
    education and
  • 00:27:34
    legislation and privatizing them
  • 00:27:37
    individual liberty Free Enterprise
  • 00:27:39
    limited government whether you are a
  • 00:27:42
    state legislator the philosophy
  • 00:27:44
    privatization goes way back it came to
  • 00:27:47
    Alec by way of conservative Economist
  • 00:27:49
    Milton Freedman every decision you have
  • 00:27:51
    made on one of these issues has been
  • 00:27:54
    influenced by Dr fredman's work whether
  • 00:27:57
    at that very moment you realizing it or
  • 00:27:59
    not and it is my greatest honor to
  • 00:28:02
    introduce you to Dr Milton
  • 00:28:05
    fredman the real problem is how do we
  • 00:28:08
    get to a system in which parents control
  • 00:28:11
    the education of their children of
  • 00:28:13
    course the ideal way would be to abolish
  • 00:28:15
    the school the public school system and
  • 00:28:19
    eliminate all the taxes that pay for
  • 00:28:22
    it but Alec was spawned in 1973 in part
  • 00:28:26
    as the brainchild of a very different
  • 00:28:28
    conservative icon we are talking about
  • 00:28:32
    christianizing America the noted
  • 00:28:35
    activist of the religious right Paul wck
  • 00:28:37
    we are talking about simply spreading
  • 00:28:41
    the gospel in a political context Paul
  • 00:28:43
    wck was the key strategist of the new
  • 00:28:45
    right and the right-wing backlash that
  • 00:28:47
    began really strongly with the election
  • 00:28:49
    of Ronald Reagan as president arist chip
  • 00:28:52
    Berle studies the right-wing movement he
  • 00:28:55
    was a Christian conservative who was
  • 00:28:57
    also political strategist and really
  • 00:28:59
    wanted to roll back the role of
  • 00:29:02
    government in the society and and cut
  • 00:29:04
    back taxes cut back Social Security cut
  • 00:29:07
    back all of the social welfare programs
  • 00:29:09
    that the Roosevelt administration had
  • 00:29:11
    established they want everybody to
  • 00:29:14
    vote I don't want everybody to vote
  • 00:29:17
    elections are not won by War recognized
  • 00:29:20
    that too much democracy could endanger
  • 00:29:23
    his movement as a matter of fact our
  • 00:29:25
    leverage in the elections quite candidly
  • 00:29:27
    goes up as the voting populace goes down
  • 00:29:30
    another of his contributions was the
  • 00:29:32
    recognition that the movement would
  • 00:29:33
    never succeed if it only focused on
  • 00:29:36
    Washington he was not interested in the
  • 00:29:38
    next cycle he was not certainly not
  • 00:29:40
    interested in the next candidate which
  • 00:29:42
    is what the left or the Liberals have
  • 00:29:44
    always been obsessed by you know let's
  • 00:29:45
    just get Obama in or let's do this or
  • 00:29:47
    that and we'll be saved uh no it was
  • 00:29:50
    always about building an infrastructure
  • 00:29:52
    building a real machine especially at
  • 00:29:54
    the state and local level we have been
  • 00:29:56
    far too presidentially focused and
  • 00:30:00
    far less focused on State and
  • 00:30:05
    local
  • 00:30:06
    conservatism which is where it ought to
  • 00:30:09
    begin people say well how do you know
  • 00:30:11
    what they think because they tell you
  • 00:30:14
    berlay has collected Alec documents
  • 00:30:16
    going back several decades among them is
  • 00:30:19
    a 1979 Alec fundraising letter showing
  • 00:30:22
    how quickly Alec moved into the realm of
  • 00:30:24
    practical politics its author Utah
  • 00:30:27
    republ Republican senator or in Hatch
  • 00:30:30
    I'm totally convinced that if you and I
  • 00:30:32
    regain control of our schools our homes
  • 00:30:34
    our businesses and our government it
  • 00:30:36
    must be through a concerted effort on
  • 00:30:37
    the state and local level that is why I
  • 00:30:40
    join the American legislative exchange
  • 00:30:42
    Council as time goes on Alec draws more
  • 00:30:45
    and more interest from corporate funders
  • 00:30:48
    who begin to see it as a way to get
  • 00:30:50
    their pet projects brought down to the
  • 00:30:52
    state level and so somewhere between
  • 00:30:55
    around 1974 and 1980 you see Alec
  • 00:30:59
    transform into a very powerful
  • 00:31:01
    organization with scores of Corporations
  • 00:31:04
    involved in it putting out sample State
  • 00:31:07
    policy legislation packets on many
  • 00:31:10
    different issues this is a list and it's
  • 00:31:13
    a some of our corporate and Foundation
  • 00:31:15
    donors it's tiny type and it fills a lot
  • 00:31:18
    of the page the All State Foundation the
  • 00:31:20
    American petroleum Institute Chevron um
  • 00:31:25
    Exxon uh Illinois manufacturers
  • 00:31:28
    Association Gulf oil Iowa Power and
  • 00:31:31
    Light it's quite a quite a list
  • 00:31:34
    anti-government sentiment Christian
  • 00:31:36
    activist certainty power both political
  • 00:31:38
    and corporate it was a potent mix that
  • 00:31:41
    helped Propel Alex's
  • 00:31:43
    success an early 80s annual report for
  • 00:31:46
    example boasted that literally every
  • 00:31:49
    state has been influenced by the work of
  • 00:31:51
    Alec scores of Alex model bills have
  • 00:31:54
    been enacted into law throughout the
  • 00:31:56
    country the critical questions of our
  • 00:31:58
    day will be decided by state legislators
  • 00:32:01
    how our children are educated how we are
  • 00:32:04
    protected from crime Alec has forged a
  • 00:32:06
    unique partnership between state
  • 00:32:08
    legislators and leaders from the
  • 00:32:10
    corporate and business Community I value
  • 00:32:12
    our partnership our Dynamic partnership
  • 00:32:16
    and look forward to working with you in
  • 00:32:18
    the years ahead Alex 1995 report got
  • 00:32:22
    specific 978 bills introduced 231 one
  • 00:32:28
    passed over half the States passed Alec
  • 00:32:31
    laws that would lengthen prison
  • 00:32:33
    sentences meanwhile bills to fost to the
  • 00:32:36
    rise of for-profit prisons were
  • 00:32:38
    introduced in seven states eight states
  • 00:32:41
    enacted bills creating medical savings
  • 00:32:43
    accounts which would shift costs from
  • 00:32:45
    insurance companies to policy holders
  • 00:32:48
    so-called Civil Justice bills which
  • 00:32:51
    would limit the amount corporations pay
  • 00:32:53
    if their products kill or injure someone
  • 00:32:55
    were introduced or enacted more than 20
  • 00:32:58
    times Alex head at the time boasted with
  • 00:33:02
    our success rate at more than 20% I
  • 00:33:04
    would say that Al is a good investment
  • 00:33:07
    nowhere else can you get a return that
  • 00:33:09
    high and as Alec grew more influential
  • 00:33:13
    it became a home not just for
  • 00:33:14
    corporations and conservative
  • 00:33:16
    politicians but for their fellow
  • 00:33:18
    Travelers the billionaire Bank rollers
  • 00:33:20
    of the American right five years ago my
  • 00:33:23
    brother Charles and I uh provided the
  • 00:33:26
    funds to start uh the Americans for
  • 00:33:29
    Prosperity and uh it's beyond my wildest
  • 00:33:33
    dreams how AFP has grown into this
  • 00:33:36
    enormous uh
  • 00:33:41
    organization the coch brothers David and
  • 00:33:43
    Charles KO two of the wealthiest men in
  • 00:33:45
    America two of the wealthiest men in the
  • 00:33:47
    world are incredibly active political
  • 00:33:51
    players they like to form organizations
  • 00:33:54
    and help them to grow and and to put
  • 00:33:56
    ideas into to the mix as the great
  • 00:33:59
    funders of the structures of
  • 00:34:02
    conservative and frankly Pro corporate
  • 00:34:05
    politics and they were very early
  • 00:34:08
    funders of and active players with Alex
  • 00:34:11
    David and Charles KO the billionaire
  • 00:34:14
    businessmen behind a vast industrial
  • 00:34:16
    Empire are also political activists with
  • 00:34:18
    an agenda their companies and
  • 00:34:21
    Foundations have been Alec members and
  • 00:34:23
    funders for years the Koch brothers get
  • 00:34:26
    that if you really want want to
  • 00:34:27
    influence the politics of this country
  • 00:34:29
    you don't just give money to
  • 00:34:31
    presidential campaigns you don't just
  • 00:34:33
    give money to Congressional Campaign
  • 00:34:35
    committees the Smart Ones smart players
  • 00:34:38
    put their money in the States because
  • 00:34:40
    it's state government that funds
  • 00:34:43
    education social services and it taxes
  • 00:34:47
    and so if you want to play big- time
  • 00:34:49
    politics you play in 50 state
  • 00:34:53
    capitals and so through Alec you can
  • 00:34:57
    change the whole country without ever
  • 00:34:59
    going to Washington without ever having
  • 00:35:02
    to go through a congressional hearing
  • 00:35:03
    without ever having to Lobby on Capital
  • 00:35:05
    Hill without ever having to talk to a
  • 00:35:07
    president if anyone demonstrates the
  • 00:35:10
    success of the C brothers and Alec at
  • 00:35:12
    the state level it's Scott Walker
  • 00:35:15
    Wisconsin's Governor is almost a
  • 00:35:17
    household name today the whole nation
  • 00:35:20
    watched The Grateful Walker survive a
  • 00:35:22
    bitter recall election fight in June of
  • 00:35:24
    2012 I want to thank God for his
  • 00:35:27
    abundant
  • 00:35:28
    grace but before he hit the national
  • 00:35:31
    scene Walker spent close to a decade in
  • 00:35:34
    the Wisconsin legislature where he
  • 00:35:36
    became a member of Alec and in 2010 he
  • 00:35:39
    ran not presenting himself as an Alec
  • 00:35:42
    alumni or as a Ally of big corporations
  • 00:35:45
    or or big business people outside the
  • 00:35:48
    state he ran a very downhome campaign
  • 00:35:50
    this is my lunch I pack a brown bag each
  • 00:35:53
    day so I can save some money to spend on
  • 00:35:55
    you know the more important things in
  • 00:35:57
    life like sending my kids to college
  • 00:35:59
    John Nichols says that despite the
  • 00:36:00
    folksy image in the Years leading up to
  • 00:36:03
    Walker's 2010 campaign he had become a
  • 00:36:06
    master political fundraiser and he began
  • 00:36:08
    to really Forge Incredibly Close ties
  • 00:36:11
    with a lot of corporate interests that
  • 00:36:13
    he had first been introduced to in Alec
  • 00:36:16
    individuals and and groups like uh the
  • 00:36:18
    Koch brothers the Koch brothers were
  • 00:36:20
    among the two or three largest
  • 00:36:22
    contributors to Scott Walker's campaign
  • 00:36:24
    for governor of Wisconsin please raise
  • 00:36:27
    your right hand and repeat after me the
  • 00:36:29
    new governor moved quickly with the raft
  • 00:36:31
    of Alec inspired bills they included a
  • 00:36:34
    law that made it easier to carry
  • 00:36:36
    concealed weapons there was a resolution
  • 00:36:38
    opposing the mandated purchase of health
  • 00:36:41
    insurance and of course there was a law
  • 00:36:43
    limiting corporate liability the
  • 00:36:45
    Wisconsin legislature passed a so-called
  • 00:36:48
    tort reform measure that included parts
  • 00:36:50
    of eight different Alec
  • 00:36:53
    models Alec was elated praising Walker
  • 00:36:56
    in the legislature a press release for
  • 00:36:58
    their quote immediate attention to
  • 00:37:00
    reforming the state's legal system but
  • 00:37:03
    Scott Walker was also shooting for
  • 00:37:05
    another big Alec prize now some have
  • 00:37:08
    question why we have to reform
  • 00:37:10
    collective bargaining taking away
  • 00:37:12
    workers collective bargaining rights
  • 00:37:15
    that had long been an Alec goal a candid
  • 00:37:18
    video caught him talking about it with
  • 00:37:20
    one of his financial backers a
  • 00:37:22
    billionaire businesswoman Diane Hendrick
  • 00:37:25
    we're going to start in a couple weeks
  • 00:37:26
    with our budget adjustment Bill the
  • 00:37:28
    first step is uh we're going to deal
  • 00:37:31
    with uh collective bargaining for all
  • 00:37:32
    public employee unions cuz use divide
  • 00:37:35
    and
  • 00:37:38
    con despite an extraordinary public
  • 00:37:41
    outcry this is not just a rule and after
  • 00:37:43
    a brief but intense political struggle
  • 00:37:45
    Walker's anti- collective bargaining
  • 00:37:47
    measures became state law it was Alex
  • 00:37:50
    ideas Alex values that permeated the
  • 00:37:54
    bill and undid almost 50 years more than
  • 00:37:58
    50 years of collective bargain along in
  • 00:38:00
    Wisconsin but again remember this isn't
  • 00:38:04
    just about one state it's about every
  • 00:38:07
    state take Arizona practically an Alec
  • 00:38:11
    subsidiary one report last year found
  • 00:38:14
    that 49 of Arizona's 90 legislators were
  • 00:38:17
    members and 2third of the Republican
  • 00:38:20
    leadership were on Alec task forces the
  • 00:38:24
    governor Jan Brewer was an Alec member
  • 00:38:26
    too
  • 00:38:28
    all of us here are very familiar with
  • 00:38:30
    Alec and the influence that Alec has
  • 00:38:32
    with many of the members here Alec's
  • 00:38:34
    domination of Arizona proved too much
  • 00:38:36
    for State Representative Steve Farley I
  • 00:38:39
    just want to emphasize it's fine for
  • 00:38:42
    corporations to be involved in their
  • 00:38:43
    process corporations have the right to
  • 00:38:45
    present their arguments but they don't
  • 00:38:47
    have the right to do it secretly they
  • 00:38:49
    don't have the right to Lobby people and
  • 00:38:51
    not register as lobbyists they don't
  • 00:38:53
    have the right to take people away on
  • 00:38:55
    trips convince them of them send them
  • 00:38:57
    back back here and then nobody's seen
  • 00:38:58
    what's really gone on and how that
  • 00:39:00
    legislator has gotten that idea and
  • 00:39:01
    where is it coming from last year Farley
  • 00:39:04
    introduced a bill to force legislators
  • 00:39:06
    to disclose their Alec ties just as the
  • 00:39:09
    law already requires them to do with any
  • 00:39:12
    lobbyist all I'm asking the Alec
  • 00:39:14
    accountability Act is to make sure that
  • 00:39:16
    all of those expenses are reported as if
  • 00:39:19
    they are lobbying expenses and all those
  • 00:39:21
    gifts that legislators received are
  • 00:39:23
    reported as if they're receiving the
  • 00:39:24
    gifts from lobbyist so the public can
  • 00:39:26
    find out and make up their own Minds
  • 00:39:28
    about who's influencing what Farley's
  • 00:39:31
    bill went
  • 00:39:35
    nowhere for most of his existence Alex
  • 00:39:38
    stayed out of the national news that
  • 00:39:40
    changed in March 2012 when a gunshot
  • 00:39:44
    sounded in the Florida night Tron Martin
  • 00:39:46
    unarmed but for a bag of candy and an
  • 00:39:48
    iced tea that he was carrying Zim you'll
  • 00:39:51
    recall that the shooter in Trayvon
  • 00:39:52
    Martin's death was protected at first by
  • 00:39:55
    Florida's so-called stand your ground
  • 00:39:57
    law stand your ground was the work of
  • 00:40:00
    the National Rifle Association there's
  • 00:40:03
    its lobbyist standing right beside
  • 00:40:05
    Governor Jeff Bush when he signed it
  • 00:40:07
    into law in
  • 00:40:08
    2005 although Alec didn't originate the
  • 00:40:11
    Florida law it seized on it for the
  • 00:40:13
    stand your ground model it would
  • 00:40:15
    circulate in other states 24 of them
  • 00:40:18
    have passed a version of it how did this
  • 00:40:20
    law not only get in place in Florida but
  • 00:40:23
    around the country and all the fingers
  • 00:40:25
    kept pointing back to Alec when civil
  • 00:40:27
    rights and Grassroots groups learned
  • 00:40:29
    about Alec's connection to stand your
  • 00:40:31
    ground laws they were outraged Alec
  • 00:40:34
    doesn't do its work alone they do it
  • 00:40:35
    with some of the biggest corporate
  • 00:40:37
    brands in America tell us what you know
  • 00:40:39
    about what the impact has been of the of
  • 00:40:41
    the Trayvon Martin case in terms of
  • 00:40:42
    funding this organization which has been
  • 00:40:45
    pushing these stand your ground laws
  • 00:40:47
    this is a group that has lost funders in
  • 00:40:49
    the last few weeks as people have
  • 00:40:51
    learned about Alex's role in promoting
  • 00:40:53
    standard ground laws before long
  • 00:40:55
    corporations were pulling out of Val
  • 00:40:57
    including Coca-Cola craft Foods
  • 00:41:00
    McDonald's Mars Proctor and Gamble
  • 00:41:02
    Johnson and
  • 00:41:04
    Johnson C in the glare of the national
  • 00:41:06
    Spotlight Alec tried to change the
  • 00:41:08
    subject well you know I think the the
  • 00:41:10
    entire debate needs to be reframed and
  • 00:41:12
    really what Alec is is a bipartisan
  • 00:41:15
    Association of state legislators um we
  • 00:41:17
    have you know legislators of all
  • 00:41:19
    political Stripes coming together to
  • 00:41:22
    talk about the most critical issues
  • 00:41:24
    facing the states and and trying to come
  • 00:41:26
    up with the best solutions to face some
  • 00:41:28
    of the problems so your point is it's
  • 00:41:29
    not a partisan
  • 00:41:32
    organization but the floodgates had
  • 00:41:34
    opened at least 40 corporations have
  • 00:41:36
    fled Alec including many additional big
  • 00:41:40
    names still many companies have stayed
  • 00:41:43
    in and alet continues to strengthen ties
  • 00:41:45
    to conservative groups in 2012 it held a
  • 00:41:49
    highlevel closed door meeting with
  • 00:41:50
    Congressional conservatives in
  • 00:41:52
    Washington to better coordinate policy
  • 00:41:55
    goals here's the interesting thing this
  • 00:41:58
    story isn't done this is an ongoing
  • 00:42:00
    fight in America and it really gets us
  • 00:42:02
    to a question of how do you counter so
  • 00:42:04
    much organized power organized money in
  • 00:42:07
    our politics last year common calls
  • 00:42:10
    filed a complaint about Alec with the
  • 00:42:12
    Internal Revenue Service we think
  • 00:42:14
    there's tax fraud involved the group is
  • 00:42:16
    challenging Alec's tax-free status
  • 00:42:19
    claiming that Alec is a corporate
  • 00:42:21
    lobbying group masquerading as a public
  • 00:42:25
    charity and this year Arizona legislator
  • 00:42:28
    Steve Farley has reintroduced his Alec
  • 00:42:30
    accountability act in the state senate
  • 00:42:33
    this time meanwhile researchers continue
  • 00:42:36
    to pour over Alex's documents connecting
  • 00:42:39
    the dots between its corporate patrons
  • 00:42:41
    and compliant
  • 00:42:43
    legislators state by state by state
  • 00:42:45
    citizens have to decide do they want
  • 00:42:48
    legislators to go to fancy Resorts and
  • 00:42:50
    sit behind closed doors with lobbyists
  • 00:42:53
    and write their bills and then bring
  • 00:42:54
    them back and introduce them without
  • 00:42:56
    exposing their Alec roots or do they
  • 00:42:58
    want to do something about that as more
  • 00:43:00
    and more people become aware of the role
  • 00:43:02
    of the American legislative exchange
  • 00:43:04
    Council they are becoming more aware
  • 00:43:06
    that this corporate agenda does not
  • 00:43:09
    match the values of the American people
  • 00:43:12
    citizens are catching on but Alec is
  • 00:43:15
    still everywhere watch for it coming
  • 00:43:18
    soon to a state housee near
  • 00:43:25
    you and sure enough since that report
  • 00:43:28
    last year Alec has kept on coming now
  • 00:43:32
    though the word is out and Alec can no
  • 00:43:34
    longer hide in the shadows when its
  • 00:43:36
    lawmakers and lobbyist got together last
  • 00:43:38
    month in Oklahoma City to draft some
  • 00:43:41
    more model bills they were met by
  • 00:43:43
    hundreds of
  • 00:43:46
    protesters firefighters teachers
  • 00:43:49
    environmentalists Teamsters religious
  • 00:43:51
    leaders all with one message al is not
  • 00:43:55
    okay Al is not okay let me tell you a
  • 00:43:59
    little more about what Alec has been up
  • 00:44:01
    to in the interest of a healthy
  • 00:44:04
    environment 29 states have laws
  • 00:44:06
    requiring utilities to provide a portion
  • 00:44:09
    of their electricity from renewable
  • 00:44:11
    energy sources the idea of course is to
  • 00:44:14
    cut back on the use of fossil fuels
  • 00:44:16
    which as everyone knows contribute to
  • 00:44:19
    global warming yet even as headlines
  • 00:44:22
    about climate chaos confront us every
  • 00:44:24
    day Alec is doing its damnest to
  • 00:44:27
    undermine the use of clean renewable
  • 00:44:29
    energy take a look at this it's called
  • 00:44:32
    the electricity Freedom Act One of Alex
  • 00:44:35
    model bills sounds great who doesn't
  • 00:44:39
    like freedom but the bill amounts to an
  • 00:44:42
    effort by the fossil fuel industry to
  • 00:44:44
    curtail the freedom of states to set
  • 00:44:47
    renewable energy standards by repealing
  • 00:44:50
    those state laws in the last two years
  • 00:44:54
    21 of the 29 states with renewable
  • 00:44:57
    energy standards have seen bills
  • 00:44:59
    proposed that would weaken or repeal
  • 00:45:02
    them over half of them pushed by
  • 00:45:04
    lawmakers with confirmed Alec ties in
  • 00:45:08
    two states Ohio and New Hampshire such
  • 00:45:11
    bills have already become
  • 00:45:13
    law it will hardly surprise you that
  • 00:45:15
    Alec gets millions of dollars from the
  • 00:45:18
    fossil fuel industry or that companies
  • 00:45:20
    that have served on the Alec task force
  • 00:45:22
    that produced the electricity Freedom
  • 00:45:25
    Act include representatives of hold your
  • 00:45:27
    breath Exxon Mobile Peabody Energy and
  • 00:45:31
    Coke
  • 00:45:33
    Industries now Alec doesn't like all
  • 00:45:35
    this to be publicized it doesn't like
  • 00:45:37
    exposure to Sunshine at all in fact
  • 00:45:40
    they've recently begun including fine
  • 00:45:42
    print on their material saying they
  • 00:45:44
    believe the documents are quote not
  • 00:45:47
    subject to disclosure under any state
  • 00:45:49
    Freedom of Information or public records
  • 00:45:52
    act got it take another
  • 00:45:55
    look
  • 00:45:58
    not subject to disclosure under any
  • 00:46:02
    state Freedom of Information or public
  • 00:46:05
    records act so when your elected
  • 00:46:09
    legislators are meeting with corporate
  • 00:46:11
    lobbyists behind closed doors Alec
  • 00:46:14
    thinks you the public the voter have no
  • 00:46:18
    right to know what they have done or
  • 00:46:21
    even talked about that's not all Alec
  • 00:46:24
    thinks that even the name Alec has
  • 00:46:26
    gotten far far too much attention so
  • 00:46:28
    it's come up with a new strategy
  • 00:46:30
    described recently by its Chief Flack in
  • 00:46:32
    a memo to his members quote you may have
  • 00:46:35
    noticed we are limiting the use of the
  • 00:46:37
    acronym Alec over the last year the word
  • 00:46:40
    Alec has been used to conjure up images
  • 00:46:42
    of a distant mysterious Washington
  • 00:46:45
    alphabet organization of unknown
  • 00:46:48
    intentions so the organization has
  • 00:46:51
    refocused on the words exchange and
  • 00:46:54
    counsel to emphasize our goal of a broad
  • 00:46:57
    exchange of ideas to make government
  • 00:46:59
    work better and more
  • 00:47:02
    efficiently oh yes but better and more
  • 00:47:06
    efficient government for whom Alex
  • 00:47:09
    private Enterprise advisory Council
  • 00:47:11
    still contains a who who of elite
  • 00:47:14
    corporate power its healthc care agenda
  • 00:47:16
    still calls for privatizing Medicare its
  • 00:47:19
    economic agenda for tax cuts for the
  • 00:47:22
    rich and its education agenda for more
  • 00:47:25
    public money going to private schools
  • 00:47:29
    and there's always the spirit of Paul W
  • 00:47:31
    I don't want everybody to vote who as
  • 00:47:33
    you will remember voted less voter
  • 00:47:35
    turnout not more that Spirit suffused
  • 00:47:39
    Alex sponsorship last year of so-called
  • 00:47:41
    voter reform measures which would have
  • 00:47:44
    made it harder for young elderly and
  • 00:47:47
    lowincome Americans to
  • 00:47:50
    vote and for sheer audacity in the
  • 00:47:54
    capture of government you can't beat
  • 00:47:56
    what happened under the capital dome in
  • 00:47:58
    South Dakota earlier this year Alec
  • 00:48:01
    allies decided the cost of sending some
  • 00:48:04
    state legislators to whine and dine with
  • 00:48:07
    those corporate lawyers and lobbyists
  • 00:48:09
    should be paid by
  • 00:48:11
    taxpayers and that wasn't enough those
  • 00:48:14
    same South Dakota taxpayers now have to
  • 00:48:18
    pay Alec dues for legislators who are
  • 00:48:21
    members it's like tipping the thief for
  • 00:48:24
    picking your pocket but give them credit
  • 00:48:28
    where credits due the political
  • 00:48:30
    religious and corporate right conceived
  • 00:48:32
    a brilliant strategy for advancing their
  • 00:48:34
    agenda by going to the states brilliant
  • 00:48:37
    but disingenuous they choose to talk
  • 00:48:40
    about free markets when in fact their
  • 00:48:42
    member corporations prefer to arrange
  • 00:48:45
    the markets to their advantage they
  • 00:48:47
    boast that government closest to the
  • 00:48:49
    people is quote fundamentally more
  • 00:48:51
    effective more just and a better
  • 00:48:53
    guarantor of freedom than the distant
  • 00:48:55
    bloated Federal govern government in
  • 00:48:57
    Washington
  • 00:48:58
    DC but what is just about laws written
  • 00:49:02
    to benefit powerful organized interest
  • 00:49:04
    at the expense of everyone else what is
  • 00:49:07
    just about going to Great Links to make
  • 00:49:09
    sure the people don't know who is
  • 00:49:11
    writing those laws if getting closer to
  • 00:49:14
    the people is really your goal It's
  • 00:49:16
    Curious Behavior to cover Your Tracks
  • 00:49:19
    keep your sessions closed to the press
  • 00:49:21
    and do most of the people's work in
  • 00:49:24
    secret no with when all is said and done
  • 00:49:28
    the pro capitalist magazine Business
  • 00:49:30
    Week got it right quote part of Alex's
  • 00:49:34
    mission is to present industry-backed
  • 00:49:37
    legislation as Grassroots
  • 00:49:40
    work but the cover has been
  • 00:49:45
    blown the protests are growing and the
  • 00:49:49
    stories not going
  • 00:49:51
    away we'll be reporting on it in the
  • 00:49:53
    months
  • 00:49:55
    ahead
  • 00:49:56
    [Music]
  • 00:50:09
    coming up on Warriors and Company a
  • 00:50:11
    place at the table the reason people are
  • 00:50:13
    going hungry is not because of a
  • 00:50:14
    shortage of food is because of poverty
  • 00:50:16
    one out of every two kids in the United
  • 00:50:18
    States at some point will be on food
  • 00:50:20
    assistance I was one of those kids that
  • 00:50:22
    was hungry it messes with you the
  • 00:50:24
    average food stamp benefit was $3 a day
  • 00:50:26
    there are people who are living on that
  • 00:50:28
    and you really can't if you have a
  • 00:50:30
    limited amount of money you're going to
  • 00:50:31
    spend it on the cheapest calories you
  • 00:50:33
    can get and that's processed foods my
  • 00:50:35
    dream is to go to college but I can't
  • 00:50:37
    tell my kids I'll make sure you guys eat
  • 00:50:39
    in 2 years I'm struggling to even feed
  • 00:50:42
    my kids everything put that in
  • 00:50:44
    there okay that was a bad
  • 00:50:47
    idea as many as 50 million Americans
  • 00:50:50
    rely on charitable food programs I
  • 00:50:53
    haven't received a pay raise in 4 years
  • 00:50:55
    and what I used to spend on a month in
  • 00:50:57
    groceries now gets me about 2 weeks it's
  • 00:51:00
    amazing how that need is increased
  • 00:51:02
    charity is a great thing but it's not
  • 00:51:03
    the way to end Hunger we're weakening
  • 00:51:05
    our nation I don't really know what to
  • 00:51:07
    [Music]
  • 00:51:09
    do not F I struggle all the HS and most
  • 00:51:13
    of the time it's because my stomach is
  • 00:51:15
    really hurting so let's take a look my a
  • 00:51:18
    teacher tells me to get focused and she
  • 00:51:19
    told me to write focus on my little
  • 00:51:22
    sticker and every time I look at it I'm
  • 00:51:24
    like oh I'm supposed to be focusing
  • 00:51:27
    I start yawning then I zoom
  • 00:51:29
    out and I'm just looking at the teacher
  • 00:51:32
    and and I look at her and all I think
  • 00:51:34
    about
  • 00:51:35
    food so I have these little Visions in
  • 00:51:38
    my
  • 00:51:41
    eyes sometimes when I look at her I
  • 00:51:43
    Vision her as a banana so she goes like
  • 00:51:46
    a banana and everybody in the class is
  • 00:51:48
    like apples or oranges and then I'm like
  • 00:51:52
    so great what struck me so much about
  • 00:51:54
    Rosie is that her story sort of
  • 00:51:58
    embodied everything about this issue
  • 00:52:00
    which is that while she's experiencing
  • 00:52:02
    this hunger and food insecurity it's
  • 00:52:04
    affecting her self-esteem it's affecting
  • 00:52:06
    her ability to learn which is very
  • 00:52:09
    upsetting um but at the same time she
  • 00:52:11
    has this incredible Spirit which gives
  • 00:52:14
    you this you know some some feeling of
  • 00:52:17
    Hope and um inspiration so she's just an
  • 00:52:20
    incredible young girl you can't look at
  • 00:52:23
    Rosie and see oh she's hungry so where
  • 00:52:25
    do you see it you see it in school
  • 00:52:26
    performance their ability to get along
  • 00:52:28
    with others their ability to pay
  • 00:52:30
    attention for for uh CH children of
  • 00:52:33
    school age attendance but for attendance
  • 00:52:36
    this is you know if we could think about
  • 00:52:38
    poverty during childhood as a type of a
  • 00:52:41
    disease if we could pay as much
  • 00:52:42
    attention to Poverty for children as we
  • 00:52:45
    pay attention to infectious disease we
  • 00:52:48
    might be able to do something in this
  • 00:52:49
    country and bemore Velasquez the
  • 00:52:52
    people's organizer son I got to ask you
  • 00:52:55
    a question I said yeah go ahead he says
  • 00:52:58
    uh well um uh you're the only person
  • 00:53:01
    I've ever had here as a volunteer that
  • 00:53:04
    hasn't complained about the rats why is
  • 00:53:06
    that so I told him my rat story that I
  • 00:53:10
    grew up with the rats the couch that uh
  • 00:53:13
    in the living room was my bed and my
  • 00:53:15
    brother's bed he slept on one end and I
  • 00:53:17
    slept on the other end and um there was
  • 00:53:20
    uh that couch was uh pushed up against a
  • 00:53:23
    window overlooking the front porch and
  • 00:53:25
    there was a crack underneath the pain
  • 00:53:27
    and that's where the rats would come in
  • 00:53:29
    at night so at night you'd hear the
  • 00:53:31
    scratching along the back of that couch
  • 00:53:33
    and we knew there was a rat going to get
  • 00:53:35
    up on the top up there and we knew that
  • 00:53:37
    the rat had to jump on the seat where we
  • 00:53:40
    were sleeping before he got on the floor
  • 00:53:43
    so when we'd hear the uh the uh the
  • 00:53:46
    scratching on the back of that couch
  • 00:53:47
    we'd kick each other and pull the
  • 00:53:49
    blanket taut and um to make kind of like
  • 00:53:52
    a trampoline for the rat and the rat
  • 00:53:54
    would jump down on the on the blanket
  • 00:53:56
    and when we' hear that we'd go with our
  • 00:53:58
    fist underneath boom like that to see
  • 00:54:00
    how far we could make the rat fly and
  • 00:54:02
    that's was our game to see how far we
  • 00:54:04
    could make the rat fly but um the the
  • 00:54:06
    man says he looked kind of stunned and
  • 00:54:09
    he said he said good Lord son why aren't
  • 00:54:11
    you doing something for your own people
  • 00:54:13
    and that's what uh provoked the thought
  • 00:54:15
    I thought I need to go back and start
  • 00:54:17
    organizing the migrant workers and try
  • 00:54:19
    to follow the lessons of the Civil
  • 00:54:21
    Rights Movement uh to uh speak for
  • 00:54:25
    people and Oran oriz them so they can
  • 00:54:27
    speak for
  • 00:54:28
    themselves meanwhile at billmoyers.com
  • 00:54:30
    we'll show you how to keep track of Alec
  • 00:54:33
    and you'll also find a map that marks
  • 00:54:35
    the state legislators who are Alec
  • 00:54:37
    members we've been updating the map
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    since we first launched it but we want
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    your help filling in the blanks by
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    calling your local representatives and
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    asking if they belong become a citizen
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    journalist on billmoyers.com I'll see
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    you there and see you here next
  • 00:54:55
    time
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タグ
  • ALEC
  • legislation
  • corporate influence
  • State laws
  • Stand Your Ground laws
  • privatization
  • public policy
  • transparency