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.

United States of ALEC: A Follow-Up

00:56:46

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

Summary

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.

Takeaways

🏛️ 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.

Timeline

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.

Mind Map

Video 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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00:00:01
[Music]
00:00:04
this week own Warriors in company
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privatizing America one state house at a
00:00:09
time through Alec you can change the
00:00:12
whole country without ever going to
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Washington without everever having to go
00:00:17
through a congressional hearing without
00:00:18
ever having to Lobby on Capitol Hill
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without ever having to talk to a
00:00:22
president the United States of
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Alec funding is provided by carnegi
00:00:29
Corporation of new New York celebrating
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100 Years of philanthropy and committed
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to doing real and permanent good in the
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world the Colberg Foundation independent
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production fund with support from The
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Partridge Foundation a John and poly
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Guth charitable fund The Clement
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Foundation Park Foundation dedicated to
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heightening public awareness of critical
00:00:50
issues The Herb Alpert Foundation
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supporting organizations whose mission
00:00:54
is to promote compassion and creativity
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in our society the Bernard and Audrey
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Rapaport Foundation the John D and
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Katherine T MacArthur Foundation
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committed to building a more just
00:01:04
burdent and peaceful world more
00:01:06
information at macfound.org an gumowitz
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the Betsy and Jesse fin Foundation the
00:01:14
HK Foundation Barbara G Flashman and by
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our sole corporate sponsor Mutual of
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America designing customized individual
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and group retirement products that's why
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we're your retirement
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company
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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
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polarized paralyzed and dysfunctional
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and an obstinate minority is determined
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to keep it that way our 50 state
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capitals have long been the place where
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things happen the taxes you pay the road
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you drive on the quality of the air you
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breathe and the water you drink your
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right to privacy and your right to vote
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these all bear the imprint of laws
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passed by the legislature in your home
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state this report is about how some of
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those laws get enacted thanks to an
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organization called Alec the American
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legislative exchange Council a
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Consortium of Corporations and state
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legislators with so much muscle they're
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changing the country one law at a time
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one state at a time in the case of those
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Canadian tarand Alec reportedly turned
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to an oil industry Lobby for a bill that
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makes it hard for the states to slow the
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flow of Canadian crude into this country
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no matter the environmental
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consequences this is how Alec has worked
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for years pushing changes state by state
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that could never have been achieved if
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they had been put to the test of open
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and Broad popular support Alec has been
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so successful working its will behind
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closed doors in secret that most
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Americans had never even heard of it
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until recently Alec had never even been
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subjected to scrutiny on National
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Television until the documentary report
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we broadcast last fall that was a
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collaboration between okopy Productions
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and the Schuman Media Center that I head
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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
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squarely in the middle of it all across
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the country there have been some new
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developments since our broadcast so
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here's that report expanded and updated
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on the United States of
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Alec they want every body to vote I
00:04:31
don't want everybody to vote as a matter
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of fact our leverage in the elections
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quite candidly goes up as the voting
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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
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they say State what when I say I'm
00:04:48
running for the state legislature I tell
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them that the decisions that are made
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here in the legislature are often more
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important for your everyday life than
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the decisions the president
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makes
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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
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Campaign committees smart players put
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their money in the
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states Alec has forged a unique
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partnership between state legislators
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and leaders from the corporate and
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business Community this partnership
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offers businessmen the extraordinary
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opportunity
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to apply their talents to solve our
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nation's problems and build on our
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opportunities I was stunned at the
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notion that politicians and corporate
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Representatives corporate lobbyists were
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actually voting behind closed doors on
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these changes to the law before they
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were introduced in state houses across
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the
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country Alec has been I think a
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wonderful organization uh not only does
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it bring uh like-minded legislators
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together but the private sector uh
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engagement and partnership uh in Alec is
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is really what I think makes it the
00:06:11
organization that it is Corporate
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influence is tainting the legislative
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process particularly out across the
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states and average Americans are paying
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the
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price the American legislative exchange
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Council
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Alec it's headquartered in Arlington
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Virginia but it operates in every
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capital in the country and its efforts
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produce some hundreds of new state laws
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each year Well I cover politics for a
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living so I've known about Alec for a
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long time I was always conscious of Alec
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but to be honest not that excited about
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it I just thought it was you know folks
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got together and discussed their policy
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issues that's all I knew and uh and
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that's not unusual and uh and that's how
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they portray themselves today uh but now
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with this project we've learned all
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sorts of things that we didn't
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know in 2011 an investigation began clo
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and Dagger style at the nonprofit Center
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for media and
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democracy in the spring I got a call
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from a person who said that all of the
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Alec bills were available and was I
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interested in looking at them uh and I
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said I was
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in early April Lisa Graves the head of
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the center received a document drop from
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an Alec
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Insider these are the bills that were
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provided by The
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Whistleblower that's just the
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index they would come to tell a story
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she says of how a seemingly innocuous
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nonprofit was actually fronting for some
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of the world's most powerful
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corporations Alec had been ch changing
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the country by changing its laws one
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state at a time I remember the day well
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it was uh first thing in the morning and
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I looked at the
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bills and I was astonished until I saw
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the bills and the depth and breadth and
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duration I did not have a full
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understanding of their reach and their
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impact Graves was familiar with some of
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the bills because versions of them had
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already become law in many states but
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she'd had no idea Alex was behind them
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bills to change the law to make it
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harder for American citizens to vote
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those were Alec bills bills to
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dramatically change the rights of
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Americans who were killed or injured by
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corporations those were Alec bills bills
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to make it harder for unions to do their
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work were Alec bills bills to basically
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block climate change agreements those
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were Alec
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bills the sener for median democracy is
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a small nonprofit investigative
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reporting group researchers here new
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knew the documents they'd gotten had
00:09:01
enormous implications Alec had been
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around for nearly four decades but no
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one on the outside was even certain
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exactly who belonged to it Graves and
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her team began to plow through Alec
00:09:13
documents as well as public sources to
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compile a list of the organizations and
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people who were or had been Alec member
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they found hundreds of Corporations from
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Coca-Cola and Coke Industries to Exxon
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Mobile fizer and
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Walmart dozens of right-wing think tanks
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and
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Foundations two dozen corporate law and
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lobbying firms and some thousand state
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legislators a few of them Democrats the
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majority of them
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Republican after I spent some time
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really looking through the bills I went
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to dinner with my colleague here Mary
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barari and her husband John Nichols Lisa
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called us and said I have some stuff I
00:09:53
don't know how much stuff I have but I
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have some stuff I think this is going to
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be a big story this is an incredible
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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
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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
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closed doors and just
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understanding all of the bills was a
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task in
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itself and we decided to call in the
00:10:37
troops University of Wisconsin Professor
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Joel Rogers has written widely on public
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policy he was enlisted to examine the
00:10:44
bills affecting working people so one
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big thing that Alec was excited about
00:10:48
were these living wage laws have you
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heard of that that were passing around
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cities and they they had a bill where
00:10:53
they said the states should preempt that
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they should use their power to forbid
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that so it's not it's not cuddly you
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know let's have some neighborhood
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Grassroots you know Lively democracy for
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healthc care issues they called in a
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former insurance company executive
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turned industry Watchdog and
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whistleblower wendle Potter even though
00:11:13
I had known of the organization for a
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long time I was astonished just about
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everything that that I knew that the
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health insurance industry wanted out of
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um uh any state lawmaker was included in
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that package of of of bills Potter found
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among the Alec documents are resolution
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to urge Congress to privatize Medicare A
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bill that would limit the amount of
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money a plaintiff could win in a medical
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malpractice suit and another that would
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thwart any effort by the federal
00:11:41
government to impose a health insurance
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mandate also in the Alec archive there's
00:11:46
a giant stack of school choice bills and
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they're fat bills too that's this little
00:11:51
slice of school choice and that little
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slice slice of school vouchers and it's
00:11:55
basically a long-term agenda of how to
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
00:54:39
since we first launched it but we want
00:54:41
your help filling in the blanks by
00:54:43
calling your local representatives and
00:54:45
asking if they belong become a citizen
00:54:48
journalist on billmoyers.com I'll see
00:54:50
you there and see you here next
00:54:55
time
00:55:11
[Music]
00:55:12
don't wait a week to get more Moyers
00:55:15
visit billmoyers.com for exclusive blogs
00:55:19
essays and video features this episode
00:55:22
of Moyers and Company is available on
00:55:24
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00:55:29
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