Tommy Thompson a suckup to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the 1%.
Some bits and pieces - my emphasis throughout
More than 30 years ago, a small group of state legislators and conservative policy advocates met in Chicago to implement a vision:
At that meeting, in September 1973, state legislators, including then Illinois State Rep. Henry Hyde, conservative activist Paul Weyrich, and Lou Barnett, a veteran of then Gov. Ronald Reagan’s 1968 presidential campaign, together with a handful of others, launched the American Legislative Exchange Council. Among those who were involved with ALEC in its formative years were: Robert Kasten and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin; John Engler of Michigan; Terry Branstad of Iowa, and John Kasich of Ohio, all of whom moved on to become governors or members of Congress. Congressional members who were active during this same period included Senators John Buckley of New York and Jesse Helms of North Carolina, and Congressmen Phil Crane of Illinois and Jack Kemp of New York.
Decades ago, ALEC targeted Wisconsin as a test case for their agenda. Tommy Thompson, who served as a state legislator from 1966-1987 and then as governor for a record 14 years, was an early ALEC member and supporter. "Myself, I always loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I'd take them back to Wisconsin, disguise them a little bit, and declare that 'It's mine,'" he told an ALEC conference in 2002.
It is now apparent that Thompson was the enthusiastic frontman for a slew of ALEC ideas and legislation -- most famously "Welfare to Work" and "School Choice."
American Legislative Exchange Council's Thomas Jefferson Award 1991
1993 ALEC Annual Meeting
Award Description
Awarded annually to a nationally recognized public official who has distinguished himself in promoting the Jeffersonian principles of free enterprise, limited representative government,
thompson, as quoted in the 1998 ALEC Annual Meeting brochure
We have the new opportunity for the decade of the nineties to be our decade, and the twenty-first century to be the Jeffersonian century that he dreamed of self-enlightenment in educational reform, in opportunities for every man, woman and child in this country. And that, to note, is what ALEC stands for, and that is why this organization is growing so strong and can continue to be the dominant force for change in this country of ours. WISCONSIN GOVERNOR TOMMY THOMPSON, 1991
In 2002, Zueske gave the introduction for Thompson when he was the keynote speaker at ALEC’s Spring Task Force Summit.
Over thirty years of supporting/participating in ALEC.
He is probably a Legacy member = Lifetime member.
What makes you think he has changed the way he thinks in the last ten years after THIRTY YEARS of ALEC.
And he followed the path - given to many - because of their relatiosnship with ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members.
The private-public partnership kicks in and those who were supposed to be serving the public while in office - now get to make megabucks screwing the public for the private sector.
Thompson’s employment at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
MADISON-The Democratic Party of Wisconsin released video today showing Washington lobbyist Tommy Thompson Friday as he left a D.C. fundraiser at a right-wing power-broking firm, two days after his campaign announced it would continue to conceal from the public Thompson's wide-ranging lobbying and financial ties.
The fundraiser was at the BGR Group, a lobbying firm that represents several foreign governments involved in jobs losses in Wisconsin and has financial ties to Scott Walker Republicans.
BGR = Haley Barbour, Founding Partner of BGR Group,
Barbour = ALEC
The vidoe of him getting in his limo is a "private video" I can't embed it - so here is the link
“Myself, I always loved going to these meetings because I always found new ideas. Then I’d take them back to Washington disguise them a little bit, and declare that ‘It’s mine.’”
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