ALEC's Brand NEW "Shiny Baubles" Report

UPDATE:
Ten days after I wrote this, ALEC finally did a press release on it - fortunately their press release is as bad as the report - "  ALEC Unveils Legislative Priorities for 2013".  Evidently ALEC thinks their "legislative priorities" for 2013 are a big deal - but it's just more of the same - more of the same old, same old."

Here we go  - - - - -
This is a tale of trying to fool  the American people by putting shiny baubles in front of them and hoping they think it is pretty.

ALEC is in DC right now and if you look at the agendas for the meeting one of the things they are doing is “sunshining’ their legislation.  This means they are looking at it to determine which legislation they should continue to keep and which ones are outdated.  The real purpose is probably to weed out the racist, misogynist, classist “model” legislation - so they can replace it with the exact same legislation but with more covert language.

– they do that on a regular basis
– you should see some of their legislation from the 80's and early 90's (disgusting, really disgusting) 

Well anyway – they dropped a brand new report on their webpage tonight.

Took their same old crap – put a shiny new cover on it.

Kinda like re-gifting – but in a really disgusting kind of way.

ALEC 2013: Jobs, Innovation, and Opportunity In the States

The American Legislative Exchange Council is getting kinda pissy about people looking at their materials and commenting on them – so I'll be using fewer snips in this opinion piece.

Here’s ALEC’s gift to you 

– published tonight

– right after their holiday gala was held at the Hyatt in Washington DC tonight.

ALEC releases its plan for Jobs, Innovation, and Opportunity.

Model legislation is available at www.alec.org.

Of course it is – and it is probably pro-corporate legislation!

I couldn’t find it! 

Must be hidden on one of those secretive pages – just for ALEC members.

And their plan (part of it):

1. Limiting Taxes and the Growth of Big Government

The very first thing – the very first chapter and it ends like this

Finally, legislators should establish a Council on Efficient Government to determine which programs currently being run by the government could be competitively bid out to the private sector.

2. Protecting Workers’ Retirements

This section starts with this right wing lie

Because lawmakers have overpromised and underfunded pensions for state employees, states are now facing trillions of dollars in underfunded pension costs and worker retirements have been put at risk.

There was no “overpromising”!!!!!!  There were negotiated contracts!

It was the guys on Wall Street that screwed the pension funds.

Put the blame where it really belongs – WALL STREET.

Their solution:

         Ditch pensions and use 401k plans.

3. Harnessing America’s Energy Resources and Reducing Costs

It is imperative that states repeal costly renewable energy mandates in order to ensure affordable and reliable energy.

States should eliminate expensive renewable energy mandates that harm consumers and job creation.

This has been in the news for almost a week now.
People affiliated with renewable energy are talking back at ALEC.

God forbid the United States should stray away from the fossil fuel Corporate Profit Sector members of ALEC for energy.

4. Cutting Red Tape and Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations

Cost of Regulations is Hurting Businesses and Destroying Jobs

tax code, health care regulations, and environmental regulations –

Boo Hoo! For the ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members.

That’s the cost of doing business.

If corporations didn't destroy the environment and maim or kill people with your products and services – we wouldn’t have to regulate you!!

5. Economic Opportunity

The ALEC Occupational Licensing Relief and Job Creation Act ensures that an individual may pursue lawful occupation free from unnecessary occupational regulations.

This one has always slayed me.  Think about it folks – something, somewhere happened that caused licensures to be REQUIRED.  But good old ALEC doesn’t bother to take that into consider.  Probably because licensure mean a more knowledgeable workforce – which requires (morally) higher wages and god forbid the organization that wants to eliminate the minimum wage would want people to earn more because they were licensed to do their job.  This also is applicable since ALEC wants anyone that wants to teach to be able to do so – without licensure.

6. Harnessing Innovation

contradictory rules and proceedings by each of the fifty state public utility commissions threaten Internet-based services such as video calling.

ALEC VOIP Profit Sector Members really want the public to be stupid enough to let regulations on internet based products be de-regulated.  The general public is choosing to stay ignorant on this - but others are writing about it - trying to educate the public.

7. Improving Education

The ALEC Education Savings Account Act allows parents to use funds that would have been allocated to their child at their resident school district for an education program of the parents’ choosing.  …  including private school tuition, online education, certified private tutors,  … 

program that provides high school students with access to online learning options regardless of where the student lives.   …  focusing on student mastery of subjects at their own pace and own time, instead of the traditional seat-time learning requirements.

Yep gotta get rid of those classrooms and those damn teachers that steal public tax dollars away from the ALEC Profit Sector Members.

ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members deserve those tax dollars!!!!

8. Increasing Access to Health Care and Controlling Costs

The ALEC Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act protects the rights of patients to pay directly for medical services, and prohibits penalties levied on patients for failing to purchase health insurance.

Still trying to kill Obamacare.

9. Preventing Lawsuit Abuse

Trial lawyers and others have found ways to, at times, profit off our nation’s broken legal system at the expense of small businesses and job creators.

Oh, god – the tort reform crap – can’t you guys find something new to talk about.

Those damn trial lawyers – trying to protect the consumer.  I’ve written ad nauseam about ALEC’s hate for trial lawyers and trial lawyers have now gotten smart and have their own web pages about the nastiness of ALEC tort reform.  Take Justice Back –Corporations are Stealing From You

With few proof requirements and lenient standards for claims, consumer protection acts are being used to punish law-abiding businesses.

Yeh – those dumb people who sit on juries, listening to all that evidence and then making unwarranted awards  - that hurt those poor ALEC Corporate Profit Sector Members for maiming or killing people with their products.

ALEC’s model Product Liability Act would develop a variety of commonsense reforms in state product liability statutes to ensure, for example, that a lawsuit against a product manufacturer is brought against the manufacturer of the product that actually caused the injuries.

Good luck trying to sue that company in China that made your hip implant!
Good like trying to sue the company in Bangladesh that made the parts for your knee replacement.
Good luck trying to sue that pharmaceutical compounding company in Ireland that caused the death of your family member.

This book contains information on 25 pieces of model legislation in the following nine subject areas:

It includes summaries of the legislation.
One paragraph - with misleading verbiage of the "possiblities" of the legislation.
It's not until you actually read the legislation that you see how horrendous it is.

One of ALEC’s misleading statements that they will feed to the press – another ALEC LIE by ommission.

Oh - but they do tell you:

For questions about model legislation contact Briana Mulder at bmulder@alec.org

202-742-8507

Good luck with that – if you aren’t a dues paying ALEC member!!!

The Moral of the Story

When I was working on this entry I was brought back to a holiday party almost 50 years ago (that is important).

I was raised on a farm. There was a rule at our house - the house is the house, the barn is the barn. The underlying rule was that the two did not co-mingle.

Anyway - back 50 years - A bunch of us stupid, dirt poor, farmers (and the kids) got together to celebrate the holidays and one of the farmers had taken some dried up cow pies and coated them with varnish and gave one to each family at the party - as a prank gift.

When we got home my dad brought the varnished cow pie into the house and my Mom went ballistic and yelled at my Dad “GET THAT OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!! It doesn’t matter if it's all nice and shiny – it is still cow shit.”

And that is the moral of the story.