ALEC Legislators - How Much Personal Gain????

This snip has been bothering me all week.   

Gonna be some keyboard yelling in this one.

I have no reason to question the validity of this snip, based on the source.

For years, ALEC has helped corporations maneuver around laws in Wisconsin and elsewhere designed to govern special interest influence by calling the gifts a "scholarship" and filtering the spending through a bank account held by ALEC.

All legislators who are ALEC Task Force members are eligible for generous offers of flights and hotel rooms from the Task Force Scholarship Fund, paid for by the task force's corporate members.

How do legislators earn the privilege of task force membership?

According to ALEC's Task Force Operating Procedures, "A preference will be given to legislators who sponsor ALEC Task Force model legislation in the state legislature."

This snip has been bothering me all week.

What this snip proves beyond a reasonable doubt
is that there is personal gain for ALEC legislators
if they sponsor/introduce ALEC “model legislation”.

PERSONAL GAIN!!!!

The reasoning:

If a legislator introduces/sponsors ALEC legislation

    They can serve on a task force.
When serving on a task force

   The legislator is given preference to ALEC scholarship funds.

ALEC scholarship funds pay for

   Airfare

   Hotel

   Parking

To attend ALEC meetings

AT POSH RESORTS

AT LUXURIOUS LOCATIONS

And attending ALEC meetings gives the legislator access to corporate sponsored amenities at those meetings such as

PLAYING AT THE FINEST GOLF COURSES

TENNIS EVENTS

SKEET AND TRAP SHOOTING EVENTS

LISTENING TO THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR

ATTENDING PROFESSIONAL SPORTS EVENTS

RIVER BOAT CRUISES

WINE TASTING TOURS

FANCY PRIVATE MEALS

FANCY PRIVATE PARTIES, CORPORATE SPONSORED HOSPITALITY SUITES

HOLIDAY GALA EVENTS

ALEC EXHIBITOR and CORPORATE SPONSORED  prize drawings that have included: Nintendo Wii Console with Wii Sports Resort, Kindle 3G, Variety of VISA gift cards from $50 - $100 

Sometimes with even finer prizes:

IN 1983 it was noted:  Special Category:  A drawing will be held for all legislative participants to award this special donation – a replica of the TEXACO Race Car entered in the Indianapolis 500.  I’m sure they weren’t talking about a 1/32nd model/toy replica – Did your legislator win this?

Let’s look at some specifics.

Historical excerpts from the Chicago ALEC Annual Meeting Program – 1998

Friday, August 21

5:30pm - 8:30pm

ALEC Family Night at Navy Pier

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 was a cornerstone event in the history of Chicago . For Family Night 1998, ALEC guests will participate in a Fair that will honor the great city that Chicago has become in the 105 short years since .

Begin with a picnic under the exquisite rotunda at Navy Pier with your family and ALEC colleagues .

ALEC guests will be greeted by the sounds of a five-piece brass band capturing the spirit of Americans with classic melodies as well as toe-tapping favorites .

Roaming throughout the ballroom as well as outside will be the Improv Troupe “Piering Daily.” In a fitting tribute to the City that founded the Improv style of comedy. The six-member troupe revels in creating a scene based on an audience member's suggestion .

The Jesse White Tumblers will also perform for guests no the terrace outside the ballroom . The Tumblers range in age from 6 to 26 and are mostly residents of Chicago's Cabrini Green and Henry Horner housing projects .

Also roaming about the party will be the lovable mascot of the Chicago Bulls, Benny the Bull . Situated just outside the ballroom will be a Chicago Style Jazz band . This quartet of fine musicians will perform some of the music that has made Chicago famous as the home of Jazz and Blues.

Sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies and Archer Daniels Midland Company

ALEC thanks the Miller Brerv6ng Company for the in-kind contribution, and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.

The 1998 Annual Meeting Program had this noted (my emphasis):

Be sure to stop by Desmonds to order your tuxedo for the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award Banquet!

For the Ladies, Chicago's finest department store, the renowned Marshall Fields, will have a personal shopper available for consultation in the Exhibit Hall.  And early on Tuesday evening, this shoppers' paradise will open its doors for an exclusive, private reception for the ladies attending the ALEC Annual Meeting to peruse their exquisite offerings of fashionable finery.

So we are not talking hot dish potlucks here.

And you have this from the 1998 Annual Meeting Program

Held in the elegant and historic Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel and Towers, ALEC's 25th Anniversary Annual Meeting Reception will be a tribute to ALEC's founding city of Chicago!

The menu will take a tour of Chicago's neighborhoods . From stir-fry from China Town, hotdogs from Wrigleyville, and herb crusted striploin of beef from the Chicago Stockyards, to sizzling pasta from Little Italy and Spanakopita from Greek Town, the multicultural cuisine of Chicago will be on display .

Jazz and the blues are the music of Chicago, and the ALEC Opening Reception will be no exception. The Grady Johnson Jazz Trio, considered some of the best musicians in the city, will bring their soothing sounds to the Normandie Lounge .

Upon entering the elegant Grand Ballroom, guests will be greeted by two Chicago icons - the infamous Blues Brothers, Later in the evening the Undcrwatcr Pcople will entertain guests with reggae and current progressive pop!

Sponsored by Phillip Morris Management Corporation

And you have this

Chicago Air & Water Show

11:00-4:00

Under the Sun at Navy Pier Terrace D Rooftop

The Chicago Air & Water Show, now entering its 40th

year, is the largest two-day spectator event in the U .S . and

the longest ongoing show of its kind in North America

And as an ALEC Annual Meeting attendee, vou can have

a free front row seat at a private rooftcp area overlooking

Lake Michigan on top of Navy Pier!

From high performance military aircraft to civilian acts

like the Tucker Power Aerobatic team, the Chicago Air

show has always attracted the best aerial showmen on earth!

The water show features some of the most exotic and

powerful craft that have ever skimmed the surface of the

ocean, from high speed race boats to elegant yachts .

ALL FREE

Reporting Requirements

For the purpose of complying with state reporting laws,

the following per-person costs are provided for ALEC

events .

Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . $100 .00

Tennis Tournament . . . . . . . . . . .$140 .00

Shooting Events . . . . . . . . . . . . .$100 .00

Opening Reception . . .. . . . . . . .. $75 .00

Family Night . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . $35 .00

In today’s world – 2012 – the legislative stakes for the ALEC Profit Sector members are much higher than they were in 1998, so I can only imagine the ALEC freebies to ALEC legislators have been proportionately increased.

It’s time that Americans knew the whole story on ALEC amenities to ALEC legislative members.

 

PERSONAL GAIN for ALEC legislators!!!!

HOW MUCH?
IN WHAT FORM?
WHERE DOES IT STOP?

NOT!