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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Koch's to Give ALEC Competition (for their $$'s)

Looks like the Koch brothers are planning on starting their own ALEC.

They must see the writing on the wall for the old ALEC.
Back in the good ol' days the Koch's gave old ALEC lots of foundation money - and then when ALEC went belly up the Koch's forked over a half a mil two different times to keep ALEC afloat.
Well - evidently the current ALEC hasn't lived up to the  Koch brothers expectations
(- yeh - ALEC's been a disappointment to me also)
So the Koch's are going to do what they do best
- start their own KOCH ALEC - a better version - a more fascist version than the current one.

And you can bet - this isn't gonna be a ALEC mini-me.
Cause the Koch's are gonna own this one.

It's been kinda hard for the Koch's to keep their intentional, yet secret, destruction of the US democracy through ALEC "model legislation" a secret - when ALEC is on news casts and blog across the US.
So  ........................ looks like the Koch's are birthing another fascist ALEC.


(shaking my head right now - shaking my head) 

Today on NPR:


Now, after failing to help Republicans win the White House or the Senate, the Koch brothers are re-examining the network, its goals and strategies.

And they could be drawn into an investigation in California that threatens to pierce the veil of secrecy of donors behind $11 million in secret contributions. The $11 million went to an obscure California-based political committee, the Small Business Action Committee PAC, which was advertising on two ballot questions there. It caught the attention of the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

As the California probe continues, the Koch brothers postponed their winter money-and-strategy gathering. They cited the need to rethink goals and strategies. The conference is now set for April.

In this political off-season, two new Koch groups are ramping up.

The Association for American Innovation is set up as a business league. There are indications it will promote free-market bills in state legislatures, much as the American Legislative Exchange Council does now.

American Commitment, another social welfare group, aims to carve out a messaging niche in between think tanks like the Cato Institute, where Koch allies sit on the board, and front-line groups like AFP.
While I'm sure the Koch's will continue to finance the American Legislative Exchange Council - their piece of the Koch $$$ pie will get smaller as Koch's "Destroy America" campaign expands to more and more anti-democracy Kochroach organizations.

May the Koch's burn in hell for infinity.

You know - we just gotta keep fighting these a$$holes
- cause it doesn't look like they are going to stop their seditionist ways


50 States, 50 Different Currencies ALEC Legal Tender Act


TODAY


Arizona's Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill on Wednesday to make gold and silver legal tender in the state.

According to Capitol Media Services, Republicans who pushed the measure through said they feared the value of the dollar could tank, making the law necessary. While the U.S. Constitution bans states printing their own currency, supporters argued it does not prohibit private organizations from minting gold and silver coins.

If the bill is approved by the state House and signed by Gov. Jan Brewer (R),


Fifty states
Fifty different currencies
People minting their own currency

OR
He who holds the gold – holds the gold.
Another way to screw the common citizen…..

Separate states, separate state currencies is the topic at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) annual meeting.

You are absolutely not going to believe this one!!!!
My emphasis throughout.


It’s not just Utah’s public land issues that find a warm reception at ALEC. The organization’s federalism task force also adopted model legislation on Thursday patterned after Utah’s Legal Tender Act, which seeks to enable gold and silver coins to be used in business transactions.





American Principles Project
Triple Referred with the Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development and
the International Relations Task Forces.

This Act recognizes gold and silver coins as legal tender free of taxation in the state under the authority of Article I Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution to recognize gold and silver coins as legal tender, and provides that a committee will study further developments for sound monetary policy in the state in order to provide a competitive means for preserving the purchasing power of the earnings and savings of the citizens of [insert state].
 

Larry Hilton, a leader in Utah’s gold movement, said ALEC’s action is an important step toward helping states exercise their constitutional role in setting monetary policy.

Some Background on the Utah Law

Earlier this year, the Utah Legislature passed groundbreaking legislation, stating that gold and silver coins can be used as legal tender in Utah — a popular issue among factions of the tea party movement that fear a catastrophic meltdown of the U.S. dollar.

The proposals include clarifying that people who buy a car, for example, with gold coins can pay the sales tax based on a percentage of the weight of the metal, instead of having to pay it in dollars based on the value of the purchase.

A key piece of Utah's transition to a gold-and-silver economy, according to Hilton, involves letting private individuals mint their own coins in various denominations that could be used for day-to-day transactions.

"We feel it makes sense to look at monetizing coins that could be [of] private origin, perhaps produced within this state that would have those correct denominations," Hilton told a legislative committee about two weeks ago.


The grateful donor of the gifts was Wayne L. Palmer, who helped push through the Utah Legal Tender bill, legislation said to be the first step toward states being able to mint their own currency.

Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a restraining order and asset freeze against Palmer, alleging he had operated a Ponzi scheme through his real-estate firm, National Note of Utah.

Coming to Your State Soon!!!
Missouri and South Carolina in 2012 are the closest to enacting very similar legislation and creating a gold bullion and silver bullion depository, just like Utah. (Source: CNN Money, February 3, 2012.) Both states echo the same sentiments as Utah and this is evident by the names chosen for the bills. For example, in Missouri, the legislation put forth is called the Missouri Sound Money Act of 2012.

Other states considering legislation to make gold bullion and silver bullion legal tender are Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, Georgia, Washington, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Virginia.

My Sequester Solution: 100% Tax on Excess Revenue

So think about  ....

Lets think about it for a moment folks
Most private citizens have been sitting in the crapper for almost 30 years.  Our wages have been stagnant while our household expenses have sky-rocketed.  Almost every household in the US (except the 1%) are dealing with deficit-spending.

Because we have no lobbyists that work for us (and it's evident that most of our state and federal legislators don't either) - we have gotten screwed financially for the last 30 years.

Lets think about it for a moment folks
Taxes for the Federal Government are essentially revenue to keep the business/government operating.

RepubliCONs don't want to raise more taxes (revenue) for the government - to keep the business operating.

Yet
RepubliCONs readily and eagerly accept PAC money that goes into their re-election coffers - as revenue to keep their re-election business operating.

Lets think about it for a moment folks
Anyone in business will tell you - that revenues need to increase in order for the business to keep up with operating expenses.

EVERY Business knows that and will accept that fact.

RINSE AND REPEAT
Anyone in business will tell you - that revenues need to increase in order for the business to keep up with operating expenses.

EVERY Business knows that and will accept that fact.

Lets think about it for a moment folks
If we can not increase revenues (taxes) to cover the operating expenses of government  ... then
   NO ONE should be allowed to increase their revenues.
   NO legislator can accept any additional revenues to their campaign funds.
   NO private business can accept any additional revenues to their business.
Every legislator and every private or public, for profit or nonprofit business
should NOT be allowed to generate any additional revenue
- that is higher than their revenue in, say 2008.

Gross Revenue 2012 - Gross Revenue 2008 = Excess Revenue (for most)
We're not going to let you dink around with using net income after lobbying and CEO bonuses.
We're talking change in Gross Revenue.


If one business sector (the government) is forced to suffer - no new revenue - ALL sectors should be forced to suffer with - no new additional revenue.

Because most of legislators are too lazy, too childish or too dumb to figure out what should be done - here's my solution

Lets think about it for a moment folks
My Solution
 ANY business - large, small, medium
    even the ones with off-shore bank and corporation accounts
ANY legislator - state or federal
    even the ones with off-shore bank accounts
ANY nonprofit - ALL of them
    even the ones with off-shore bank accounts
ALL churches
    even the ones with off-shore bank accounts

whose 2012 and beyond, revenue
exceeds their revenue as stated in 2008
  must pay 100% taxes
  on any additional revenue taken in
  over and above the revenue reported in 2008.

If the government is not allowed to increase revenues to cover operating expenses.
NO business should be allowed to increase revenues to cover operating expenses.
DONE!

If and when, the government is allowed to increase their revenues to cover operating costs.
Then and only then, will businesses be allowed to increase their revenue over 2008 levels, to cover operating expense - without paying 100% additional tax on excess revenue.

Austerity - just not for government anymore.
  Most working folks won't be hurt by this.
  Most social welfare nonprofits will not be hurt by this.
    Because - we've already been getting screwed financially for 30 years.
    We already know what deficit spending looks and feels like.
Now everyone else - can join us.










Wednesday, February 27, 2013

WSJ Readers Duped by ALEC Released Statistics



The first thing you need to realize is that the Wall Street Journal is owned by NewsCorp
The second thing you need to realize is that the NewsCorp is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Knowing that 
would you be surprised that the Wall Street Journal would be used as a propaganda tool for ALEC disinformation?
Unfortunately it appears to be so 
– it should be so embarrassing for the WSJ and disheartening for  their readers.

On January 29, the WSJ published an article that made the following definitive statement:
A new analysis by economist Art Laffer for the American Legislative Exchange Council finds that, from 2002 to 2012, 62% of the three million net new jobs in America were created in the nine states without an income tax, though these states account for only about 20% of the national population.

BUT – this statement is based on laffable Laffer manipulated statistics.
                         
There’s lies, damned lies and manipulated statistics.
Laffable statistics which mislead by omission – intentionally????
Only Arthur knows for sure.

Statistics that ..........if readers of the WSJ choose to believe and repeat them  
 - they are going to embarrass themselves.

BUT

The snake oil of misleading information from ALEC reports

   no longer stays in the public eye as “truth” anymore

Released today
A report that shows you why
A new analysis by economist Art Laffer for the American Legislative Exchange Council finds that, from 2002 to 2012, 62% of the three million net new jobs in America were created in the nine states without an income tax, though these states account for only about 20% of the national population.
is NOT the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.


From press release of  the new report issued today the key point is
Laffer’s claim has nothing to do with the “nine states without an income tax,” and everything to do with one of those states: Texas.
TEXAS SKEWS THE STATISTICS that Laffer is reporting.
And Laffer didn't realize that????????????????

Read the whole report



Those poor gullible WSJ readers.  
Paying so much money for their subscriptions
Seeking the truth and being misled.
Laffer’s research is like a house of cards, depending on data selected and placed precisely to help reach the conclusion he wanted

There’s lies, damned lies and manipulated statistics.


Repeated Failures of the ALEC Educ Policy



ALEC legislators and ALEC are always pushing the privatization of public education.
ALEC legislators and ALEC are always pushing the fallacy that for-profit educational opportunities are superior to public education.

Well – time and time again this ALEC delusion is proving to be wrong.
Another example
    of how ALEC’s policies are hurting American’s children.
ALEC legislators and ALEC profit sector members are EXPERIMENTING on our children.
And the ALEC free-market experiments are failing.

Here is a public – private partnership, privatization of public service failure – policy that harms our children - pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council at their many private and secretive meetings.


But we continue to have particular concerns about the involvement of K12 Inc., the large for-profit vendor running Greenfield’s Massachusetts Virtual Academy.

A Dec. 16, 2012 investigative piece in The Republican (Springfield) and Masslive.com reported that
students in the K12-run online school
    ranked second lowest in the state on students’ progress
    in the MCAS math and English exams.
    They also post an unusually high attrition rate.
Ranked second lowest in math.
Ranked second lowest in English.
...  unusually high attrition rate
Do no harm to the children.
How long will it take for those kids to regain the skills they lost?
How long will it take for those kids to recoup the skills they never learned?
Another ALEC for profit – privatization scheme – that harms our children, that harms the future of our nation, by producing a flawed education process; based on spurious ALEC free-market arguments.

Massachusetts tax dollars being used to support for-profit failures.
Massachusetts tax dollars being used to bankrupt children's educational potential.

The Maine Sunday Telegram also ran an investigative series that detailed how K12 Inc., the Jeb Bush organization Foundation for Excellence in Education, and the corporate-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were recently involved in crafting policies (later tabled) to create taxpayer-funded virtual schools in Maine.

Now, Greenfield’s contract with K12 is up for renewal and the Greenfield School Committee will vote on it soon.

At the same time, Massachusetts has just passed legislation to provide accountability and avoid pitfalls for future virtual school efforts. In the Dec. 16, 2012 Republican article, Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester noted that the “performance of the Greenfield (virtual) academy ‘absolutely’ demonstrates a need for state oversight.”

“performance of the Greenfield (virtual) academy ‘absolutely’ demonstrates a need for state oversight.”
Lack of performance, you mean.
No oversight was put into place BEFORE the K12 schools were implemented?  REALLY?
Need for state oversight???? Hopefullly NOT by ALEC legislators.




Another ALEC public – private partnership, another privatization of public service failure – policy that fails our children - pushed by the American Legislative Exchange Council.



As a whole, charter schools perform little or no better than traditional public schools in terms of educating students, test scores and other data show.

In addition, charter schools often further segregation. A 2009 study by the UCLA Civil Rights Project showed that “charter schools are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the nation.”

“Across the board, in many cases, charter schools are doing worse than some schools,”
 

Some hits - some misses!!!

The ALEC educational free-market for profit educational policies are harming our children.
When are we going to stop this destruction of our educational system and stop this ALEC championed offensive attack on our children? 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Reverse Mortgages - Pushed by ALEC Since 1993

Worth 4 minutes of your time

Reverse Mortgages: 

When they work and when they don't

 

Sorry I can't embed it - you have to go to the site. 

 

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been pushing reverse mortgages for the elderly since 1993.  In 1993 - ALEC believed that this was how seniors should finance both their healthcare and long-term care living costs - with a reverse mortgage on their only remaining asset - their house (aka - an ALEC option for getting rid of Medicare and MedicAid).  The first notation I have of it was in a report named: "Keeping The Promise: Making Health Care Accessible and Affordable for All Americans"   
 January, 1993.

THE REVERSE MORTGAGE ENABLING ACT
{Title, enacting clause, etc}
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Reverse Mortgage Enabling Act.
SECTION 2. Statement of Purpose.
It is the intent of this legislation that elderly homeowners be permitted to meet their financial needs by accessing the equity in their homes through a reverse mortgage.

The legislature recognizes that many restrictions and requirements that exist to govern traditional mortgage transactions are inapplicable in the context of reverse mortgages.

In order to foster reverse mortgage transactions and better serve the elderly citizens of this state, this legislature authorizes the making of reverse mortgages, and expressly relieves reverse mortgage lenders and borrowers from compliance with inappropriate requirements
Now, you see ads for reverse mortgages on TV all the time.  I hear friends talking about  them and how they like a good option - I always warn them, that reverse mortgages aren't what they are cracked up to be. 

You see - I figure anything that is cooked up by ALEC is pro-business and somewhere along the line seniors who put their house and lively hood at stake on a deal that is too good to be true - will be hurt in the end.  Somewhere along the line the mortgage, finance companies and banks will win out in the end - if it is ALEC originated and the citizen will get screwed - somehow, someway.


To me this is the next big housing scam (a redo of the subprime debacle - same players, same devastating results) and people are going to get financially destroyed at a time in their life when they no longer have the means or energy to defend themselves.

You see - if it's ALEC "model legislation" or if it's based on ALEC legislation and it looks like it does something that is good for the citizens - in the long run, it is the citizen who will get screwed somehow, someway - while ALEC's private sector/corporate enterprise members will come out smelling like a rose - bigger profits, higher stock prices.

 

Ryan Sequesters the Janesville Airport



Back in June 1999, Rep. Paul Ryan(R-Wis.), now House Budget Committee chairman, took to the House floor to ask for federal funding for an airport in his district.

"The Rock County Airport is in desperate need of improving," he said at the time. "Rock County began work on these improvements but federal assistance is needed to address this immediate need. These improvements are critical not only to the local businesses in the district I represent but also to the local economy and the livelihood of the employees who work at these businesses."


The video surfaced briefly during the 2012 campaign, as evidence of a self-styled fiscal conservative hypocritically pleading for federal funds. Now, the Rock County Airport is back in the news with officials there worried that it could be on the chopping block should the sequester hit. As the GazetteXtra.com reported:

    For the federal government, it’s just another small airport.

    For Rock County, it’s a crucial part of economic infrastructure that could take an operational hit — unless the elected officials can reach a budget compromise.

    On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it was making plans for the possible “sequestration” — the automatic budget cuts that would go into effect Friday, March 1, if no budget agreement is reached.

    Those FAA plans include instituting furlough days for almost all employees and closing more than 100 air traffic control towers at airports with fewer than 150,000 flight operations or 10,000 commercial operations each year.

    The Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville falls into that category.
 

Lobbyist Named Chair of ALEC Private Sector Board



As an example of how secretive people are about their membership or involvement in the American Legislative Exchange Council – if you Google
"Steve Seale" "American Legislative Exchange Council"
You get twelve hits – eight unique hits.

– if you Google
"C. Steven Seale" "American Legislative Exchange Council"
You get four hits
  
YET –
"Steve Seale" "American Legislative Exchange Council"
Has been active in ALEC for at least 30 years.
  
From Steve Seale’s LinkedIn page:
Steve Seale
Current
        Shareholder at Wise Carter Child & Caraway, PA
Past
        Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
        Chief Counsel, US Senate Majority Leader staff at US Senate
        Senator at Mississippi State Senate

From the 1983 ALEC Annual Meeting Speaker bios
Steve Seale, Chief Counsel, Office of the U .S. Senate Majority Leader

From Steve Seale’s LinkedIn page:
He was also Senator Lott’s representative to state and local government organizations, including ALEC,

From the 2010 ALEC Annual Meeting Task Force Meeting
Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force Meeting
ALEC’s 2010 Annual Meeting
San Diego, CA
Friday, August 6th, 2010
Meeting DRAFT Minutes
    Steve Seale, Cellular South

Cellular South ??
Not really – he’s a lobbyist for Cellular South.
He doesn’t work for Cellular South.
He’s a lobbyist for Cellular South

From the 2010 ALEC Task Force Roster
American Legislative Exchange Council
Telecommunications & Information Technology as of October 28th, 2010
C. Stevens Seale
Private Sector Member (M1)
Partner
Wise Carter Child & Caraway,
401 East Capitol
Suite 600
Jackson, MS 39201
Phone: (601) 326-7706 FAX: (601) 968-5519

From ALECExposed list of ALEC Award Winners
Steve Seale (SAP America), Private Sector Member of the Year

SAP America???
Not really – he’s a lobbyist for SAP America.
He doesn’t work for SAP America.
He’s a lobbyist for SAP America

Google
"C. Steven Seale" lobbyist
And you get four pages of hits




WELL – today

Steve Seale named as national Chairman of Private Enterprise Advisory Council for ALEC
Steve Seale, former Mississippi State Senator and former Chief Counsel to US Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, has been named 2013-2014 National Chairman of the Private Enterprise Advisory Council of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). In his role as Private Enterprise Advisory Council Chairman, Seale will coordinate interaction between ALEC private sector member companies and their representatives with the more than 2000 ALEC state legislative members from around the country.


Notice the difference?
Private Enterprise Advisory Council for ALEC
     This is the new name for the
     "Private Enterprise" Board of Directors
This is part of the ALEC "re-organization" - the  Edelman PR whitewashing of ALEC - happening at the secretive ALEC offices.

Now it is the
Private Enterprise Advisory Council for ALEC
and the
National Chairman
is a
lobbyist.

The new Chairman of the Private Enterprise Advisory Council 
 - has NEVER worked in the private sector
EXCEPT
 - as a lobbyist.
 
How fitting that a lobbyist will " coordinate interaction between ALEC private sector" and ALEC state legislators.