AFL-CIO - Maybe .................. maybe ALEC did it.

This is why we need citizen journalists and activists.

From the AFL-CIO webpage – today:

Asbestos Victims' Family, Workers Speak Out vs. AB19/SB13

This Republican-backed legislation is a clear giveback to the corporate elite who have funded the campaigns of many GOP lawmakers in Madison.  This bill appears to be linked to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or A.L.E.C.  A.L.E.C. is a corporate back entity that allows for global corporations and state politicians to use “model bills” in an attempt to rewrite state laws that reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit corporations.

What a disservice this AFL-CIO article is 

in regards to educating the public on ALEC legislation!

All they had to do was some DAMN RESEARCH!

The connection to ALEC is everywhere - all they had to do was Google it.

IT IS ALEC!
Why not just give ALEC a free press ride - don't place the blame where it is deserved.
Don't specifically connect ALEC to the "model legislation" that they have passed form state to state to state to state to state
Downplay the connection of ALEC to this legislation.
Intentionally create doubt in people's minds that ALEC is not related to this

Don't take  the time to connect the dots to ALEC.
God forbid.

What a disservice this AFL-CIO article is 

to those of us who are fighting the good fight against ALEC.

All they had to do was some DAMN RESEARCH!

The connection to ALEC is everywhere - all they had to do was Google it.

From Media Matters

Major Ohio Newspapers Rely On AP To Point Out ALEC's Role In Bill Curbing Asbestos Victims' Rights

Top Ohio newspapers failed to adequately highlight the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) influence on recent asbestos legislation in the state.

On December 4, the Ohio Senate passed an ALEC-inspired bill that curbs the ability of asbestos victims to file lawsuits for damages

A legal blog Lawyers.com    even had the guts to call out - - - - - - ALEC

But thanks to a brand new law in Michigan pushed by the corporate-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), workers like Craig Grigonis are out of luck if they develop cancer or die from asbestos exposure.

Asbestos is still legal in the U.S. Every year, 9,000 Americans are stricken with asbestos-related illnesses, like lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma, according to the Environmental Working Group.

“They want to delay, delay, delay because they want plaintiffs to die,” said Juan Bauta,a Florida attorney who represents asbestos victims.

The Michigan law was based on a model ALEC bill (Successor Asbestos-Related Liability Fairness Act) that 16 states have now passed and that gives virtual immunity to corporations that purchased an asbestos-making company.

But not th e AFL-CIO

This bill appears to be linked to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or A.L.E.C.

Where in the hell do they think it came from?

The connection to ALEC is everywhere - all they had to do was Google it.

From an earlier entry that I posted:

When ALEC legislators aren't focusing on the legislation ALEC corporate profit members are telling them to pass in the state legislatures - it appears that they sit around in little groups looking for boogeyman issues.  Issues that really aren't issues.  Issues that aren't really problems until ALEC makes them a problem.

Well - that is what happened with this issue - asbestos litigation.

And the sad part about it is - that state legislators aren't the only people who attend ALEC meetings.  You have congressional members and employees of state and federal agencies that are ALEC members also.

The sad part is that ALEC believes that they can and will mess with legislation in the states, in the country, in the world. 

When the ALEC Asbestos Bill Comes to Your State

AND IT WILL (if it hasn't already)!!!
Remember this - the core belief of ALEC, the propaganda that was sent to all ALEC members
- - - - - The first sentence:

Studies have shown that up to ninety percent of recent asbestos claimants are not sick.

That's what ALEC teaches your legislator.
ALEC teaches your legislator to disregard the issues/needs that your state constituents are facing - cause their loyalty must be to ALEC corporate members and their needs - cause they pay the ALEC expenses - free trips for legislators.
ALEC teaches your legislator that their state constituents are liars.
This is how they brainwash your legislator to introduce and pass ALEC tort reform legislation that protects "INNOCENT"  ALEC corporate profit sector members.

ALEC teaches your legislator that their state constituents are liars.
ALEC teaches your legislator that ALEC corporations hold the only truths.

Be prepared, this legislation is introduced in state, after state after state, year after year, until it finally passes - protecting ALEC corporate members at the expense of citizens who are suffering from asbestos related illnesses - caused by working in unsafe corporate conditions.


And another post that I wrote
When the ALEC Abestos Bill Comes to Your State
AND IT WILL (if it hasn't already)!!!

Be prepared:
Here's a really good overview about ALEC's Asbestos legislation in a diary at Daily Kos.

AND
Remember that you read this and then fight it:

“The only thing transparent about this bill is the blatant support for the industry’s decades’ long effort to run out the clock on a victim’s ability to collect a claim before he or she dies,” said Heather White, chief of staff and general counsel for the Environmental Working Group.

An estimated 10,000 Americans die each year from asbestos-related diseases. Many live only months after being diagnosed.

EWG has documented the asbestos epidemic and the industry’s aggressive campaign to hide the dangers from the public and deny justice to those who have died.

White has written the chairman and ranking members of the House Judiciary Committee where the legislation will first be considered:

 “Touted as a sunshine proposal, the bill fundamentally fails to understand health problems related to asbestos exposure and how the legal system compensates victims of asbestos disease. If signed into law, the FACT Act would significantly delay or deny justice for thousands of victims of the great asbestos tragedy. The public deserves better.

"The public deserves better.”
YES WE DO

But ALEC profit sector members
and
ALEC legislators
Don't give a damn about the public!

They only care about corporate profit!!!!

Work in their factories/office  - live in their factory neighborhoods
Breathe in all those toxins and absorb the chemicals into your body
All the stuff corporations do not tell us about -

And with the help of American Legislative Exchange Council legislators, YOU will have absolutely no legal recourse against ALEC Corporate Profit Sector members for maiming or killing you or your family members.

Don’t know who/what ALEC is?
It is time you did!!!
For lots of info about the American Legislative Exchange Council
check out this webpage
ALEC Exposed