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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

ALEC an Invaluable Resource to Businesses



Here’s a piece from the Roll Call regarding Congressional lobbying in Q1-2013.

My emphasis - I’ve bolded the names of companies that are known past or present ALEC members.

By Kent Cooper           Posted at 7:40 a.m. on April 23

Here is the ranking of the top 25 organizations spending on federal lobbying during the first quarter of 2013.
Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. $10,140,000
National Association of Realtors $8,500,000
U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform $6,430,000
Northrop Grumman Corporation $5,820,000
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers $5,270,000
General Electric Company $5,190,000
American Medical Association $4,910,000
Exxon Mobil Corporation $4,840,000
United Technologies Corporation $4,630,000
Comcast Corporation$4,480,000
AT&T Services Inc. $4,260,000
National Association of Broadcasters $4,200,000
Merck & Company $4,190,000
National Cable and Telecommunications Association $4,170,000
American Hospital Association $3,810,000
Southern Company $3,760,000
Lockheed Martin Corporation $3,710,000
Verizon Communications $3,670,000
Chevron USA INc. $3,660,000
Boeing Company $3,580,000
Google Inc. $3,350,000
CVS Caremark Inc. $3,338,680
Novartis $3,290,000
General Motors Company $3,220,000
Edison Electric Institute $3,160,000
Think about it.
Since the 1970s, lobbying activity has grown immensely in terms of the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets, and has become the focus of much criticism of American governance.
Think about it – ALEC has been around for forty years, 1973.

In a 1995 ALEC document ALEC stated:
ALEC represents an invaluable resource to businesses seeking to prosper in today’s challenging public policy environment.
NO other organization, in the history of the United States, has had the sole purpose of bringing legislators and corporate lobbyists together - in the same room - behind close doors - to develop policies and legislation - ALEC is the ONLY organization that has done this as their sole purpose to exist!!!

For forty years the American Legislative Exchange Council has given corporate lobbyists unprecedented and secret access to legislators.

In my opinion the practices of ALEC has been the primary mover and shaker responsible for bringing corporations into the legislative process.

Not only that, but ALEC's purpose and goals - to bring legislators and corporate lobbyists together - could be the prime reason that corporations have developed the expectation that they should be involved in the legislative process.

If you agree with me – then ALEC has to be eliminated.
ALEC legislators must not be re-elected so that ALEC can no longer exist.

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