Throwing Stones At ALEC

Corporate people who live insulated from the masses should be careful when they throw stones at ALEC--the stones can bounce back and bite them in the ass. 
There is a certain level of hypocrisy that the public will not accept - even from non-profit corporations.  Non-profit corporations can't spend their time throwing stones at ALEC to increase their funding, but then turn around and partner with ALEC when it suits their fancy. Non-profit corporations can't spend their time throwing stones at ALEC to increase their funding, at the same time that they are supporting various ALEC policies.

During my time as a blogger, diarist and tweeter – I have found that most people want to ignore posts like these, not share them with others.

NOT because the entry is untrue – but because people don’t want to believe it is true.

Entries like these are a conundrum for people because it makes people think about 

what they want to know

vs

what they don't want to know.
Entries like this produce cognitive dissonance for readers - because what they have been trained to believe, want to believe, is put into question - - kinda when you learn for the first time that Santa Claus is not real.

Potential conflicts of interests are exposed and there is definitely a disturbing juxtaposition between listen to what we say, not what we do 
People will want to say no, please don't tell me this is true.

But it is true and it is sourced.

#VoteNo2ALEC

Today is one of those days where my brain is screaming.

If WE THE PEOPLE don’t eliminate ALEC while we are standing in the voting booth – we may as well just accept the fact that our “representative government” is gone.

#VoteNo2ALEC

Why would I say that?

Because, as long as ALEC controls legislation that is being introduced at the state and federal level – nothing can be done to stop them –

unless

WE THE PEOPLE remove ALEC members from office so that ALEC has no control over legislation.

Let’s look at a couple of examples that I hope will wake the people up – and show them that it is the responsibility of WE THE PEOPLE to stop ALEC – not other entities.

The most stunning:

The ACLU

The ACLU attended the May 2014 meeting of ALEC and is currently working in partnership with ALEC on prison overcrowding issues and privacy issues.

Why?  because the ACLU recognizes the power that ALEC has to distribute legislation across the United States.

The ACLU could have chosen a different method to work through these issues – but they chose to partner with ALEC to have access to ALEC legislators.

CUNA  - Credit Union National Association

Remember years ago when we hated the big banks – many that belong to ALEC – and we “moved our money”?  Well shortly after that CUNA joined ALEC.

CUNA doesn’t just attend ALEC meetings to be an exhibitor – CUNA sits on an ALEC Commerce, Insurance, & Economic Development Task Force.

CUNA could have chosen a different method to work through legislative issues affecting its industry – but they chose to partner with ALEC to have access to ALEC legislators.

NAACP - FLORIDA
The NAACP of North Carolina has been a major leader in the publicizing of the injustices of the ALEC-run state of North Carolina. NC Moral Mondays have become as much a part of the cry against injustice, as were the demonstrations in Wisconsin when ALECer Scott Walker started his destructive rule of that state.
But, when you look at the NAACP of Florida, you see a different story, a more disturbing story out of Florida, in regards to the re-districting issue in Florida - which by the way IS an ALEC issue. The article notes that the Florida NAACP has chosen not to fight for equality for voters, but has sided with the Florida legislature on re-districting and basically said , hey people should just be happy they get to vote - so what if the district is gerrymandered.

IEA of Illinois –  Illinois Education Association  (National Education Association)

IFT of Illinois - - Illinois Federation of Teachers (American Federation of Teachers)

TWICE – yes twice, the IEA of Illinois has endorsed, supplied funding and boots on the ground to an ALEC member, Kirk Dillard

To top it off – it didn’t stop there.  The IFT – a division of the AFT, which supposedly is anti-ALEC organization – not only threw their support behind ALECer Kirk Dillard but gave him a six figure donation in support.  IFT supposedly represents the teachers in the City of Chicago – who have been decimated by ALEC-esque city legislation, killing their schools.

IEA and IFT could have chosen a different method to work through upcoming elections and legislative issues affecting its industry – but they chose to financially support an ALEC legislator.

These examples are no different – absolutely no different, than Google joining ALEC specifically to get legislation passed for their new cars.  Google saw ALEC as a way for their organization/corporation to benefit from ALEC legislation and the end result is they join/supported ALEC – for their own selfish profit-driven reasons.

What these examples demonstrate is - - taking the easy way out, being lazy.
Rather than using the systems that these organizations have in place to attack the issues - they do what corporate America does - they deflect/defect to ALEC  ---  because its easier.  NOT because it is correct, but it is easier.
By partnering/providing support with/to ALEC the examples above give credence to the ALEC model – credence ALEC DOES NOT deserve to have.

Now on to the UFT and AFT

United Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers

The national office of AFT supposedly rails against ALEC in public, against ALEC policies.  But – there’s a glitch.

Randi Weingarten is the mouthpiece for the AFT against ALEC educational policies.

One of the ALEC educational policies is the expansion of charter schools – charter schools that steal taxpayer money from our public schools to give to for-profit corporations to run substandard schools that hurt the taxpayer and the students.

From a 2014 article

That day, Weingarten’s message was about the need to restore community involvement and oppose “corporate-influenced school reform."

“corporate-influenced school reform."

It’s time to realize that both the UFT and the AFT are corporations.

It’s time to realize that both the UFT and the AFT influence school reform.

But, the AFT – isn’t totally against charter schools –

or “corporate influenced charter school” – AFT is a corporation

AFT is against – charters that aren’t unionized.

In fact, in 2009 – Weingarten, then UFT President, partnered with a “corporate influenced charter school” in NY, the Green Dot “Public” Schools to establish a charter school in NY City

Green Dot “Public” Schools is a nonprofit – that intentionally shifts taxpayer dollars from our public schools to charter schools.  But evidently that’s okay – as long as the charter school is unionized and you advertise your charter school as “progressive”.

Wiengarten still sits on the Board of Trustees of that school.

The UFT/ Green Dot “Public” Schools school in 2012/2013 school year had

372 students total

with

31 teachers

Oh – if only our public high schools could have such statistics

And the absolutely stunning and most questionable statistic about this school is that they claim a 100% graduation rate – 100%.

Nothing in life is 100%, unless whatever you are measuring has absolutely no uncontrollable variables.

The UFT/ Green Dot “Public” Schools school is 100% students of color, in The Bronx, NY - - which has way too many variables that can not be controlled.

The UFT Foundation took over the charter school from Green Dot in June 2013 and renamed it University Prep Charter High School.

Maybe because the results weren’t as good as they had hoped for in a union run charter school

According to the UPCHS webpage, Wiengarten still sits on the Board of Trustees of the school.

With AFT and UFT

As long as a charter school is unionized and some owned by UFT – charters are okay – to the unions.

In fact, UFT doesn’t sound much different than any other for-profit corporations stealing tax dollars for its charter school

That is why the UFT has opposed the funding freeze on charter schools in the state budget and has fought to lift it. And why we have called for eliminating the two-year lag in charter schools’ funding formula and proposed that charter schools whose educators participate in the Teachers’ Retirement System should be allowed to take that cost off their books and have the local school district assume it.

One of the ALEC educational policies is the expansion of charter schools - but evidently, if the charter school is unionized – that makes them a better charter school.

Yet, all the while, it is a top ALEC objective to destroy all unions, starting with those in public service. 

WE THE PEOPLE are the only entities that are not corporations.  We must fight this battle for ourselves and keep the organizations that supposedly represent us and seek our funding - representative of us.
WE THE PEOPLE can no longer sit back and assume that organizations that purport to serve the people, actually serve the people - these organizations must be monitored and when we see them take actions that do not correspond to the mission they state, we must protest their actions.
WE THE PEOPLE can not expect others to do our work for us in regards to the elimination of ALEC legislative/policy power in the state and federal government.

WE THE PEOPLE are not corporations focused on self-centered sustainability, at any cost.

WE THE PEOPLE must be responsible to take our government back from the ALECers, by our words and by our actions.

#VoteNo2ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council exists only to provide legislative services to organizations (profit and non-profit); through intentional manipulation of state legislation by ALEC legislators, for the sole purpose to benefit ALEC corporate members.

Because of this, these same corporations can not be trusted to act on behalf of WE THE PEOPLE – because the organization’s long-term survival – using ALEC legislators to pass ALEC legislation that favors the organization –is more important to their survival in the long-term, than WE THE PEOPLE. 

Non-profits can be just as selfish, self centered and inwardly focused – as the for-profit corporations that tweeters and bloggers vilify for their involvement with ALEC.

Unless WE THE PEOPLE, wake up and realize that the only way that ALEC can be truly be stopped is for WE THE PEOPLE to vote ALEC members out of office – I don’t see much success in stopping ALEC legislation from further corrupting our nation.

You can’t sit at your keyboard from now until November and hope & pray things will change.  
YOU have to take action between now and November to educate your friends and family about ALEC and to encourage all to vote ALEC members out of office.  If you don’t – nothing will change – it will only get worse, with more and more organizations who say they speak for the people, turning to ALEC for the easy way of getting what they want, for just a fist full of a few dollars more.

ALEC is one of the most powerful political forces influencing our nation,

& therefore the most dangerous

few have heard of it.

This is by design

If you don’t take action – no one else will.

#VoteNo2ALEC