ALEC - At the Local Level in Minnesota

Three Rivers Park District

About Three Rivers Park District

The mission of Three Rivers Park District is to promote environmental stewardship

through recreation and education in a natural resources-based park system.

Three Rivers Park District is a park system in the west suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area of Minnesota. We manage almost 27,000 acres of park reserves, regional parks, regional trails, and special-use facilities. The name "Three Rivers" comes from our parks' geography, situated within the watersheds that flow into three significant rivers to this region: the Mississippi, the Minnesota and the Crow.

With facilities for every season, including picnicking, swimming, play areas, boating, fishing, downhill skiing, snowboarding, golfing, camping, and sledding, Three Rivers Parks is the place for recreation, play and relaxation. We have developed an extensive trail system for hiking, biking, in-line skating, horseback riding, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. We also offer program sites for nature, recreation, historic, and farm education. The Park District serves eight million park guests per year.

It is an amazing park system that I use regularly.

Funding for the park system is provided through taxes, user fess and donations.

If you go to the webpage below you will find one of the Three Rivers Park District commissioners who is seeking re-election and he has his webpage up already for the upcoming November elections.

Gibbs for Parks

And he has a campaign FB page up also.

From his Facebook campaign page you will find the following information

Leader Involved in Our Community

Board Member and Past President, Hennepin County Library Board; Board Member, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts; Board Member Center of the American Experiment; Member, Minnesota Business Partnership; Former Member and Chair, Bloomington Charter Commission; Former Member and Chair, Bloomington Cable/Telecommunication Commission; Coach and Volunteer - various... BAA youth sports and activities; Member, Minnesota Police Pipe Band; Member, St. Edward's Catholic Church

Successful Professional and Businessperson

Vice President, Comcast (2003 - present), Partner, Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi (1994 -2003), Vice President, Continental Cablevision (1986 - 1994), Bloomington private practice attorney, Herbst & Thue Ltd, 1982 - 1986).

What you don’t find on those webpages is this information:

John Gibbs is a registered lobbyist with the state of Minnesota

Lobbyist data for:

Gibbs, John F

Comcast Cable Communications Inc

10 River Park Plz

St Paul, MN 55107

Telephone: (651)493-5050

Email: john_gibbs@comcast.com

Registration Number: 1339

John Gibbs title at work is:

Vice President of State Government Affairs

John Gibbs is a

Vice President at Comcast

John Gibbs is the

Minnesota State Private Chair for the American legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

John Gibbs serves on the

ALEC Telecommunications & Information Technology Task Force

Because of his involvement in the Task Force –and as State Private Sector Chair – Mr. Gibbs probably goes to all the ALEC meetings.

Because he probably goes to all the meetings and interacts with other people there – Mr. Gibbs is well aware of the other ALEC policy and legislation.  The other ALEC "model" legislation that is passed in private meetings - most of it written by Corporate representatives.

ALEC meetings where they talk about:

Turn Capital Assets into Financial Assets:

Sell or Lease Government Assets and Enterprises

AND

Privatization of government services

AND

Privatization of government assets

In addition to that affiliation, Mr. Gibbs serves on the Board of the Center of the American Experiment

Center of the American Experiment is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt, public policy and educational institution that brings conservative and free market ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing Minnesota and the nation.

Since Center of the American Experiment opened shop in 1990, we have become the premier public policy organization in Minnesota. Today, we continue to be a major force driving Minnesota's transformation from a liberal, high tax, big government state toward a more conservative and free market future

Again – you see the theme of free markets, and less government.

Mr. Gibbs wants to be a public servant.

Public servants are elected to serve the public and protect the commons.

Public servants are not in office to protect and advance the needs of the private sector.

  In summary, most business people in public office cannot make the transition from thinking about short term profits and maximizing the self interests of businesses to thinking about acting in the best interests of all people, now and for future generations.  All of their decisions and actions are based on or around the concept of money and the pursuit of profit in the shortest time possible.   Concepts such as common interests, social justice, and long term economic and environmental sustainability are just not in their vocabulary.  As discussed in earlier parts of this article, their brains are not developed to think that way.

  Government is about operating society, not running a business to make money.  (For those who make the valid argument that government should not waste money and act more like a business that would never consider wasting money, that is an entirely different subject worthy of discussion).  Government is about fairness and requires cooperation. Actions are taken because they are right to do, not because they make money, or cost money.  Developing and following higher principles to guide public decisions are foreign to most businessmen and women with their imbedded profit driven thinking.  To most of them, leadership in government has been downgraded to using the influence of money and power.  And since most of this money comes from large multinational corporations, it is their views they represent.

Can we trust our public lands in the hands of this man?

I would say a definite - NO!

Remember these paragraphs which epitomizes historically the philosophy and legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

– ALEC an organization in which Mr. Gibbs is very active.

"Obviously, Mr. Mendoza is diligently guarding his turf, or he would see that privatization is the most efficient method of delivering governments services, both for the taxpayers and those who use government services," said ALEC Executive Director Samuel A. Brunelli. "There is plenty of evidence that private firms contracted to perform government work do a better job. After all, the firms are in business to generate a profit, not to perpetuate their own existence."

Public service is not about profit and it IS about perpetuating the existence of the Three Rivers Park District.

And This

If done prudently, privatization has the potential to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and reduce the tax burden.

Remember these paragraphs when you go to the polls in November – direct from ALEC documents.

This is not the type of person we want on the Three Rivers Park District Commission.

Please

VOTE NO to John Gibbs for Three Rivers District Park Commissioner.

Honeywell - Definitely NOT Minnesota Nice

Last year, Honeywell was identified as one of the biggest recipients of special tax deals from the government. The company actually spends more on lobbying than it pays in corporate taxes. This preferential treatment, for a company that makes billions in profits, is due in large part to Honeywell’s close relationship with members of Congress

Warning to US Journalists: Do NOT Ask Difficult Questions of Powerful CEOs

During the Q&A portion of a panel discussion, Elk rose to ask a question of Honeywell CEO David Cote, but as Congressional staffers nearby realized that his question wasn't a soft-ball about how a young entrepreneur might climb to the heights of corporate America, but a serious question regarding "labor practices and the recent release of radioactive UF6 gas" at a Honeywell uranium facility in Metropolis, Illinois," the microphone was ripped from Elk's hands and his questioning cut off.

Subsequently when he tried to follow up with Honeywell's Cote in the hallway, as Elk describes, Honeywell's external communication manager Nick Ferris barricaded him in a side room for several minutes and would not let him leave. Ferris then had the Capitol Police detain Elk for several more minutes, but the police released Elk after he pointed out that it is not a crime for a journalist to follow a CEO down a hallway.

Honeywell, Member of ALEC Civil Justice Task Force

Ain’t that a hoot?

Destroying ALEC - Stealing A Victory? Really?

First a little bit about the author of the piece I am about to trash:

About George Landrith

George Landrith is the president of the Frontiers of Freedom – a public policy think tank devoted to promoting a strong national defense, free markets, individual liberty, and constitutionally limited government.

Hmmmm.

About the American Legislative Exchange Council

The State Budget Reform Toolkit has been published by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as part of its mission to discuss, develop, and disseminate public policies, which expand free markets, promote economic growth, limit the size of government, and preserve individual liberty.

These right wing extremists need to get a new mantra –

Did Paul Weyrich hand out the same talking points to all the extreme right wing groups???  Say this – and people will think you are legit – HAH!

Anyhow.

George Landrith is the president of the Frontiers of Freedom

In 1999 the Frontiers of Freedom had a “Litigation Working Group” meeting that included:

Mark Behrens

Crowell & Moring

Victor E. Schwartz

Crowell & Moring

Bill Guidera

Microsoft Corporation

All ALEC-ers.

The 13 person working group also included a representative from the following ALEC private sector member

UST Public Affairs Inc .

So it’s probably safe to bet that there is a little bit more overlap than just sharing similar mantras.

At the “Litigation Working Group” they had interesting talking points – for a litigation group.  Here are samples:

This one notes ALEC – probably cause Behrens and Schwartz were in the room:

The Private Attorney Retention Act - which would prevent State Attorneys General from hiring their buddies or contributors to take cases on a contingency fee basis by making the process open and limiting the fees that State government can pay in a contingency arrangement -- should be promoted in the States. Both Texas and North Dakota have passed the PARA . ALEC has a good model statute.

This one notes the right-wings hatred for litigation attorneys

One of the biggest problems the Center-Right faces is the astronomical tort fees that a small number of trial lawyers will be collecting from the tobacco litigation and other copy-cat suits against an ever expanding list of industries. These fees (billions and billions of dollars) will be "reinvested" in government to promote or buy their [litigation attorneys] agenda and stop needed reforms . The incentive for these sorts of class actions suits is so great that unless the incentive is removed, virtually every industry will be attacked.

Those damn lawyers – going after the tobacco companies - for no good reason.  Those lawayers were only interested in making money to buy the fees they earned to buy the government - sounds like what Koch and their Aspen Summit buddies are doing, not the lawyers.  And if this fairy tale ever came true - what reforms would those lawyers stop that would be so scary to this group?

The extreme right was a bunch of whack-a-doodles – even back in 1999.

But there are these peculiar minutes from the litigation working group:

The Left is quite good at working the press and meeting with them over lunch or dinner to give them their spin on issues and events . We should do the same thing  … 

We should systematically generate op-ed articles, news stories, and radio and television interviews

We should work with friendly Members of Congress to generate floor speeches that promote our message.

We should systematically generate op-ed articles, news stories, and radio and television interviews

And that is exactly what Mr. Landrith did on Friday May25th and he filed his op-ed under “National Security – a strange tag indeed – because his little piece is about Van Jones and the destruction of ALEC.

The destruction of ALEC = the saving of America.

Strange filing system that Mr. Landrith has.

Stealing Elections and Silencing the Opposition

by George Landrith • Friday, May 25, 2012

Filed under "National Security"

WTF? 

Here’s some snips:

It was also revealed that Van Jones was an active and self-described communist and revolutionary

This may explain his disregard for the American values of Free Speech and honest and fair elections.

Communist – really?  That was 20 years ago – he was in college and it was during the Rodney King fiasco.  While Van was maturing this guy was evidently waning.

(Weyrich and McCarthy in the same entry – god help me!)

It always amazes me how America’s “free speech” is threatened when a rightie feels threatened.  They really do think “this land is my land, this is not your land,  - this land was made for me and me”.

The real issue for Jones and his Color of Change organization is making sure that political operatives are left free to cast fraudulent ballots in elections to benefit Obama’s reelection, help Nancy Pelosi regain the Speaker’s gavel, and maintain Harry Reid’s grip on power in the Senate.

“Political operatives” are “left” free to cast fraudulent ballots?

Oh. My…………… WHAT IN THE HELL DOES HE MEAN BY THAT – Do any of you know a political operative who is going to try and cast a fraudulent ballot?

This guy is a whack-a-doodle.

Nonetheless, Jones shamelessly asserts that ALEC is to blame for Trayvon’s death because ALEC supports model legislation that allows law-abiding citizens to protect themselves from violent aggressors.

  …  to protect themselves from a bag of Skittles and an ice tea.

Jones’ tactics are the equivalent of a high school head coach hiring someone to sabotage the other team’s bus to prevent them from showing up for the scheduled contest. And if the other team somehow manages to arrive for the game, the dishonest coach pays off the referees and scorekeepers to steal a victory despite what actually happens on the field. Such an action would reveal that the coach does not believe his team can win by outperforming the other team. It would also suggest the coach expects to lose a fair competition – so he underhandedly attempts to prevent his opponent from showing up for the contest and if the opponent does show up, he corrupts the system so he can steal the victory anyhow. This is what Van Jones is trying to do.

Had to put that whole paragraph out there – snipping it would have absolutely wrecked it.  This nut job considers what ALEC is doing “fair competition” – secretive meetings, where they pass secretive legislation – written by who knows who, usually corporate reps. 

Secret meetings – secret legislation (rule book) – seems more like ALEC is sabotaging the bus and paying off refs and that ALEC DOES NOT BELIEVE in their team.  Cause up ‘til now – ALEC hasn’t had an opponent – oh my….now they do. 

Oops.………..

But if Van Jones gets his way, those who disagree with him will be silenced and our elections corrupted and stolen. This reveals the poverty of his ideas and the frailty of his arguments. This is why every American should oppose his efforts.

So he is basically saying that I am promoting corrupted and stolen elections?

Nope – I think that is what happened in 2000 and 2004 when the Repugs stole the elections.

He is really concerned about losing “his voice” – These right wing  whack-a doodles must be getting really scared.

God – this guy is younger than me and he sounds like a paranoid, scared old man – “national security” – jeez….

Maybe this guy doesn’t believe in “his team” anymore.

Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan

Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me

Get off the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much

Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free

I wonder if Edelman (ALEC”s new PR firm) wrote this for him?

Destroy Social Security = Destroy the Left

I found this one cruising through some old extreme right wing materials.

I hadn't read or heard  this one before so I thought I would share.

It may explain a lot about why the Repugs want to privatize Social Security so badly.
It sure makes a hell of a lot of sense to me as being the justification for all the crap we see from the extreme right.

In the long run, we must make the interests of both large corporations and the average man on the street more obviously congruent.

Widespread ownership of stock is achieving this to some degree .

Social Security reform which allows individuals to invest their retirement funds in mutual funds would make interest in a fair and sound business environment in the self-interest of everyone.

Thus, the Left could not as easily pit corporate American against the "little guy" because the little guy would see in very real terms that his financial well-being is determined by how well corporate America does.

They want us to love the corporations.

They want to hurt the Left's message.

They want to hurt the "little guy"

to benefit the bansksters and corporations on wall street

and to destroy the Left.

The ALEC - ABC Tangled Web

Earlier today I was reading about the political scandal involving ALEC ALUM John Kasich - which involves all kinds of drama and intrigue including an FBI investigation and I read this little snip:

“Had I agreed to withdraw as a candidate, they told me I would be designated as the ‘Governor’s Guy’ in Portage County and that I would be given influence in who Gov. Kasich appoints to Kent State University boards and other state government appointments as they come open,” Manning's statement, provided to the Columbus Dispatch, said.

On May 17, Manning's attorney confirmed that FBI agents were in fact looking into his allegations, had interviewed Manning, and that he would have no further comment until the conclusion of the investigation.

But Manning isn't the only one accusing Kasich of shady dealings. Maggie Cook, who worked as membership director for the Associated Builders and Contractors, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that she was fired from her job after refusing to get out of a similar central committee race. Like Manning, Cook was a supporter of DeWine. She was cagey, and wouldn't say directly that she thought Kasich's people had pushed for her firing, but she did tell them, "I don't really know what to think because they brought a new president on, but I was in sales and it was really easy to see if you were doing your job well or not. I was making all my targets. I had sales metrics, monthly and quarterly goals, and I had met all of my metrics for the year.”

I found that last paragraph interesting earlier today - why would they can a sales person at a company who refused to get out of a political race.  But then, I was threatened once with firing because I actively supported John Kerry - so I could kinda understand this.  (Political afffiliations are not protected under any law.)

There was an update to this story posted on Saturday June 2

There were still others who entered the fray:  Maggie Cook, of Warren County, told the Plain Dealer that her job with Associated Builders and Contractors, was threatened if she didn't withdraw from the central committee race in which the governor put up his own slate. She refused to resign from the committee.  She was later fired.

Pause to catch your breath while I report that Bryan Williams, former director of the Summit County Board of Elections,  is a lobbyist for said Associated Builders and Contractors and a likely suspect in trying to influence Cook.

And Mr. Williams has a greater place in the hearts of America

A group seeking to bring a November statewide vote to make Ohio a “right-to-work” state got the OK to circulate its petition yesterday. The final green light came from the Ohio Ballot Board, which ruled that the proposed constitutional amendment is a single issue. … The coalition behind the Ohio ballot measure includes Chris Littleton, co-founder of the Ohio Liberty Council; Maurice Thompson, executive director of the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law; and former state Rep. Bryan Williams of Akron, director of government affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Ohio.

"Right to work for less" - An ALEC agenda that is being pushed.

But then  .... 

Last night I ran into this little snip and it made me think of the previous snip and I thought - hell let's take a little wander around the web and see what we can find.

LOS ANGELES, May 31, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- The Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), with the support of the AFL-CIO and LIUNA, today jointly released the findings of a first-ever state-by-state comparative analysis of the Associated Builders and Contractors trade association, better known as the ABC. The findings expose a pattern of data manipulation and an aggressive disinformation campaign, conducted by the ABC and on behalf of its affiliate organizations, designed to confuse elected officials, the public and the press into supporting policies that produce fewer jobs, lower wages, and minimal workforce training, which have had a detrimental effect on workers, their communities and the US construction industry as a whole.

Snip

Many of its agenda items are aligned with the American Legislative Exchange Council, also known as ALEC. The ABC's 2009 Chapter Legislative Guide contained 18 bills listed as "property of" ALEC, while the ABC's 2010 Legislative Handbook included 10 examples of copyrighted ALEC model legislation.

A review of the legislation in the ABC's 2010 Legislative Handbook sreveals that even though the legislative handbook is dated 2010 – the ALEC legislation is from 2003 – which means that someone was a member back in 2003 to get ALEC “model” legislation out of the secret ALEC vault in 2003.

And I can verify these facts:

1995 Sourcebook

Private Sector Members

Ms. Charlotte Herbert, Associated Builders and Contractors

  National Task Force on Health Care

  National Task Force on Energy Environment and Natural Resources

  NationaI Task Force on Transportation

1997 ALEC Annual Meeting

ALEC Private Sector Members

Associated Builders and Contractors

Then I also found this little snip from last year that was kind of interesting - in one of the earlier reports on ALEC activity.

Another director of Enterprise Florida is former Florida House Speaker Allan Bense (R-Panama City). Bense is the present chairman of FCoC, who derives a large portion of his annual income from a company he co-owns: GAC Contractors, Inc. As reported on his 2009 statement of financial interests (filed pursuant to his membership on the board of the quasi-public Enterprise Florida), Bense held nearly $5 million in GAC asssets, much of which was money earned from contracts to repair state and federal highways.

GAC is a prominent member of Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC), which through its legislative efforts seeks to encourage the free flow of public-sector cash to nonunion private companies. ABC bills itself as being the nonunion “construction industry’s voice within the legislative, executive and judicial branches” of government. The bundled “Paycheck Protection” package containing ERRA, LODA and PFRA in Dorworth’s office had originated in ABC’s 2010 “legislative handbook.”

In addition to his FCoC, GAC and ABC connections, Bense is chair of the Florida-based, Koch-funded, ALEC-member public policy foundation, the James Madison Institute (JMI). FCoC baord member Leonhardt serves on the JMI board with Bense.

BOTH Dorworth and Bense being ALEC members.

Oh and by the way:
ALEC ALUM John Boehner is the guest speaker at the July "ABC Legislative Conference".

Lot's of ALEC members wound up tighter than a rubber band around ABC in some way.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

ABC  is so spread out across the United States it would take me at least a day to find an ABC name I can connect to ALEC now - I'm sure there is one out there.

So after two hours of additional research - I gave up and I go back to my original thought that started this three hour journey.

Once an ALEC member – always an ALEC member.

Moral of the Story:

I hope the

The Building and Construction Trades Department
(BCTD),

with the support of the
AFL-CIO and
LIUNA

Screws ABC’s A-S-S to the wall.

ALEC Members - Are you Worse than WalMart?

Two things happened yesterday

    First - WalMart dumped ALEC - Good on them!

    Second - Activists protested at the Comcast meeting in Philly - GOOD ON THEM!

One of the things they asked Comcast to do was DUMP ALEC.
Well, Comcast said, No.

But ya gotta love activists - they say the greatest things:

Anne Gemmell, political director for Fight for Philly, said Comcast should quit its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council, whose website says it supports limited government, free markets, and federalism.

ALEC, as the group is known, has been targeted by organizations around the country, and several large corporations, among them Wal-Mart, have suspended their membership.

"Do you want to be worse than Walmart?" Gemmell asked Comcast’s executives and directors.

Critics say that the group influences legislation in state capitals, and that it has strayed from economic issues by supporting voter-ID rules and the "Stand Your Ground" self-defense law.

Love Gemmell's question.

Love this quote I found the other day:

Ethically, Amazon is worse than Walmart.

     Walmart dumped ALEC

     Amazon dumped ALEC

 

So I guess the question should now be

Hey Johnson & Johnson

"Do you want to be worse than Walmart and Amazon?"

Hey, State Farm

"Do you want to be worse than Walmart and Amazon?"

Hey, AT&T

"Do you want to be worse than Walmart and Amazon?"

Hey COMCAST

You're worse than Walmart and Amazon!