And we think the NRA is bad news!
ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council is right up there with the NRA as an enabler of all kind of bad legislation. It writes the legislation for state legislatures -- that gives us for-profit prisons -- turning catching and convicting citizens into a money game for large corporations who, in turn, contribute to ALEC, and assists in union-busting.
And now Paul Krugman points out that ALEC wrote the legislation we've come to know, in the wake of Trayvon Martin's death, as the "Stand Your Ground" law.
Specifically, language virtually identical to Florida’s law is featured in a template supplied to legislators in other states by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-backed organization that has managed to keep a low profile even as it exerts vast influence (only recently, thanks to yeoman work by the Center for Media and Democracy, has a clear picture of ALEC’s activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martin’s killing, it is that it might finally place a spotlight on what ALEC is doing to our society — and our democracy.
What is ALEC? Despite claims that it’s nonpartisan, it’s very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesn’t just influence laws, it literally writes them, supplying fully drafted bills to state legislators. ...Paul Krugman
Oh, and this, too:
Did I mention that ALEC has played a key role in promoting bills that make it hard for the poor and ethnic minorities to vote? ...Paul Krugman
