And another corporation is leaving ALEC.  ALEC is the Koch funded right wing lobbying organization where members of Congress partner hand in hand with various representatives of corporations and interest groups.  ALEC actually writes bills…then literally gives them to members of Congress to pass.  Congress makes a few modifications and many of them pass….coincidentally – these same corporations are big funders of those members of Congress who oblige them in passing their “preferred legislation”.  ALEC was responsible for the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida that is now infamous because of Trayvon Martin’s murder.

In some countries that’s called corruption; in America – that’s just business as usual.  And now – eight corporations have left because of public pressure and fear of boycott.

BOYCOTTS WORK.

Hurt them in the pocketbook.  This really is people power; that’s no joke.  The companies that have already publicly left ALEC under pressure from Color of Change and Common Cause are:

Kraft, Pepsi,Coca-Cola, Intuit, the Gates Foundation, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Arizona Public Service, Mars, Inc.

Color of Change is now pressuring AT&T, State Farm and Johnson & Johnson to leave ALEC.  YOU CAN HELP.  Email these people below and let them know how you feel about ALEC:

Johnson & Johnson
Jeffrey Leebaw
Vice President, Corporate Communication
Office telephone: +1-732-524-3350
Email – jleebaw@its.jnj.com

AT&T
State Regulatory/Legislative
Walt Sharp
Email - walt.sharp@att.com
214-708-4500 

State Farm
Corporate Communications
Dick Luedke
(309) 766-3635
Email - dick.luedke.h2hj@statefarm.com

To see a list of the organizations that are members of ALEC – click HERE.  Some might call this a corporatocracy.

Republic Report actually lists NAMES of individuals who work for ALEC…and we’re obliged to share their information as well.  Say HI:

Ron Scheberle, ALEC’s Executive Director
Email – rscheberle@alec.org

Todd Wynn, ALEC’s Energy, Environment, and Agriculture Task Force Director
Twitter - @toddwynn

Amy Kjose, ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Director
Twitter – @AKjose

John Stephenson, ALEC’s Director Of Communications & Technology Task Force
Twitter - @stephenj05

Caitlyn Korb, Director of External Relations for ALEC
Twitter - @caitlynkorb

Rob Shrum, ALEC’s Director of Corporate & Non-Profit Relations
Twitter - @RobShrum

Kaitlyn Buss, Director of Communications for ALEC
Twitter – @KaitlynBuss

Christine Harbin, Research Manager for ALEC’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force
Twitter – @idiosynchrissy 

MaddowBlog explains what they do and how they do it:

As Krugman explained, ALEC is “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. In Virginia, for example, more than 50 ALEC-written bills have been introduced, many almost word for word. And these bills often become law.”

In cases like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), many of the Republican administration’s legislative proposals are simply copy-and-paste jobs from ALEC’s pre-written materials.

The policy agenda is anything but narrow — ALEC writes ready-made bills covering everything from education to the environment, labor laws to tax policy, gun laws to voting restrictions. Indeed, when ColorofChange first asked Coca Cola to end its backing of ALEC, it noted the organization’s efforts to make it harder for Americans to vote.

Thom Hartmann interviews Rashad Robinson – Executive Director of Color of Change and he explains what’s really going on behind the scenes:

You can read more about ALEC here:

The Best Government Money Can Buy

Krugman: Lobbyists, Guns and Money

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