Exposing ALEC's Corporate Influence On State Government

[deltaray3]

0:50 Caroline Isaacs reminds me so much of Ana Kasparian from TYT.

[freedom1234573]

its like something out of huxley novel....scary shit

[zastro52]

While America's attention is distracted by the corporate operated media, extremist think tanks and others, big money is setting it's roots deeper into our democracy. Padding their bottom lines and looking to get it all, they won't stop until we are a full blown Plutocracy. WAKE UP AMERICA !!!

[1946tem]

Thank you for this information as a Immigration Paralegal for the last 40 years. The Justice Department is now a department of the rich and not in the human interest of mankind. As a Native American we have seen this time after time........Aho

Running Elk

[sparkyj99]

~~> Thank you again UpTake... I heard there was an ALEC meeting over this last weekend and they had what looked to be riot police "Protecting" them from the Occupiers who came to greet them at the resort... It would be nice to get some footage... My question is why do local "Peace Keepers" need military gear?? And how much is pulled from my kids education to pay to militerize the police force??

[kanieshayoung]

hell yea



[FPiccioli]

Thanks for filming and posting....you guys ROCK! We need solidarity more than ever!

[whoo689]

This is EXACTLY why we progressives lose elections so often when the Right gets angry and mobilized- THEY (esp. the Tea Party) go after the legislators (the ones they can actually influence and elect or throw out) while WE go after those we have NO CHANCE of really having much influence or power over in the long run. The Tea Party throws out "liberal" Republicans and reclaims a majority in the House and near-majority in the Senate while WE hold dumb encampments in cities.

[callouschristian]

@whoo689 Look where the tea party is now. They have been highjacked (in the political process) of the very forces that have made them useless and officially stupid. The political process is a joke. All the politicians must be swept out, elections called off, until we get to the root of the tyranny and remove it with our bare hands. The US is under assault in the political process. It is our duty to save it by any means necessary. The voting game is a farce.

[sparkyj99]

@callouschristian ~~> So what do you suggest?? I am looking into the O.C.C.U.P.I.E.D. Amendment proposed by Ted Deutch of Florida... It basically calls for the repeal of Citizens United and an end to money in politics... What say you??

[whoo689]

This is kind of like OWS- they focus on Wall St. but DON'T focus on the legislators who empowered them that much.  I mean, why aren't they protesting President Obama's current empowering of the rich and REFUSAL to really hold their feet to the fire??? Where are THOSE protestors?

[Agoraphobicslove]

@whoo689 Yes but it was Wall Street who bought the congress. To ignore the capitalist who paid the government to do their bidding seems pretty silly to me.

[whoo689]

I mean, long before groups like the COC or ALEC even EXISTED, the Republicans were STILL pretty pro-wealthy and pro-Wall St. Remember how they tried to kill FDR's presidency through the Business Plan and enable a Wall St. takeover via Smedley Butler? But there were FAR FEWER business lobbyists and special interest groups back then there are now.

[whoo689]

Would disempowering groups like COC or ALEC do anything to help make our legislators more public-friendly? I dunno, but something tells me this is at the HEART of conservative and corporatist ideology, NOT simply the 'influence' of a few big groups. Hold the POLITICIANS who allow this shit to go on accountable, not only the group that tries to buy influence.

[whoo689]

And the courts, sometimes.

THEY empowered the rich to go wild with Fed low interest rates, deregulation, you name it. Let's throw the bums out! Things like campaign finance reform and bitching solely about ALEC seem to me to indicate a sense of desperation and lostness among the Left, which fuels this 'need' to look for an 'easy way out' without actually fixing the system at its CORE and getting rid of bad legislators.

[whoo689]

We need to HOLD ACCOUNTABLE all legislators who ALLOW ALEC this kind of power. ALEC only has as much power in our system as we and our legislators allow it. It has no intrinsic power if the legislators stop being fearful of its influence or beholden to it. Bitching about ALEC only deals with ONE PART of the problem and missing out the key part. It's like Occupy Wall Street. Yes, Wall St. needs to be held accountable, but they were EMPOWERED to be reckless BY CONGRESS and presidents!

[whoo689]

But this has been engrained in Republican ideology and thought since AT LEAST the early 1900s! Republicans have been much more 'laissez-faire' and pro-rich for a WHILE now, whether or not there's CFR. We have to not ONLY blame ALEC but also the weak-kneed legislators WHO EMPOWER THE RICH to get their way in this manner! ALEC isn't twisting anyone's arm; it's simply proposing certain deals and model legislation that corporatist politicians LOVE and then propose as their own.

[whoo689]

Esp. in the way Republicans grow up and develop ideologically. They allow ALEC a seat at the table because they AGREE with what these corporate leaders are doing, not merely because they're 'bought.' Have you seen their speeches, campaign events, etc.?? Why do so many liberals act OBLIVIOUS to the fact that REPUBLICANS LOVE THE RICH and corporations?? They act like, "If it weren't for these special interests, they'd be fighting for the poor as much as Dems."

[whoo689]

This focus on "bought" by many lefties is kind of bothersome. Yes, there are many industries and special interests which seem to have A LOT of influence on government, but they are NOT the legislators! The degree to which one legislator is influenced depends on either a) how fearful he is of losing without their help or b) the possibility of AGREEING with those special interests.  Campaign finance reform MAY help (a little), but I don't think it'll solve the problems. This has CULTURAL roots.

[RedTory59]

Private, for-profit prisons... what a bizarre concept.

[alecbaker13]

my names alec :D