Smart ALECs Caught Conspiring

The notorious American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, is a right-wing organization, sponsored by major corporations and the equally notorious Charles and David Koch, which exists solely for the purpose of feeding legislation favorable to corporations and the 1% to state legislative bodies.  They've been behind undermining environmental laws, pushing union busting legislation, and opposing minimum wage increases, among other right-wing causes.

It's fairly rare that the public gets a glimpse into the workings of this secretive organization, mostly because the corporate press has decided that chasing Hillary Clinton's personal e-mails and Clinton Foundation charity money is more scintillating (see today's earlier post).  So it's nice to see a local station, Atlanta's NBC affiliate WXIA, do the type of investigative journalism so lacking in today's media.  They managed to expose a secretive meeting of ALEC lobbyists and members of the Georgia legislature, who sat down as one group to devise legislation that would please the corporate sponsors of ALEC. One former legislative member of the group calls ALEC's activities a "corporate bill mill," with legislators, lobbyists and corporate representatives being almost interchangeable parts in a massive effort to corporatize state resources and laws.  WXIA's report is well worth the viewing, and should be distributed to every media outlet if only to shame them for their cowardice and laziness.