Brentin Mock on April 17, 2012 - 1:38 PM ET
No longer able to defend themselves on Voter ID and "Kill at Will"
legislation they helped popularize—as much as they tried—the American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is finally dropping both from
their agenda, announcing today that they will focus on free market,
anti-regulation policies. In a statement from Indiana state Rep. David
Frizzell, also ALEC's national chairman:
"Today we are redoubling our efforts on the economic front, a priority
that has been the hallmark of our organization for decades. Fostering
the exchange of pro-growth, solutions-oriented ideas is precisely why
ALEC exists.
"To that end, our legislative board last week unanimously agreed to
further our work on policies that will help spur innovation and
competitiveness across the country.
"We are refocusing our commitment to free-market, limited government
and pro-growth principles, and have made changes internally to reflect
this renewed focus.
"We are eliminating the ALEC Public Safety and Elections task force
that dealt with non-economic issues, and reinvesting these resources
in the task forces that focus on the economy. The remaining budgetary
and economic issues will be reassigned.
"While we recognize there are other critical, non-economic issues that
are vitally important to millions of Americans, we believe we must
concentrate on initiatives that spur competitiveness and innovation
and put more Americans back to work.
"Our free-market, limited government, pro-growth policies are the
reason ALEC enjoys the support of legislators on both sides of the
aisle and in all 50 states. ALEC members are interested in solutions
that put the American economy back on track. This is our mission, and
it is what distinguishes us."
Check for a full explainer from John Nichols, but a few things here: I
wrote earlier this month about corporations pulling out of
ALEC—unofficially in response to the Voter ID and Kill at Will
("Castle Doctrine" or "Stand Your Ground") laws that respectively
place barriers to voting rights and led to the death of Trayvon Martin
and many others. At the time it was just Kraft, Pepsi and Coke, but
since then at least eight other companies involved with ALEC have
dropped out. Not all of the companies cited Voter ID or Kill at Will
as reasons for their ALEC divorce, but whatever. The fact that ALEC is
dropping the killer agendas altogether is an ending I think we can all
live with.
ALEC didn't go down without a fight. They were defensive until this
moment, and just a week ago they called the efforts to have companies
part ways with them an "intimidation campaign." ALEC executive
director Ron Scheberle said:
"ALEC is an organization that supports pro-growth, pro-jobs policies
and the vigorous exchange of ideas between the public and private
sector to develop state based solutions. Today, we find ourselves the
focus of a well-funded, expertly coordinated intimidation campaign.
At a time when job creation, real solutions and improved dialogue
among political leaders is needed most, ALEC's mission has never been
more important. This is why we are redoubling our commitment to these
essential priorities. We are not and will not be defined by
ideological special interests who would like to eliminate discourse
that leads to economic vitality, jobs and fiscal stability for the
states."
This was, of course, a cop-out. They seem to be confused about their
identity, thinking their role in spreading restrictive voter and loose
hand cannon laws don't qualify as "ideological special interests."
They must think that only groups like the NAACP and Color of Change,
who were at the forefront of getting the divorce papers signed by ALEC
member corporations, are special interests because they deal with
race. But because ALEC chose to ignore the racial implications of the
legislation they were hustling doesn't mean they don't have
ideological slants, or that they're not a special interest group. And
as I pointed out before, their claim that their real focus is on
"economic vitality" is tantamount to Citizen's Councils saying that
their real mission is to improve neighborhood real estate values.
If it's just about economic decisions then why did ALEC take a gun law
crafted in Florida to model and peddle to other states? While ALEC's
announcement today is a welcome victory, the bitter part of it is that
a lot of damage has already been done. Over half the states in the
nation have "Stand Your Ground" laws or some version of it; every
state in the nation except Illinois has a law that allows gun owners
to carry concealed weapons outside their homes. And as Jill Lepore
reported in The New Yorker this week, there are now as many guns as
there are people in the United States. ALEC is also culpable in the
nine states that passed strict photo voter laws, and most of the 21
other states that have other versions of voter ID legislation.
The "Public Safety and Elections" task force may be scrapped, but the
integrity of that decision would be enhanced if they convinced the
state legislators they have such tremendous influence over to reverse
course on these deadly laws they helped pass.
Lisa Graves, executive director of The Center for Media and Democracy,
which also played a central role in pushing corporations to part ways
with ALEC, echoes the same:
"ALEC's announcement is a partial victory for the power of grassroots
citizen action, but for Americans concerned about brand-name
corporations underwriting ALEC's extreme agenda to make it more
difficult for American citizens to vote and to protect armed
vigilantes, ALEC's PR maneuver to try to distance itself from its
record of extremism is an empty gesture unless it and the corporations
that have bankrolled its operations work to repeal ALEC-backed laws
that have advanced the NRA's agenda and that will impede citizens from
voting in the coming elections."
And from Color of Change:
"ALEC has spent years promoting voter suppression laws, Kill at Will
bills, and other policies that hurt Black and other marginalized
communities. They have have done this with the support of some of
America's biggest corporations, including AT&T, Johnson & Johnson and
State Farm.
ALEC's latest statement is nothing more than a PR stunt aimed at
diverting attention from its agenda, which has done serious damage to
our communities. To simply say they are stopping non-economic work
does not provide justice to the millions of Americas whose lives are
impacted by these dangerous and discriminatory laws courtesy of ALEC
and its corporate backers. It's clear that major corporations were in
bed with an institution that has worked against basic American values
such as the right to vote. Now that these companies are aware of what
they've supported, what will they do about it? If ALEC's corporate
supporters will not hold the institution accountable for the damage it
has caused nationwide, then the ColorOfChange community will hold them
accountable."
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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