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In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 28 March 2012 [View all]Demeter
(85,373 posts)47. Lobbyists, Guns and Money By PAUL KRUGMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/26/opinion/krugman-lobbyists-guns-and-money.html?_r=1
Floridas now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy and it is. And its tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations.
Specifically, language virtually identical to Floridas 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 ALECs activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martins 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 its nonpartisan, its very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesnt 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.
(GIVING NEW MEANING AND IRONY TO THE PHRASE: SMART-ALEC)
...ALEC isnt so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism...Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesnt just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population.
Now, ALEC isnt single-handedly responsible for the corporatization of our political life; its influence is as much a symptom as a cause. But shining a light on ALEC and its supporters a roster that includes many companies, from AT&T and Coca-Cola to UPS, that have so far managed to avoid being publicly associated with the hard-right agenda is one good way to highlight whats going on. And that kind of knowledge is what we need to start taking our country back.
Floridas now-infamous Stand Your Ground law, which lets you shoot someone you consider threatening without facing arrest, let alone prosecution, sounds crazy and it is. And its tempting to dismiss this law as the work of ignorant yahoos. But similar laws have been pushed across the nation, not by ignorant yahoos but by big corporations.
Specifically, language virtually identical to Floridas 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 ALECs activities emerged). And if there is any silver lining to Trayvon Martins 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 its nonpartisan, its very much a movement-conservative organization, funded by the usual suspects: the Kochs, Exxon Mobil, and so on. Unlike other such groups, however, it doesnt 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.
(GIVING NEW MEANING AND IRONY TO THE PHRASE: SMART-ALEC)
...ALEC isnt so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism...Think about that: we seem to be turning into a country where crony capitalism doesnt just waste taxpayer money but warps criminal justice, in which growing incarceration reflects not the need to protect law-abiding citizens but the profits corporations can reap from a larger prison population.
Now, ALEC isnt single-handedly responsible for the corporatization of our political life; its influence is as much a symptom as a cause. But shining a light on ALEC and its supporters a roster that includes many companies, from AT&T and Coca-Cola to UPS, that have so far managed to avoid being publicly associated with the hard-right agenda is one good way to highlight whats going on. And that kind of knowledge is what we need to start taking our country back.
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