Posted at 4:35 pm by

Corporate front group ALEC – which lets big corporations write legislation and then pass it off to state legislatures to be enacted — is hurting. In recent days, six major corporations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have decided to stop funding the group, which has been engaged in pushing voter suppression and “Stand Your Ground” laws.

This has prompted ALEC to whine that it is being silenced by an “intimidation” campaign. (It used the word four times in a single short press release.)  ALEC claims that by publicly urging companies to voluntarily leave the organization, critics are trying to “eliminate discourse.”

In an ironic move, ALEC is apparently deleting comments on its Facebook page that are critical of the corporate front group. Pinterest user Wagatwe isn’t putting up with this hypocrisy. Wagatwe has compiled a Pinterest page of comments that ALEC deleted from its page, such as, “How much are the Koch Brothers paying you for this tripe?”

Wagatwe notes that ALEC is also so desperate for positive comments that it is even posting positive comments on its own Facebook posts. It seems like the only people who are actually silencing anyone are the administrators of the ALEC Facebook page.

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  • ecoalex

    I’m sure the Koch Bros can keep ALEC going,after all it’s their baby.

    • guest

      Koch Brothers keep alot going but we all know their day will come, thanks to smart Americans that care.

  • LiberalTexasDemocrat

    Seems the goose doesn’t like swimming in the ganders sauce

  • bsauerbrey

    American Legislative Exchange Council has undercut the Federal Constitution and is still fight ‘the war between the states,” which we thought ended in 1865–not so, it is alive and well. A financially powerful group thinks it can bury an ethically based, truth based people under a miasma of delusion.

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  • elaine

    The bill and melinda gates foundation gave money to these trolls?

    • FedSec

      Yes, it did. It was done because Virginia has enacted a ALEC-written law that mandates each student must take at least one online course before graduation. The Gates Foundation decided to get in on the action, ensuring that those courses are all Windows-based. Now they are pulling out, but that’s not stopping the VA legislation and the Gates Foundation’s role in it. It’s always all about the money. And always about screwing over teachers. That law mandating online course forces more teachers out of their jobs.

      • guest

        Va. is riding roughshod over it’s people with freedom/liberty erasing laws. The sad thing is many of the people do not know or in the name of religion or the Confederacy go along with it.

  • http://twitter.com/stanchaz stan chaz

    The organization called ALEC has actively fostered the spread of  ”STAND YOUR GROUND” laws to many states. These are the very same laws that led to the Trayvon Martin murder in Florida….laws that “allow” vigilantes to be judge-jury-and-executioner. We need to bring some good out of this terrible tragedy. We need to prevent MORE of these senseless killings. Some mainstream corporations have funded ALEC. BUT… as their funding has been publicized, they have withdrawn their support. Call or write or email the following two ALEC supporters: JOHNSON and JOHNSON, & STATE FARM insurance ….or.. visit www.pfaw.org/ditchALEC. Please urge these two companies to their cut ties with ALEC. Tell them that they should not want their brands associated with the dangerous laws ALEC promotes — including voter suppression, NRA-backed “stand your ground” laws, extreme racial profiling laws targeting immigrants, privatizing public education and protecting corporate polluters. If you do not want YOUR hard earned money to be used AGAINST your best interests, then Stand YOUR Ground and tell State Farm & Johnson and Johnson, in no uncertain terms: DON’T FUND ALEC!

    • CatKinNY

      I’m just adding this info for those who call State Farm and J&J on Monday: you will likely get sent to a full voice mail box. I found that persistance pays off, though; if you hang up and hit redial, you’ll get to talk to someone. Also, please call the Gates Foundation; while it’s true that they plan to withdraw from Alec, they plan to keep sending it checks for the next 17 months.

  • Mwaffle

    ALEC is no ordinary group but consists of radical right wing advocates who have written a group of laws which are at the ready to be presented to state legislators when the need arises within the states, so they don’t have to write their own laws. The ALEC laws are the most radical right wing laws, such as we have seen in Florida with “Stand Your Ground” type laws. These laws were no doubt sold to corporate america to distance it from the like of its source to give it credibility. When the heat hit from the Trayvon Martin case, corporate america began to see that ALEC was no ordinary group. Wake up America, smell the coffee. There is much brewing that needs to be paid attention to.

    • guest

      ALEC is rampant in VA, home of Eric Cantor and Bob Mcdonnell[aspiring to be VP]. Va. celebrates the Confederacy. Why can people not see what these people are trying to do?

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  • ballen1133

    If elected members of state legislatures can’t write their own bills they don’t belong in office. ALEC needs to go.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Carroll/100003021167235 Mary Carroll

    Good riddance to bad rubbish. Speaking of rubbish, if you’d like to express your opposition to the Koch brothers’ right wing arrogance more directly, please note that Koch Industries owns Georgia Pacific, which produces Northern toilet paper. Any thoughts?

    • guest

      I will never buy Northern again, thanks!

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000311478196 Daulton Pilcher

      Boycott the bastards.

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  • ItsJustMe

    My comment was deleted in less than one minute. AND my permissions to post were taken away.
    “You are complaining about being silenced by ordinary Americans fed up with money influencing politics, yet you are deleting comments from your Facebook page? Do you not see the irony in what you are doing?”

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=518704296 Bradley Berthold

    The local press in each state should compare the leaked list of ALEC proposed bills, point out which were enacted in their state, and which legislators enacted them. A high school journalist could do this. Holding such puny-witted legislative automatons to account for their damage would seem to have much more potential than ineffective boycotts of a too- large host of corporations who cooperate with ALEC.
    To see the list, see alecexposed.org. See how many the legislators you elected are enacting to hurt us all.

  • solo_poke

    When the line between corporations and government becomes blurred, the result is fascism.

    ALEC is the obvious link, in the corporate fascsism taking over the world.

  • irrefudiate

    It occurred to me that if they are deleting all negative comments, there would be nothing left (unintended pun), but, then it was pointed out that they are posting their own positive comments to fill the void, so, I guess, for them, it’s business as usual.

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  • Pingback: After Complaining About Being Silenced, ALEC Is Deleting Critical Comments From Facebook Page | Speaking of America | Scoop.it

  • robberw

    Just goes to prove that you can’t buy intelligence or common sense. What a bunch of morons!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000311478196 Daulton Pilcher

    Just a bunch of old white men wanting to return to the “good old days” when women were stay at home moms, bowed to their husbands authority in everything from ‘what’s for dinner’, to ‘yes we will have as many children as possible’. They are stuck in the past and want to determine how we will live in the future. Asimov had the right idea. “those who are wealthy cannot have power while those in power cannot have wealth. My apologies if I attribute the quote to the wrong philosopher.

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