Corporations often seek to elect their own politicians and set policy, but are nervous about public backlash from engaging directly in politics. That’s why so many corporations hide behind layers of front groups and dummy nonprofits to run ads and other electioneering efforts. Aetna, the health insurance company, was recently exposed for secretly financing at least $7 million in pro-GOP attack ads in 2010 using undisclosed front groups like the American Action Network.
We’ve uncovered secret corporate cash behind several such groups, including the “American Justice Partnership,” the “Center to Protect Patients’ Rights,” and “New Models U.S.A.”
Another …
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is the most powerful corporate front group you’ve never heard of. The group, sponsored by some of America’s largest corporations, writes legislation that tends to benefit its donors and ships these template bills to state legislatures for compliant lawmakers to pass. ALEC has pushed for legislation doing everything from attacking workers’ collective bargaining rights to making it harder for low-income Americans to vote.
But one Wisconsin lawmaker is not content with allowing a corporate front group to secretly write his state’s laws. Rep. Mark Pocan (D) decided to join ALEC — its …
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