The staff of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) have been responding to a firestorm over the exodus of major corporations from the organization thanks to increased attention on ALEC’s role in pushing the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law that allowed Trayvon Martin’s killer George Zimmerman to escape prosecution for 40 days (and other particularly despicable legislation). Yesterday,
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Following on the heels of the Arizona Public Service Company (APS), candy-maker Mars announced it has cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The corporate front group has experienced an exodus of members — Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Intuit, and KraftFoods all publicly quit the organization in the past week due to  public
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Two months ago, the Obama administration and 49 state Attorneys General announced a settlement with the Big Banks that engaged in fraudulent lending practices that abused homeowners and often left taxpayers with the bill. This settlement was made final last week. Today, the highly influential conservative newspaper the Washington Examiner editorialized against this settlement, saying
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Pink slime, the ammonia-treated filler substance made with beef scraps, was once reserved for dog food before corrupted regulators changed the rules. Many Americans are demanding that the U.S. Department of Agriculture force food dealers to reveal which products include pink slime. But the beef industry’s lobbyists are fighting back, as my colleague Lee Fang explained. One
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At least six major corporations and foundations — Coca-Cola, Pepsi, McDonald’s, Kraft, Intuit, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — have now left or have pledged to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a secretive corporate front group that works to pass legislation in all fifty states. The corporations are leaving largely thanks to
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Whether it’s paying for long distance calls or expensive data plans, we all groan when it comes time to pay our cell phone bills. But what if your cell phone company was charging you for something you wanted no part in — like denying the existence of global warming? That’s exactly what AT&T does. The
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In recent weeks, the American Legislative Exchange Council  (ALEC) — a powerful and secretive corporate-funded organization that writes legislation and gets state legislatures to pass its bills — has come under increasing scrutiny. As media outlets and commentators from the left, right, and center have come to scrutinize the organization, they have frequently referred to
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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’
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