There is a movement in America and it has been active here
since the early 1970s. The amazing part is that very few
Americans are aware of it, and yet it affects every aspect of
their lives. I am speaking of ALEC, the American Legislative
Exchange Council.
In 1971, then lawyer, Lewis Powell, was commissioned
by the Central Chamber of Congress to write an opinion,
later to be known as the Powell Memorandum. It was in
response to the rise of consumer protectionism, championed
by men like Ralph Nader. In it, Powell called the consumer
movement a slippery slope to socialism. Powell was the first
to refer to the media as 'biased agents of socialism', and enemies
of America. It was Powell who advocated for the beginning of
funded conservative think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation.
The Memorandum is the first step to the founding of the American
Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. It also foreshadowed
the Supreme Court's opinion, especially the ruling on First
National Bank of Boston v Belotti, which was the precursor
of Citizens United. The anonymous Memorandum was
uncovered after Powell was confirmed to the Supreme Court,
by Jack Anderson of the Washington Post.
Here are some names you should recognize, they are the
founders and prominent members of ALEC: Henry Hyde,
Bob Kasten, Tommy Thompson, Scott Walker, Mitch Daniels,
John Boehner, Jesse Helms, Eric Cantor, and Newt Gingrich.
And this is but a handful of Senators and Congressmen who
belong to this organization, along with several Corporations,
such as: Exon-Mobile, Pfizer, AT&T, State Farm, and of course
Koch Industries. However, in 2012, sixty other prominent
companies were shamed into dropping their membership
after ALEC was exposed in the push for state 'Stand Your
Ground' laws which led to the death of Trayvon Martin'
When ALEC was formed in 1973, it put forth the following
agenda to work toward:
* Reduction in corporate taxes and regulations
* Crack down on illegal immigration
* Loosening of environmental regulations
* Tightening of voter registration
* Weakening of labor unions
* Opposition to gun control legislation
* Squashing the homosexual revolution
* Supporting anti-abortion legislation
* Expanding school choice
If all that sounds familiar, it is a page right out of Donald
Trump's election handbook, and every other conservative
legislator. For the last forty-five years ALEC has held true
to these beliefs. Just goes to show you, there is nothing
new under the sun.
To further this end, ALEC writes and distributes to its
members, at least 1000 bills every year to put forth
for approval in state and federal houses. Of those
1000 bills, approximately 20% are passed. ALEC
approaches every new conservative legislator, state
and federal, and demands they join with ALEC and
promote its agenda. If the congressman or congress-
woman demurs, they are threatened with being
'primaried' in the next election cycle. And, because
of gerrymandering, (another ALEC victory) a new
conservative will replace them. One who will go
along with the program.
And now ALEC has spread its poison across the Atlantic
to many foreign countries among them: the UK,
Germany, Poland, and Hungary. And of late to the
Australia and New Zealand, where Adani Mining,
owned by an Indian billionaire, got permission from
the Australian government, though protested by
environmentalists and scientists, to mine and
export coal from NE Australia. Adani is building a
$2billion coal fired electrical plant in India. They
intend to sell the electricity to Bangladesh. In
the interim, they will be releasing CO2 into the
atmosphere for the next 40 years
Where will it end? When there is no more air
to breathe and water to drink? We are poisoning
ourselves for the almighty dollar. Pretty soon
all the money in the world won't buy a drink
of clean water. Then where do we go?
I'm just sayin'...
Friday, August 16, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Iowa, you've got to kidding
When I was growing up in Chicago (it's been awhile), there was a joke,
it went something like this: What do you call two dead pigs and a
tractor that won't start? Answer: The Iowa State Fair! Iowa was some
mythical land like Oz. Mother's would threaten their children by saying,
"If you don't shut and go to sleep, the Boogeyman will come and take
you to Iowa". Well maybe that's a stretch. But I was well into my
twenties before I knew anyone from Iowa, an I lived less than 100 miles
from there. I don't think Iowans came to the big city on a regular basis.
However on a cold day in February, (the third to be exact) 2020, Iowans
of all persuasions will meet in church basements, town halls, and some
farmer's living room and decide the fate of the Democratic Party. Now
I don't know about you, but I have as much in common with the average
Iowan as I have with the average extraterrestrial.
Iowa has a population of 3.15 million people, or about 57 people per
square mile. By comparison, the Chicago metropolitan area has 9.5
million people, and more people in the average apartment building than
than in a square mile of Iowa. Get this, the largest metropolitan area
in Iowa is...Omaha Nebraska. And the demographic breakdown doesn't
even come close to the nation as a whole. Iowans are 91% white, 3%
black, and 2% Asian, and the rest, a mix of races, I've been to Iowa,
where are they hiding that token black person? Please don't tell me there
aren't enough Hispanics to make a dent in the demographics.
It's a fallacy that all Iowans are farmers, there is a large component of
manufacturing these days, consisting of...food processing plants. So
if they don't grow it, they process it.
Iowans tend to be politically and religiously conservative by nature.
But they did recognize the LGBTQ as an entity that cannot be
discriminated against. They just don't think they have any in the state.
But recently, I would say in the last twenty years, in August at four-year
intervals, the population of the state swells considerately, as an influx
of reporters descends upon the State Fair. Why you ask? Because
candidates of every political persuasion, who are running for president,
come to the fair to curry favor from these savvy, urbane, cosmopolitan,
Iowans. There's an oxymoron if there ever was one. The candidates will
look them in the eye and shake their hand, and tell them just how important
they are, that they hold the fate on the nation in their hands. And Iowans
eat it up. And why not, with this carnival of clowns, comes money, lots of
money. And a chance for Iowa to bask in the attention of the entire nation.
They are Cinderella at the ball, courted by every major newspaper and
television station. And they only have a short time before it all disappears,
and then reappears briefly again in February.
So, enjoy your time in the sun, Iowa, but don't tell me that you understand
the problems of the country and which candidate can best solve them based
on which one knew how to eat a loose meat sandwich. Your fame
will melt like your butter cow, and after the fairgrounds are deserted, the rest
of us will have a few less decisions to make, thanks to your winnowing
the field. I just hope my favorite candidate is one who makes the cut.
Because last time around you picked...Ted Cruz. How did that work out
for you?
And, I really hate to point this out, but we go from Iowa to New Hampshire.
Is this really the way to pick the best person to beat Trump?
I'm just askin'.
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