Defeating ALEC - How much is democracy worth to you?

I wander around the web to see what is written and what other people are writing and try to figure out where they are coming from.

Yesterday I read an informative and  passionate diary on Daily KOS against the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In the comments to that diary there was a statement that said:

“Will we win this year?  No.  Will we win this decade? Possibly.  But we are laying the foundation today for victory in the not so distant future.”

I’m sorry folks – we can’t afford to wait any longer.  Apathy such as displayed in that comment is dangerous to our country and our democracy!  The foundation has been laid - we must start to take action.  We must start to take action NOW to make sure that ALEC legislators are not re-elected at the state and federal level.  We must focus on Defeating ALEC legislators.

We have already wasted 10 years waiting and saying something will happen soon.  TEN years ago alecwatch published some the seminal writing that has guided almost every anti-ALEC citizen journalist today.  They published the first comprehensive list of corporate members.  They published the first comprehensive report on ALEC.  They set up a webpage dedicated to ALEC.  And yet nothing has happened.  TEN fucking years wasted – ten years of letting ALEC proliferate in the United States because people chose to not take action.

You have the member lists of ALEC (past and present) that have been distributed multiple times for people to take action.  This is the largest list of people affiliated with ALEC - EVER!  Have you taken action?  If you are waiting for the lists to be perfect – a reminder – perfect does not exist!  We have to work with the information that we have now to eliminate this horrible scourge (ALEC) from our political landscape.

I look at the materials that are posted on ALEC Exposed and my reaction is – so what?  There are no action plans being distributed – there are no guidelines for citizen action posted.  There are lists and lists have no meaning unless they are used in a productive manner to get rid of ALEC.  What are we going to do ten years from now – look back at those lists and say – “Well, we tried.”  That isn’t an appropriate answer for me – it should not be an appropriate answer for you.

So my question to you is when are you going take real action?  When are you going to do more than read blogs and write blogs to destroy ALEC?  When are you going to stop waiting for others to give you guidance and start acting on your own?

We have enough information - it's time to start doing something!!!!

It's time to turn our focus to Defeating ALEC - ALEC has already been exposed - this is the second time in ten years.

So – my question to you is:

How much is democracy worth to you?

How much are you willing to spend or how willing are you to raise money from friends and family to spend to defeat ALEC?

It is extremely important to remember that most people don’t know about ALEC – so it is our job to “educate” them – if we truly want to eliminate ALEC.

Here’s one way that you can help with the war against ALEC.  I do this  - every month– identifying a different audience very month.  

Defeating ALEC:  Educational Packet Mailings

First:

Print these three reports

ALEC: The Voice of Corporate Special Interests In State Legislatures

ALEC: Ghostwriting the Law for Corporate America

Legislating Under the Influence: Money, Power, and The American Legislative Exchange Council

Second

Print out a list of current and past people in your state that are or have been affiliated with ALEC.

A comprehensive list is here.

Third

Identify 10 – 20 of the local and district Democratic leaders in your state

Here’s a link to get you started.

Fourth

Send hard copies of the three reports AND the list of known past and present members for your states to every Democratic state, district and local leader in your state.  Enclose a short friendly note telling them that ALEC represents a threat to American democracy and we have to make sure that all of their legislative members are not re-elected.

The next month send out the report to union offices in your area.  The next month send out the reports to alternative newspapers (including college newspapers) in your area.  The next month send out the reports to alternative radio station hosts in your area. The next month send out copies to the drinking or eating liberally groups in your area.  Every month send out at least ten.

Ten to twenty copies of these reports and the list of people affiliated to ALEC – sent out every month.

It is extremely important to remember that most people don’t know about ALEC – so it is our job to “educate” them – if we truly want to eliminate ALEC.

How much is democracy worth to you?

If any of you write an action diary/blog on "Defeating ALEC" please use the phrase "Defeating ALEC" somewhere in the entry so I can google that phrase and so I (and everyone else) can find more ways to defeat ALEC.

For more information on ALEC –

Please read this report or this report or this report

or this series of six articles.

And watch this news video  from North Carolina on how other ALEC "model legislation" is going to screw the citizens of North Carolina - legislation introduced by ALEC legislators.