From an article in the FL Times Union:
Koch Industries Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. are among companies that would benefit from almost identical energy legislation introduced in several state capitals and that's by design.
The energy companies helped write the legislation at a meeting organized by a group they finance, the American Legislative Exchange Council, a Washington-based policy institute known as ALEC.
The corporations, both ALEC members, took a seat at the legislative drafting table beside elected officials and policy analysts by paying a fee between $3,000 and $10,000, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg News.
The opportunity for corporations to become co-authors of state laws legally through ALEC covers a wide range of issues from energy to taxes to agriculture. The price for participation is an ALEC membership fee of as much as $25,000 -- and the few extra thousands to join one of the group's legislative-writing task forces. Once the "model legislation" is complete, it's up to ALEC's legislator members to shepherd it into law.
Feel better now?
Bloomberg. Ya gotta love 'em.
ReplyDeleteBut, I'll see your ALEC/Exxon and raise you a GE Imaging/China.
Didja hear they paid NO corp. taxes last year on $55B and are now moving Imaging to China, firing workers here, hiring new ones there, and --- well --- just fuck'em all!!! Glad nothing is sacred here, that was very unladylike.
nice words over at WM, btw
Both the ALEC crap and GE's China move have already been added to the stew I'm boiling in. I keep swearing off politics blogging, but sheer horror overcomes my resolve. It's hard to think about much else!
ReplyDeleteI've tried overeating, drowning in BBC series, reading my eyeballs out...they only work for a little while. Now, I'm into abusing my congressfolk with non-stop letters. If I drop out of the blogosphere, you'll know they sent someone to take me out.
Rache... non-ladylike. My kind of gal.
ReplyDeleteNance... It crossed my mind when I posted this that those billionaires could take me out and no one would care, except my dog.