ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) Working Behind The Scenes To Write American/State Laws: Part 3

Don’t you want your own representatives to write and submit laws that apply to your state/county? Do you want them to represent the interests of Big Money Corporate Donors or you? So, is your legislator a member of ALEC? Are there sketchy pieces of legislation floating through your House/Senate that might be promoted by big business? And why is it so hard to find out who is a member? Why doesn’t the ALEC website list its members, since they are “supposed” to be serving the “public.” Here is some more info on how ALEC is working to support large corporate interests.

Secure Arkansas: American Legislative Exchange Council is dangerously shaping local, state, and national policies written by corporations – for the sake of corporations – secretly, behind closed doors.  The underlying motive is to protect the bottom line of the corporations, especially the larger ones.  The small business owner seems to get overpowered and swallowed up by the dominant monied corporations.  America needs those Mom and Pop businesses to remain intact if our country is to survive.  It is no different than the small farmer who yielded to big corporations, resulting in the takeover of our food supply!

Now we are living with GMO (genetically modified organism) foods that our poor bodies are trying to process.  GMO example: Corn + DNA from soil bacteria that is naturally immune to Monsanto’s RoundUp (which can cause CANCER!). Here are ten_reasons_to_avoid_GMOs. (Keep reading!  We show how Monsanto and Koch Industries teamed up.)

It breaks our hearts as we stand by and watch smaller businesses and the middle class keep getting rooted out and either bought out or forced to close their businesses! The general public is basically unengaged and shut out, while we see our personal choices and rights being taken away with each and every national and state legislative session.  Regardless who’s in office, the Right or the Left, the work keeps getting done, and U.N. Agenda 21/Sustainable Development keeps moving forward – to the detriment of our country and the world!

Private entities are running our government behind the scenes!

Some legislators who have joined the American Legislative Exchange Council and who carry their corporate-written legislation rely heavily on them to get through the legislative session!  ALEC has staff standing by, readily available to answer any questions from lawmakers. The legislators are to notify ALEC of any FOIA directed to the legislator concerning ALEC.

Why are the legislators’ memberships so secret?  Why aren’t they listed on the ALEC site?

The global elite seem to have the consumers and the markets cornered.  The Koch billionaires and their globalist funding partners present themselves as one thing while doing another, manipulating the public, forcing and mandating laws.  They throw out loads of money to get the results they want. Rest assured that any money given out comes with strings attached!  The lawmakers who join ALEC soon realize this as they run their bills.

The following is ALEC’s Private Enterprise Advisory Council:

ALEC National Chair

  • Mr. Bill Carmichael, President & CEO at American Bail Coalition

ALEC Private Enterprise Council Members

  • Ms. Cynthia Bergman, U.S. Government Affairs manager at Exxon Mobil Corporation

  • Mr. Michael Blank, Peabody Energy

  • Ms. Sano Blocker, Energy Future Holdings

  • Mr. Jeff Bond, SVP at Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA); PhRMA  was the 2008 Democratic National Convention party host

  • Mr. Josh Brown, Director of Government Relations at Pfizer Inc., former executive assistant to Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist

  • Mr. Steve DelBianco, Executive Director NetChoice

  • Ms. Marianne Eterno, Assistant Vice President of Government Relations – Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Company

  • Mr. Kenneth Lane, VP – Diageo North America, Inc.

  • Mr. Bill Leahy, VP of State Legislative Strategy at  AT&T, Director at John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, Former board member at New England Council

  • Mr. Don Lee, Vice President  of Government Affairs at  K12 Inc.

  • Mrs. Frayda Levin, Director at Americans For Prosperity (AFP), Director at Club for Growth, (Spouse Kenneth N. Levy who is the Director of Institute for Justice and the Co-Founder of Jacobs Levy Equity Management)

  • Mr. Kelly Mader, VP State Government Relations at Peabody Energy Corporation

  • Mr. Stephen Moore,  Founder of Club for Growth, Senior Fellow of Cato Institute,
    Director of Donors Capital Fund

  • Mr. Michael Morgan, Consultant Director of Public and Government Affairs at Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC

  • Mr. Chip Rogers, President & CEO of Asian American Hotel Owners Association

  • Mr. Daniel Smith, Western Regional Director of Altria Client Services (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc. – Looks like they changed their name because they couldn’t stand the antagonistic reactions from their highly profitable but controversial product: tobacco!)

  • Mr. Roland Spies, General Counsel for State Farm Insurance Companies

  • Mr. Pat Thomas, Vice President of UPS Global Public Affairs at United Parcel Service

  • Mr. Bob Williams, President at State Budget Solutions

  • Mr. Steve Woods, Senior Vice President of State Operations at National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

Click here to see a list of members of the American Legislative Exchange Council.  Listed below are ALEC members in our very own Arkansas Capitol:

Arkansas Executive Branch: ALEC Members

  • Mark Martin, Secretary of State of Arkansas

  • Andrea Lea, State Auditor of Arkansas

  • Michael Lamoureux, Chief of Staff for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson

From Arkansas:

ALEC Board of Directors

  • Michael Lamoureux  (R)

ALEC State chairs for Arkansas (Note: there are 2 state chairs from each state)

  • Eddie Joe Williams (R)

  • Nate Bell (R)

Legislative members

Many of the new legislators need to be investigated to see if they are ALEC members. There is no official location that lists ALL of the ALEC members; it is protected, but it needs to be updated. The Arkansas ALEC members list below has been verified.

House of Representatives

Senate

Former Representatives

Former Senators

Think tanks

A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy of public policy in areas such as political strategy, social policy, economy, science or technology issues, or industrial or business policies.  In the U.S, there are more than 200 separate think tanks, many of which are connected together. Out of many of these think tanks come public policies over which you as a voter have no control. We will address think tanks more thoroughly in a future article.

Education

Public and private universities can’t help but to be affected by the flood of money aimed at them. It seems that the Charles Koch Foundation even has grant agreements with some universities to shape the development of the curriculum and possibly even influence the hiring of professors.  Millions of dollars have been donated over the years to hundreds of campuses.  (If a grant or memorandum of understanding is given to a private university foundation, instead of the university itself, then it can be hard to trace the source.)

Below is an example of how we are given no real transparency and no choice.  ALEC is doling out forced or mandated legislation. Water with mandatory fluoridation, forced vaccination… We are not even allowed to know what is in the food we are consuming!  Of course, ALEC claims they must have “tort reform”, but we know the real reason is to cap the damages caused by corporations and special interest groups, and this will be considered the cost of doing business.

Poison must be protected at all cost.  Some of these special interest groups include Big Pharma and Tobacco Companies. You may even remember the day when doctors told us that tobacco was safe!  That’s what we are being told about fluoride these days from the Arkansas Health Department. You know the line: “safe and effective.”  It’s just the opposite, and we know better!  This is unacceptable for the public to consume and ingest!!

One particular chemical released on the public from the chemical industries such as those that Koch supports is formaldehyde!  See an example of the formaldehyde lawsuit below and some consequences.  U.S. Senator James Inhofe wanted the EPA to wait on releasing their chemical risk assessment.  Chemicals are dangerous, dear reader, NOT “safe”!  For instance, fluoride that comes from the hazardous waste phosphate industry is shipped in a container with a skull & crossbones. It can eat a hole right through equipment or concrete, yet this is what is mandated to be in our drinking water.  Again, are you aware that it would take a HazMat team to dispose of it?

GMOs in our diet are not a healthy choice for food, and you need to be informed that they’re in there. We need proper labeling, don’t we? Who wants to knowingly consume this unfit GMO junk? A proper diet and nourishing food is critical for our physical and mental well-being! Take a good look around you… Does the American public look healthy? All frail humans are afraid of the “c” word!

Koch Industries and Monsanto Team Up to End Your Right to Know

*Koch-Backed Congressman to Introduce GE Labeling Preemption Bill known as the Dark Act*

This bill is anti-consumer, anti-choice, anti-labeling, and PRO-GMO LAW.  The bill number is H.R. 1599, and it denies the consumer the right to know what is in the food supply. This U.S. bill  seeks to block mandatory GMO food labeling by states. This means that our U.S. Congress is attempting to block the right of the states to pass legislation that would require the labeling of GMO food products.  But we, as consumers, should know exactly what is in our food!

In short, if H.R. 1599 is passed into law, it will prevent consumers at the point of sale from knowing whether a food has GMOs in it or not.

H.R. 1599 passed the House July 23, 2015 by a vote of 275 to 150. The Aye vote was 230 Republicans and 45 Democrats. The No vote was 12 Republicans and 138 Democrats.  Click here to see the House vote. For the bill status, click here. The question is: why are the these congressmen going against the wishes of the people and voting Aye for H.R.1599?

GMOs are POISONING our food supply!

U.S. Rep. Crawford, Hill, Womack, and Westerman from Arkansas all voted Yes or Aye.  It appears that all four of the Arkansas Congressmen are in the pocket of Monsanto or a Koch entity.

ACTION: Call U.S. Senator Boozman (202-224-4843) and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (202-224-2353) from Arkansas, and tell them NOT to support H.R. 1599.  (Koch funded groups helped put Sen. Cotton in office. Currently, both senators are supporting this bill. )

An Unholy Alliance between Monsanto and Koch Industries

Koch Industries – major funders of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), State Policy Network (SPN), Americans for Prosperity (AFP), American Encore (composed of 20 groups), and Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce.  Most of this support can be tracked through their nonprofit entities.

Koch Industries is involved in a variety of industries such as refining and chemicals; pollution control equipment; minerals; fertilizers; fibers and polymers; commodity and financial trading; forest and consumer products; ranching; and business development. Significant divisions included Georgia-Pacific, which makes and sells tissue, packaging, paper, building products and pulp, Flint Hills Resources, which operates refineries in Alaska, Minnesota, and Texas, and Molex, an electronics components company. Koch employs 100,000 people worldwide.

Koch Brothers Net Worth Soars Past $100 Billion

The Kochs are heavily involved in politics and manipulating the political agenda. Just recently, the Kochs demanded that Governor Scott Walker return the $9,000,000 that they had allocated to Walker’s 2016 Presidential Campaign. “For the Koch brothers, who purchased Walker earlier this year, the demand for a full cash refund reflected how badly their relationship with the formerly promising candidate had deteriorated.” Walker is an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) member.

Koch Lobby firms:

Koch Industries Public Sector (In 2014, Koch Industries’ Public Sector spent $13,700,000 in lobbying)

Koch Businesses

  • Koch Agriculture Company

  • Koch Agronomic Services, LLC

  • Koch Business Holdings

  • Koch Business Solutions, LP

  • Koch Chemical Company

  • Koch Chemical Technology Group

  • Koch Engineering Company

  • Koch Enterprises, Inc.

  • Koch Fertilizer LLC

  • Koch Genesis

  • Koch-Glitsch, LP

  • Koch Heat Transfer Company, LP

  • Koch Industries

  • Koch Investment

  • Koch Knight, LLC

  • Koch Materials

  • Koch Membrane Systems, Inc.

  • Koch Mineral Services LLC

  • Koch Pipeline Company LP

  • Koch Producer Services

  • Koch Refining Company

  • Koch Supply & Trading

Koch Nonprofits

  • Charles Koch Foundation (assets $442,205,287 for 2013   IRS990-PF )

  • Charles Koch Institute  (assets $271,482,857 for 2013   IRS990-PF )

  • David H. Koch Charitable Foundation  (assets $50,571,101 for 2013   IRS990-PF)

  • Fred C. & Mary R. Koch Foundation  (assets $32,341,668.00    IRS990-PF)

  • Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation (assets $4,331,707   IRS990-PF)

  • Koch Cultural Trust (assets $175,519  IRS990-PF)

Koch Industries

People related to Koch Industries:

  • David H. Coburn – attorney

  • Bradley C. Faris – attorney

  • Steven J. Feilmeier – CFO & EVP

  • Richard H. Fink – EVP & director

  • Timothy P. FitzSimons – attorney

  • Mark D. Gerstein – attorney

  • Shaun D. Hartley – attorney

  • Mark V. Holden – SVP & general counsel

  • Mark Humphrey – SVP

  • Charles G. Koch – chairman & CEO

  • David H. Koch – EVP

  • Brad E. Kotler – attorney

  • Heather Love – finance director

  • Elaine Tettemer Marshall – shareholder

  • Preston Marshall – shareholder

  • Joseph W. Moeller – vice chairman

  • Theodore B. Olson – outside counsel

  • David L. Robertson – president & C0O

  • Robert A. Tappan – director, external relations

  • Aaron Van Oort – attorney

Other current Koch Industries relationships:

  • Angel Soft – consumer brand

  • Brawny – consumer brand

  • Dixie – consumer brand

  • Faegre Baker Daniels – law firm

  • Flint Hills Resources, LP – subsidiary

  • Fred C. & Mary R. Koch Foundation – donor

  • Georgia-Pacific – acquirer

  • Hunton & Williams – lobby firm

  • Intrepid Potash, Inc. – investor

  • Invista – subsidiary

  • Irving H. Picard v. Koch Industries – defendant

  • KCBX Terminals Company – subsidiary

  • KM Railways, LLC – subsidiary

  • Koch Agriculture Company – subsidiary

  • Koch Business Solutions, LP – subsidiary

  • Koch Chemical Technology Group – subsidiary

  • Koch Companies Public Sector – lobbying arm

  • Koch Fertilizer LLC – subsidiary

  • Koch Genesis – ventures group

  • Koch Industries annual conference – sponsor

  • Koch Materials – subsidiary

  • Koch Mineral Services LLC – subsidiary

  • Koch Pipeline Company LP – subsidiary

  • Koch Producer Services – subsidiary

  • Koch Supply & Trading – subsidiary

  • Latham & Watkins, LLP – law firm

  • major defense contractors – contractor

  • Mardi Gras – consumer brand

  • Molex Inc. – acquirer

  • oil & gas industry – major company

  • Quilted Northern – consumer brand

  • Reiss Viking – subsidiary

  • Soft ‘n Gentle – consumer brand

  • Sparkle – consumer brand

  • Spring Creek Capital – subsidiary

  • U.S. investors in Argentina – investor

  • U.S. investors in Australia – investor

  • U.S. investors in Belgium – investor

  • U.S. investors in Brazil – investor

  • U.S. investors in Canada – investor

  • U.S. investors in Chile – investor

  • U.S. investors in China – investor

  • U.S. investors in Colombia – investor

  • U.S. investors in Czech Republic – investor

  • U.S. investors in France – investor

  • U.S. investors in Germany – investor

  • U.S. investors in Hong Kong – investor

  • U.S. investors in India – investor

  • U.S. investors in Italy – investor

  • U.S. investors in Japan – investor

  • U.S. investors in Mexico – investor

  • U.S. investors in Netherlands – investor

  • U.S. investors in Poland – investor

  • U.S. investors in Russia – investor

  • U.S. investors in Singapore – investor

  • U.S. investors in South Korea – investor

  • U.S. investors in Spain – investor

  • U.S. investors in Switzerland – investor

  • U.S. investors in Taiwan – investor

  • U.S. investors in Thailand – investor

  • U.S. investors in Trinidad and Tobago – investor

  • U.S. investors in Turkey – investor

  • U.S. investors in United Arab Emirates – investor

  • U.S. investors in United Kingdom – investor

  • U.S. investors in Uruguay – investor

  • Vanity Fair Corp. – consumer brand

Koch Industries past relationships:

  • 2008 James Inhofe Senate campaign – contributor

In 2004, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, persuaded the EPA to delay revising the formaldehyde risk assessment, even though preliminary findings from a National Cancer Institute study had already linked formaldehyde to leukemia. Inhofe insisted that the EPA wait for a more “robust set of findings” from the institute.

  • Formaldehyde – lobbied against regulation of

  • 2010 Scott Walker (WI) gubernatorial campaign – major contributor

  • Alston & Bird – lobby firm

  • American Legislative Exchange Council – funder

  • Americans for Prosperity – funder

  • Alex A. Beehler – environmental and regulatory affairs director

  • Blank Rome LLP – lobby firm

  • Capitol Tax Partners LLP – lobby firm

  • Citizens for a Sound Economy – donor

  • Wayne Gable – director of international government affairs

  • D.J. Gribbin – director of government affairs

  • William W. Hanna – president

  • Michael W. Hofmann – VP & chief risk officer

  • Hogan & Hartson – lobby firm

  • Victoria Hughes – director of corporate philanthropy

  • Thomas L. Kivisto – VP

  • Koch Engineering Company – predecessor company

  • Fred C. Koch (deceased) – founder

  • Koch Investment – subsidiary

  • J. Howard Marshall II (deceased) – shareholder

  • George Pearson – director of public affairs

  • Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer – lobbyist

  • Republican Attorneys General Association – major donor

  • Republican Governors Association – major donor

  • Republican State Leadership Committee – contributor

  • Siff & Lake LLP – lobby firm

  • Tribune Media Co. – mulled newspaper acquisition (2013)

Fred C. & Mary R. Koch Foundation

  • Richard H. Fink – director

  • Charles G. Koch – director

  • David H. Koch – director

  • Elizabeth B. Koch – president

Other current Fred C. & Mary R. Koch Foundation relationships:

  • Koch Industries – donor

Fred C. & Mary R. Koch Foundation past relationships:

  • Bill of Rights Institute – funder

  • Ellis Foundation – funder

  • Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History – funder

  • Victoria Hughes – VP

  • Koch Cultural Trust – funder

  • Nature Conservancy – funder – Mission – Conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends … (United Nations Agenda 21 policies all the way, International in scope… Environmentalists, wake up!)

Assets   $32,341,668 as of 2013

IRS 990PF  Filing for 2013 – Return of Private Foundation

Citizens for Self-Governance

Mark Meckler, President of Citizens for Self-Governance, is working with ALEC to push for the  adoption of a Convention of States resolution in every state. Not good! This is the same Balanced Budget Amendment model legislation of ALEC.

Mark Meckler current relationships

  • President and Co-Founder of Citizens for Self-Governance, [the group behind the Convention of States Project (COS)]

  • Co-Founder Tea Party Patriots

  • Advisory board member – “Why Tuesday?”

Why Tuesday?  Officers and Board members

  • William B. Wachtel – Co-Founder, Chairman and Founder of Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (a think tank that promotes progressive public policies and is linked to many other think tanks)  – the funder was Foundation to Promote Open Society; George Soros is the Chairman, and his son, Jonathan Soros, is the Vice Chairman (Click here for IRS 990-PF for 2013) (Assets $3.33 billion)…317 pages!

  • Andrew J. Young – Chairman, CFR member, Director of United Nations Foundation which Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation were the funders, Director of Better World Fund which Ted Turner is the Chairman, Senior Director of NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Senior Advisory Committee member of National Democratic Institute, member of Bretton Woods Committee

  • Norman J. Ornstein – Director,  CFR member,  Board member of Center for U.S. Global Leadership, Advisory Board member of Future of American Democracy Foundation

  • William W. Bradley – Honorary Co-Chairman, CFR member, Senior Advisory Committee member of National Democratic Institute, Advisory Board member of Peter G. Peterson Foundation,  Advisory Board Chairman of Sports Potential Inc, Director of Starbucks Corporation, Trustee Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, Trustee for American Assembly, Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC, member of Systemic Risk Council

  • Mark Meckler – Advisory Board member, Co-Founder for Tea Party Patriots,  President and Co-Founder for Citizens for Self -Governance

  • Kenneth B. Mehlman – Advisory Board member, CFR member, Director Republican Jewish Coalition, Chairman Private Equity Growth Capital Council, Managing Director KKR & Co LP, Director American Foundation for Equal Rights

  • Lee Brenner  – Advisory Board member, CFR member

  • Leo J. Hindery Jr. – Advisory Board member, CFR  member,  Inter Media Advisors, LLP – founder, InterMedia Partners LP – managing partner, James Madison Council of the Library of Congress – member, Paley Center for Media – trustee, Tibet House – trustee

Read Part 1 of this series: SO YOU THINK THINK TANKS HELP SECURE FREE GOVERNMENT? THINK AGAIN: ALEC (AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL) PART 1

Read Part 2 of this series: HOW ARE THINK TANKS RE-ENGINEERING OUR SOCIAL CULTURE? ALEC (AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL) PART 2

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