ALEC's
"refocus" on economic issues, as real or manufactured for PR purposes as it may be, was definitely in response to the public pressure put on the dozens of member organizations. It's very effective pressure, says the
latest press release from Color of Change. Executive Director Rashad Robinson has this statement:
"This week I spoke with an executive at Blue Cross Blue Shield who told me that the company did not renew its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council this year, and we followed up with the company to confirm they are no longer a member of ALEC. We applaud BCBS for ending its relationship with this shadowy DC organization that would rather have our law makers work for corporations than the people.
"The ColorOfChange community is also happy to learn that Reed Elsevier (owner of LexisNexis and publisher of science and health information) left ALEC late last week, as did American Traffic Solutions and Arizona Public Service—two Arizona-based companies. With Blue Cross Blue Shield's announcement yesterday, the number of companies that have decided to cut ties with ALEC grows to 11. The list also includes Mars Inc., Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Intuit, McDonald's and Wendy's.
ALEC's agenda, even without the voter suppression and Stand Your Ground components, is odious and harmful to pretty much everybody who isn't a friend of the Koch brothers. If you want to breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat safe food, send your kids to a public school, have basic protections at work, ALEC remains your enemy. Now that the companies which have been members of ALEC are aware of that, expect a lot more defections, even after ALEC's retrenchment.