Pursuing Charles and David Koch and their funding of the far right and an ultra-conservative agenda is important. Identifying the “charitable” organizations they launder money through – which is then passed onto other organizations (along with tax credits or deductions), is also important. Exposing the various billionaire families (DeVos, Coors, Bradley, etc.) that contribute to the goals of the Kochs’ and their cabal, is likewise important.
However, what those actively pursuing and exposing the Koch Cabal must understand is that once an integral part of the cabal is exposed, the duties that particular organization was responsible for, is transferred to one or more entities within the Koch’s vast network – and the agenda continues to move along smoothly without any real interruption. The cabal can afford to “lose” one or more of the network’s controlled “charities” and continue to function without missing a beat.
The one "tool" available to the Kochs' and their vast network that they simply cannot function without...cannot shift the duties of or advance an agenda without...is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC is the "enabler" for the entire cabal's vast network. Through ALEC, legislation is developed that directly benefits that network in one form or another - lower corporate taxes, deregulation of government oversight(s), voter restrictions, tort "reforms", that limit compensation available to consumers, limiting the authority of government agencies such as the DOJ and EPA).
ALEC is what allows corporate interests to be written into laws the general public are made to live by. An example of such laws are seen everywhere today: criminal justice privatization...private prisons, privatized prisoner healthcare, phone services, banking and industries where prisoner labor manufactures goods for private companies; privatizing our public school systems, authorization of Charter Schools…pursuit of privatizing the U.S. Post Office (FedEx and UPS are long time members of ALEC); Stand Your Ground; relaxation of renewable energy mandates and deregulation involving emission standards...and the list goes on with hundreds of laws written to benefit business and corporations adopted by ALEC and sent out nationwide via nearly 2,000 state lawmakers holding ALEC membership and loyalty.
Without ALEC the overall Koch cabal/network would be unable to advance their conservative agenda through "model legislation" presented in all 50 states by ALEC controlled state lawmakers. Without the ability to craft legislation and get it introduced in our states, the entire network would cease to function as a viable political entity - as it has since 1973.
The entire landscape of our laws over the past 40 years has been affected by ALEC. Drug laws, mandatory minimum sentences, truth in sentencing, abolishing parole...all of the hundreds of laws used to incarcerate millions of Americans for victim-less crimes and hold them for years as a vast labor force available to private manufacturers, were written and disseminated by ALEC. Private prison contractors, Geo Group and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) were members of ALEC when the laws authorizing prison privatization were written and passed state by state.
Some of the companies that have capitalized from these laws and this slave-styled work force include; Boeing, Microsoft, McDonalds, Victoria's Secret, JC Penney, WalMart, Starbucks, Lockheed Martin, Berkshire Hathaway, Honeywell, Revlon, IBM, Lucent Technologies, AT&T Wireless. Intel, Siemens, etc. Good jobs were taken from American labor markets and turned over to low wage prisoners due to ALEC's "Prison Industries" legislation. This practice has been assisted by our U.S. DOJ (a must watch video showing the impact of ALEC's Prison Industries legislative pursuits);
Conservative politicians have fought against jobs bills and legislation because they've spent decades working to lower wages through the insourcing of labor; taking jobs from the public sector and placing them in the hands of a captive workforce available to private manufacturers and corporations.
Today as the GOP struggles to remain a viable political party, American voters have begun to wake up and vote against their extreme agenda. This has resulted in the pursuit of gerrymandering precincts and districts by Republicans as well as introduction and passage of legislation to reduce voter participation through "voter ID" and "voter suppression" laws. These are designed specifically to impact upon minority voters who predominately vote democratic.
The current attack upon voters is not coincidental. ALEC co-founder Paul Weyrich famously stated in 1980 that he did not want everyone to vote because "our leverage in elections goes up as the voting populace goes down". In 1999 after the election of George W. Bush, a disciple of Weyrich, Eric Heubeck published a "treatise" based upon the teachings of Weyrich, titled "The Integration of Theory and Practice: A Program for the New Traditionalist Movement".
In this manifesto styled plan, Heubeck put forth the guidelines for conservatives to follow that would allow entirely changing the political landscape, advancing a conservative and evangelical agenda to assume domination over progressive and liberal ideologies. The instructions quite candidly have worked. A reading of this document and comparison to the instructions provided against actual activities, actions and events that have taken place over the past 14 years reveals conservatives (and ALEC) have followed the guidelines religiously.
The Koch agenda is funded by Charles, David and a handful of select rich business owners and corporate executives, many of which sit upon ALEC's Private Enterprise Advisory Council or are represented by CEO's, CFO's or other executives. This "advisory" council has direct access to all of ALEC's 2,000 legislative members and alumni (many of which are now members of Congress, 82 Representatives and 10 Senators). Of the alumni, several names are associated with today's gridlock in Congress; Manchin, Inhofe, Graham, Rubio, Shelby, Enzi, Bachus, Blackburn, Boehner, Cantor, Gingrey, Price and King. Again, these alumni and the pursuit of the cabal's agenda through them is not coincidental. These elected officials have a loyalty to the cabal members, ALEC and campaign donors such as the Kochs and many of the corporations holding membership in ALEC.
Among ALEC's vast alumni are current sitting Governors; Brewer, Kasich, Walker and other Republican Governors who dance to ALEC's tune...Pence, Snyder, Brownback, LePage and Deal.
Together...Governors, U.S. Senators and Representatives, 2,000 state Lawmakers and hundreds of alumni hold key positions throughout our state and federal governments. They are advancing an agenda choreographed by the likes of Charles and David Koch and funded by the Kochs, DeVos', Coors', Bradley's personal and corporate monies. They control numerous conservative think tanks such as Heritage Foundation, Mackinac Center, Cato Institute and dozens more. Again, together they own or control vast media outlets which coordinate with the think tanks to disseminate propaganda to the general public. This is the "CABAL" many of us have been warning the populace about.
We've learned that the cabal has been "educating" our judiciary through corporate funded seminars where judges are wined and dined in a manner similar to that which takes place at ALEC conferences and meetings where lawmakers receive similar pleasures. Important issues are decided by these judges who have attended the ALEC and other "seminars" where they have been subjected to the "agenda" and positions of the corporate benefactors. All decks are now stacked in favor of the cabal.
As dangerous as this network is to our democracy, goals can only be accomplished through crafting and advancing legislation they favor - state by state and within Congress. This can only be accomplished through model legislation discussed, presented and adopted as "Model" bills that are then sent out to each state simultaneously. Once proposed at the state level, cabal corporations dump millions of dollars into the campaigns of non-ALEC lawmakers to encourage them to vote favorably upon "their" legislation. The think tanks under their control issue "reports" and "studies" backing their philosophies and the laws to advance them. Corporate owned media publish articles favorable to the laws they've crafted and sent out to "inform" the public that such laws are necessary and should be enacted.
Through ALEC they have been able to privatize our water and other critical utilities, deregulate government oversight of their fracking, drilling, polluting the air, water and very soil we all need to live...when challenged in courts, many judges rule in their favor, coming down on the side of corporations over government and public interests.
Laws must be designed, written and crafted based upon constituent needs and desires - not based upon what fattens the bottom line of some corporation or powerful business owners. Doing it that way has led us to where we are today with a handful of people holding the majority of assets and the middle class existing off the crumbs of the rich.
When you hear philosophy, economics or corporate rights issues discussed by the likes of Steven Moore, Art Laffer or Victor Schwartz upon the airwaves or in the newspapers, keep in mind they are all members of ALEC's "Board of Scholars". They along with Congressmen such as Graham, Boehner and Cantor speak on behalf of ALEC, Charles and David Koch and the other cabal members.
As clearly demonstrated by the foregoing, without ALEC and that organization's ability to advance laws sought by their corporate members and donors, the cabal would be unable to function as a powerful and direct influence upon state and federal legislation. Which leads to the conclusion that ALEC must be abolished - at all costs. They and their considerable influence must be removed from all legislative involvement. The cabal must be denied the ability to draft model legislation favored by them and pass it along to state legislatures through ALEC's legislative membership.
Once ALEC loses the ability to put legislators and corporations at the same table and write legislation such as they have done for years - the cabal will collapse upon itself. Without the ability to advance legislation the cabal is without the means necessary to control our legislatures and laws. Alec truly is the entity that enables the agenda...and must be eliminated. Until then, the beneficial corporate crafted legislation will continue to flow to every state, year after year until they succeed in passing them into law. Attempts at voter suppression will continue, government oversight will be weakened as the planet's resources are consumed by hungry corporations without regard for future generations or the impact upon the globe.
All paths to and from the Cabal go through ALEC...
ALEC the enabler must be forced into extinction FIRST...only then can we succeed in bringing down the Kochs and others who have been enriching themselves at our expense.
(Correct answer to poll will be provided by an update at 10 pm EST tonight)
8:03 PM PT: The correct answer to the poll question is 500,001 to 1 million. Data from Professor Noah Zatz: http://www.nypl.org/...