The ALEC Right-Wing State Distopia

13 Responses to “The ALEC Right-Wing State Distopia”

1. Dr. J says:

   July 14, 2011 at 11:48 pm

   Is there any substance on that site? It seems to be entirely vague accusations and fearmongering.
2. DLS says:

   July 15, 2011 at 12:09 am

   The extreme-left nature of the anti-ALEC site discredits it at once.

   Same for this, for example:

   http://alecwatch.org/

   I’d just go to ALEC’s own site, visit all its pages (including “About” and “Model Legislation”), and try objectively to read between the lines.
3. Don Quijote says:

   July 15, 2011 at 7:28 am

   Put the words “Private Prisons” & Alec into the Google and watch the list of sites claiming that the Private Prison Industry has been using ALEC to lobby for private prisons, more crimes and longer sentences…
4. Dr. J says:

   July 15, 2011 at 9:25 am

   That’s at least more specific, Don. So is that worse than prison guards’ unions lobbying for more crimes and longer sentences?
5. D.R. WELCH says:

   July 15, 2011 at 9:48 am

   DQ J,

   I know I am left leaning, but whew!

   I know I brought up the ALEC thing. I just could not believe the charge they pretty much word for word wrote the Wisconsin Anti-Union Law.

   BUT, Prison guards, prison industries lobbying for higher sentences?

   If you guys really believe that stuff and it is not hyperbole for entertainment purposes only, you might be happier over at Laura Ingraham or Ed Schultz’s place.
6. jimmygee says:

   July 15, 2011 at 10:38 am

   Poo-poo nothing the right wing backs. You can bet what ever it is it’ll be detrimental to the working class and elderly.
7. Dr. J says:

   July 15, 2011 at 11:55 am

   BUT, Prison guards, prison industries lobbying for higher sentences? If you guys really believe that stuff and it is not hyperbole for entertainment purposes only…

   You posted the alecexposed link, yet you’re against hyperbole?

   Anyway, it seems to be true that prison guards lobby for higher sentences. California’s prison guards’ union, for example, sponsored our notorious three-strikes law in the 90s and have spent to defend it since then. Here’s a chronology of their political activities.
8. LOGAN PENZA says:

   July 15, 2011 at 11:58 am

   To whatever degree the prison unions pushed for higher sentences, they are merely being opportunistic. The primary driver is politicians who want to be seen as “tough on crime” and that includes Democrats and Republicans equally. This isn’t a partisan problem.
9. LOGAN PENZA says:

   July 15, 2011 at 12:01 pm

   P.S. I am going to go back to work now, researching the Uniform Commercial Code and more of that vast conspiracy of lawyers who write model laws in an effort to take over the world.
10. slamfu says:

    July 15, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    Regardless of the validity of this site, is there anyone here who does not think that lobbyists are doing exactly what this site purports to do? That they don’t wield undue influence on the politicians to whom they’ve gotten elected and are in fact writing laws that benefit corporations at the expense of the citizens?
11. Dr. J says:

    July 15, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    I certainly agree lobbyists wield influence. How much of it is “undue” is where it gets complicated.

    Shorthands like “benefiting corporations at the expense of citizens” are of little use figuring it out. Everything that “benefits corporations” actually benefits some set of citizens, and not always the same set.
12. rudi says:

    July 15, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    Dick Cheney is laughing all the way to the bank. Lets privatize all government functions, as long as Darth Vader and Skeletor have stock in the companies.
13. Don Quijote says:

    July 15, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    BUT, Prison guards, prison industries lobbying for higher sentences?

    I don’t know that prison guards have been lobbying for longer sentences (I would not be surprised if they had), but it’s a given that the Private Prison Industry has been…

    Pennsylvania rocked by ‘jailing kids for cash’ scandal

    The nonprofit Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia said Phillip is one of at least 5,000 children over the past five years who appeared before former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella.

    Ciavarella pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal criminal charges of fraud and other tax charges, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Former Luzerne County Senior Judge Michael Conahan also pleaded guilty to the same charges. The two secretly received more than $2.6 million, prosecutors said.

    The judges have been disbarred and have resigned from their elected positions. They agreed to serve 87 months in prison under their plea deals. Ciavarella and Conahan did not return calls, and their attorneys told CNN that they have no comment.

    Ciavarella, 58, along with Conahan, 56, corruptly and fraudulently “created the potential for an increased number of juvenile offenders to be sent to juvenile detention facilities,” federal court documents alleged. Children would be placed in private detention centers, under contract with the court, to increase the head count. In exchange, the two judges would receive kickbacks.
    …
    Privatizing detention facilities is a growing in popularity among governments because the companies say they offer lower rates than the state.

    Pennsylvania has the second highest number of private facilities after Florida, accounting for about 11 percent of the private facilities in the United States, according to the National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    Critics say private prisons lack transparency because they don’t go through the same inspections and audits as a state facility, and this may have allowed payoffs to go so long without being noticed.

    “Once somebody is going to make more money by holding more kids, there is a pretty good predictable profit motive,” said criminal justice consultant Judith Greene, who heads a nonprofit group called Justice Strategies. “It’s predictable that companies are going to tolerate certain behaviors they shouldn’t.”

    An audit draft obtained by the Philadelphia Inquirer showed that Luzerne County was spending more than $1.2 million in expenses that weren’t allowed under state regulations. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, the agency overseeing the audits, says the audit drafts are not final.

    The audits also allege that two people paid the judges. Attorneys for former Mid-Atlantic owner Robert Powell say that their client is one of those people but that he was pressured by the judges to make payments. The attorneys say Powell never offered to pay the judges, never sought to influence any juvenile case and is now cooperating with the investigation. Zappala and Powell were partners until Zappala bought out Powell in 2008.

    Senior Judge Arthur E. Grim of Berks County is reviewing the cases for minors who appeared before Ciavarella. Court officials say some children may have their records expunged or be granted new hearings.

    Prison Economics Help Drive Ariz. Immigration Law

    NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate Bill 1070 by an industry that stands to benefit from it: the private prison industry.

    The law could send hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants to prison in a way never done before. And it could mean hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to private prison companies responsible for housing them.

    If you guys really believe that stuff and it is not hyperbole for entertainment purposes only, you might be happier over at Laura Ingraham or Ed Schultz’s place.

    DR Welch,
    I have to say that I find your naivety extremely refreshing, and it is what I would expect out of a junior high school student who has just completed his government class…

    In the real world, cash is king and if a corporation can get legislators to write a law that will double their profits by killing a couple of million people, you can rely on them to lobby for it and eventually get it passed…

    We have the best government money can buy…