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Big Win for Worker Rights and Workplace SafetyThis Labor Day, the 26 million workers who work for federal contractors really had something to celebrate.President Obama issued the final rule implementing the historic Fair Pay & Safe Workplaces Executive Order which will make sure that federal contractors who repeatedly violate worker safety and labor laws will be held to account. These new federal rules will require companies to disclose violations from the previous few years when bidding for each new major contract. Read the rest of this item here. Coveted Records Exemption Wrong for WisconsinOver the July 4 weekend in 2015, members of the state Legislature sparked a public uproar by proposing last-minute changes to the state budget bill that would have created a "deliberative process" exception to Wisconsin’s long-cherished public records law. Government transparency advocates condemned the move, and the changes were hastily rescinded.But the effort to shield records that are produced while crafting law and policy did not end there. The administration of Gov. Scott Walker continued to assert its ability to withhold these records under existing law. Read the rest of this item here. The Independent "Women's" Voice? Most Known Donors Are MenThe Independent Women's Voice touts its "independent" brand in reaching potential voters.But is it even women's voices it is throwing? Let alone independent women? The reported data from the Federal Election Commission data says no. New research shows that the overwhelming majority of its known donors are men. Very rich men. Yes, men have provided most of the disclosed donations to fund election-related expenditures under the name of the "Independent Women's Voice." Read the rest of this item here. AARP To Drop ALEC after Members’ OutcryAARP will drop its membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has a long history of peddling bills that harm the interests of retirees and other Americans.The statement comes just days after the Center for Media and Democracy reported that AARP had joined ALEC and was a sponsor of ALEC's 2016 Annual Conference. AARP joins more than 120 private sector members that have publicly cut ties with ALEC since CMD launched the ALEC Exposed investigation in 2011. Read the rest of this item here. The Anti-Transparency Agenda Hailed Inside ALECBy Rep. Chris Taylor--I walked into my sixth ALEC conference over a week ago as one of two familiar Wisconsin myths was being told by the queen of the American Legislative Exchange Council, state Senator Leah Vukmir.It wasn't the one Governor Walker continues to repeat. That's the one where newly elected tea party politicians who had all the power took away workers' rights and faced down thousands of school teachers, firefighters and high school kids. Read the rest of this item here. |
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Expedia Latest to Exit ALECThe Guardian is reporting that the online travel company Expedia has dumped the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The Center for Media and Democracy has been flagging Expedia's financial support for ALEC and asking activists if they are using Expedia-connected hotel and air travel booking services. In an email to Common Cause, Expedia confirmed it had severed ties" with the corporate bill mill. Read the rest of this item here. Koch Money Trail Reveals Great Interest in 2016 State Elections In WI, OK, and TXIn July, Charles and David Koch held their semiannual meeting with billionaire donors in the rightwing stronghold of Colorado Springs at the Broadmoor, a luxury hotel at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The national media focused much of its reporting on who Charles Koch has said he is not supporting in the 2016 election cycle: Donald Trump. Koch told the hundreds of donors: "At this point I can't support either candidate, but I'm certainly not going to support Hillary." Read the rest of this item here. Revealed: AARP Is Funding ALECAARP, the non-profit seniors organization, is secretly funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization whose bills have acted against the interests of ordinary Americans, including retirees and their families. The Center for Media and Democracy has learned that AARP had joined ALEC, and that it was a named sponsor of the ALEC annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. Read the rest of this item here. ExxonMobil Top Sponsor at ALEC Annual MeetingExxonMobil, facing multiple state investigations connected to its funding of climate change denial, is listed as a top corporate sponsor of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. ALEC has long promoted climate change denial to state legislators, and promotes a legislative agenda of "model" bills designed to protect the interests of its oil, gas and coal funders. Read the rest of this item here. Black Lives, Blue Lives, and the Fight Over Criminal Justice in AmericaPHILADELPHIA--Two people from Milwaukee took to the national stage at the Republican National Convention (RNC) and the Democratic National Convention (DNC) to present two very different perspectives on one of the most divisive issues of our time, the shootings of unarmed African Americans by police and civilians. Read the rest of this item here.nationalist" who is "not a conservative." Read the rest of this item here. |
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Fossil Fuel Industry Paid for Meetings with GOP Attorneys General to Plan Attack on Clean Power PlanFossil fuel giants Murray Energy and Southern Company paid for meetings with Republican attorneys general to discuss their opposition to the Clean Power Plan less than two weeks before the same GOP officials petitioned federal courts to block the Obama administration’s signature climate proposal, according to private emails (see below) from state attorneys general obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy. The meetings took place at an August 2015 summit hosted by the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) in West Virginia, where attendees were offered the opportunity to meet with GOP attorneys general in exchange for financial donations to help reelect the Republican state prosecutors.Confidential documents also reveal that some of the GOP attorneys general again discussed “the future of the fight to stop the Clean Power Plan” at a meeting of the Republican Attorneys General Association’s 501(c)(4) organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, this past April. Read the rest of this item here. New Koch-Funded Campaign to Kill the Electric Car and Squash Clean EnergyWith reports out that every month so far in 2016 has been the hottest on record, it seems a little unbelievable that even the oil-rich Koch Brothers would have the audacity to launch a new multimillion dollar campaign to kill clean energy initiatives and promote the use of fossil fuels that are at the heart of the climate change crisis.But launch they have in the from of a new organization called Fueling U.S. Forward — a cheeky double entendre presumably meant to inspire both national and personal pride in the glories of oil and gas. Read the rest of this item here. |
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Excerpts from longer SourceWatch article: DonorsTrustDonorsTrust (DT) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit started in 1999 "to ensure the intent of donors who are dedicated to the ideals of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise."[1] Along with its supporting 509(a)(3) organization Donors Capital Fund (DCF), it is a spin-off of the Philanthropy Roundtable, a coordinating body for conservative foundations founded by Whitney L. Ball, who passed away in 2015. Both funding organizations are "donor-advised funds," which means that the fund creates separate accounts for individual donors, and the donors then recommend disbursements from the accounts to different non-profits. They cloak the identity of the original mystery donors because the funds are then distributed in the name of DT or DCF, contributing another step to what has been called a "murky money maze."[2]Funding Climate Change DenialDonorsTrust promises to only funnel money to groups with an extreme anti-environmental bent, so industrial billionaires need not worry about their money winding up at Greenpeace... Read the entire SourceWatch page on the DonorsTrust here. References
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Independent Women's Forum and Independent Women's Voice Use "Independent" Brand to Push Right-Wing Agenda to Women VotersThe Independent Women's Forum and its 501(c)(4) affiliate, the Independent Women's Voice, market themselves to the media and voters as "non-partisan," "independent," and "neutral."An investigation of the groups by the CMD reveals them to be anything but that. Joan Walsh in The Nation broke this story about these not-so independent women's groups. CMD's Reporters' Guide exposes the groups' leaders admitting to—and boasting about—their true role: finding ways to sell right-wing policies and candidates to independent women voters under the guise of neutrality. Read the rest of this item here. |
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Arizona's NBC 12 and CMD Expose ALEC's Corporate Influence on State Laws |
Phoenix Arizona's NBC affiliate KPNX hosted the Center for Media and Democracy's Executive Director Lisa Graves on the December 6 episode of "Sunday Square Off" to expose the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) effort to push corporate backed model legislation in state legislatures. |
Koch Exposed |
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Follow the Money!The Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of ALEC Exposed, brings you this unique wiki resource on the billionaire industrialists and the power and influence of the Koch cadre and Koch cash.Read about Koch Funding Vehicles: Visit Koch Exposed for more. |
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