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Publisher:
Bonnie King
CONTACT:
Newsroom@Salem-news.com
Advertising:
Adsales@Salem-news.com
~Truth~
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TJP
Dec-01-2011 12:48
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Op Ed Special Note Re ALEC-Debacle
Henry Clay Ruark Salem-News.comHere’s a working list recorded so far, with others to be added shortly.
 U.S. Capitol |
(SEASIDE) - The ALEC debacle directly affecting formation of laws in every state since 1973 continues to draw heavy across-the-media attention and further investigative interest across the nation.
One must wonder where the major Oregon media have been on this one --and what will be the attention given to obvious problems when the legislators meet again.
Here’s the working list recorded so far, with others in work to be added shortly, when our examination of this scandal affecting trust in our law system will continue:
Press on ALEC Exposed
- St. Augustine Record, "Letter: Wants media to tell more on 'big money'"
- Hilton Head Island-Packet, "Photo IDs nothing more than vote suppression"
- Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "Letters: 'Bill mill' undermines our democratic society"
- Ocean Beach Rag (CA), "This is what Plutocracy Looks Like"
- Daily Illini (University of Illinois), "Voting laws raise political controversy"
- Cumberland News-Times, "Beware of Our Shadow Government"
- Washington Post, "5 Myths about Voter Fraud Busted"
- The Guardian (UK), "'Adviser' Adam Werritty ran charity from Liam Fox's office"
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Lobbyists help good times roll for Mo. lawmakers in New Orleans"
- Verdict: Gaming American Democracy, "A Perfect Storm in Which Republicans Disenfranchise Voters While Giving Corporations Unchecked Powers"
- Truthout, "Wisconsin and Ohio: Resistance Rising"
- Argus Press, "New laws undermine core principles of U.S. democracy"
- Daily 49er, "Requiring government-issued ID will decrease the voting populace"
- Esquire, "Get Ready Not to Vote: Why 2012 Just Got More Interesting"
- Democracy Now!, "A War on Voting: Could Redistricting and Voting Law Changes Help Republicans Win in 2012?"
- Mother Jones, "GOP, ALEC Could Make It Harder For 5 Million To Cast Ballots"
- OpEdNews, "Rick Perry and ALEC"
- OpEdNews, "Scott Walker, ALEC alum"
- Salon, "The truth about voter suppression"
- The Huffington Post, "Democracy Under Attack"
- The Cap Times, ALEC ‘scholarships’ raise ethics concerns"
- The Daily Kos, "The Radical Republican Political Strategy is Failure"
- The Cap Times, "AG Van Hollen’s dereliction of his duty"
- The Nation Magazine, "Rick Perry’s Attack on Democracy"
- Truthout, "Rick Perry, Pay-for-Player Jailer"
- The Florida Times Union, "Lead letter: Health care plan had roots in the GOP"
- Truthout, "Targeting Immigrants"
- Truthout, "Taking Back the Vote"
- New Hampshire AFL-CIO, "ALEC Exposed John Nichols The Nation"
- Milwaukee Area Labor Council, "COURT CHALLENGES AWAIT GOP VOTER EXCLUSION LAW"
- The Daily News Journal, "Stockard: Purity of ballot box or just pure politics with Voter ID?"
- Common Blog, "Money, Power and the American Legislative Exchange Council"
- Al Jazeera English, "Vote suppression in the US revs up"
- The Nation, "ALEC EXPOSÉ WINS SIDNEY AWARD"
- Maine’s Majority, "Rep. Andre Cushing Billed Taxpayers $2,100 for ALEC Travel Expenses"
- The Maine Public Broadcasting Network, "Same-Day Voter Advocates: Maine a Pawn in National Voting Restriction Campaign"
- Bangor Daily News, "ALEC’s influence should be call to citizen vigilance"
- Bangor Daily News, "American Legislative Exchange Council’s long arm reaching into Maine policy"
- Orlando Weekly, "Hiding the Sausage"
- AlterNet, "Scott Walker and the GOP Reveal Depth of Their Voter-Exclusion Plan"
- Daily Kos, "ALEC Exposed wins Sidney Award for Excellence in Socially Conscious Journalism"
- The American Independent, "ALEC corporations pay big to Congress"
- Big Think, "ALEC: EXPOSED" WINS SEPTEMBER SIDNEY AWARD"
- Nashville Scene, "Jim Cooper and Dick Durbin Rap Voter ID and ALEC"
- Open Secrets, "Corporations Represented on ALEC's Private Enterprise Board Are Big Spenders in Washington"
- George Mason University’s History News Network, "The War on Higher Education"
- In These Times, "GOP reveal depth of its voter-exclusion plan"
- Rolling Stone, "Congress Investigated GOP War on Voting"
- The Progressive, "Inside the ALEC Dating Service"
- The Kansas City Star, "Momentum grows to swap income tax for sales tax in states"
- Portland Phoenix, "LePage’s Koch Brothers connection revealed"
- Merge Left, "Massive Southwest power outage may shine light on corporate ALEC backer"
- Daily Kos, "ANNOUNCEMENT: Looking For Feedback on Anti-ALEC/Koch Progressive led Bus Tour this Fall"
- Portland Phoenix, "LePage’s Koch Brothers connection revealed"
- New Jersey Newsroom: Gov. Christie and Koch brothers share anti-environment agenda"
- Campus Progress, "New Evidence of ALEC Connections in All Successful Voter ID Legislation"
- Truthout, "Remembering the Moment Our CEO’s Dug In"
- Truthout, "Taking Back Labor Day"
- Uprising Radio, "ALEC Annual Meeting Censors Journalists, Lays Out Corporate Agenda"
- Daily Kos, "ALEC's creepy influence in Wisconsin (with recall angle!)"
- Keystone Progress, "Rep. Matthew Baker Threatens Citizen Activists for Exposing His Ties to Corporate Lobbyists"
- PolicyMic, "Corporations Have Stranglehold On U.S. Politics"
- North Carolina's WRAL TV, "Behind the Bill: ALEC and Tort Reform"
- CT News Junkie, "No Jane, It’s Not Baldwin"
- Rolling Stone, "The GOP War on Voting"
- The Moderate Voice, "Courtesy Of The GOP, Jim Crow Is Back In A National Voter Suppression Campaign"
- The Arizona Republic, "Arizona prison businesses are big political contributors"
- Athens News, "US lawmakers and corporations join in unholy alliance"
- Tampa Bay Online, "Scott, state lawmakers make today a dark day"
- Salem News, "'ALEC', UN-Elected, Writing U.S. Legislation Under Koch-Influenced Direction In Many States Costly 'Hidden-Tunnel Operation'"
- Progressive States Network, "2011 Health Care Roundup: Despite Opposition, States Move Forward on ACA, Look to Strengthen Health Security for All"
- The Michigan View, "Halloween Danger Comes Early: Smart ALEC’s Concept of a Nasty Trick or Treat"
- Campus Progress, "Voter ID Laws 101"
- The Raw Story, "AT&T bought more than 700 copies of Rick Perry’s book"
- The Florida Independent, ALEC ‘Guide to Repealing ObamaCare’ echoes Florida legislative action"
- Campus Progress, "Rep. Lewis: Voter ID ‘A Poll Tax by Another Name’"
- NMPolitics, "Public Education and the Tentacles of Profit"
- The Thom Hartmann Program, "Thom Hartmann & State Represenative Mark Pocan: ALEC exposed in New Orleans. 5 August '11"
- Don't Frack with NY!, "Lisa Graves Sheds Light on ALEC’s Fracking Agenda"
- IPS News, "‘Profiteers of Misery’: The U.S. Private Prison Industrial Complex"
- Daily Kos, "Koch/ALEC...attacks upon public education. Looking deep into the Rabbit Hole"
- Forbes, "Elite Privilege and the Prison-Industrial Complex"
- The Public Record, "America’s Day Of Rage Is Coming, And It’s Just The Beginning"
- Greenpeace, "The Lewis Powell Memo - Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy"
- Anchorage Daily News, "Our view: Suite life; who pays?"
- Kansas City Star, "Bait-and-switch tax shift could hurt many people"
- Charlotte Observer, "Tillis enjoys defending his record"
- TechZone360, "Politicians, Corporations Turn to ALEC to Find Policy Solutions"
- Concord Monitor, "Who's behind those crazy bills?"
- American Independent, "ALEC may have violated Minnesota campaign finance ruling"
- Kansas City Star, "Government by proxy serves lazy lawmakers"
- Minnesota Independent, "Experts say ALEC should register as Minnesota lobbyist"
- The American Independent, "ALEC balks after experts say it should register as Minnesota lobbyist"
- Orlando Sentinel, "Lawmakers should open up about ALEC"
- The Morning Call, "Politics as Usual"
- Times Standard, "As It Stands: Meet ALEC: a wolf in sheep's clothing"
- Cleveland.com, "Corporate influence over state lawmakers and legislation undermines individual rights and voices"
- The Wichita Eagle, "State lawmakers outsourcing duties to ALEC"
- PoliticsPA, "Keystone Progress vs. ALEC"
- Madison.com, "How the ALEC corporate bill mill works"
- AZ Central, "Arizona group will fight visit from ALEC"
- Think Progress, "VIDEO: Corporate Lobbyist Concedes He Does Not Always Register As A Lobbyist For ALEC Bills He Helps Write"
- Nashua Telegraph, "Voter ID Legislation Politically Motivated"
- TampBay.com, "Rep. Randolph seeks opinion on gift-ban exemption"
- Sun Sentinel, "Stealth ALEC courts Tallahassee Republican lawmakers"
- Knoxville Metro Post, "Local Legislators in ALEC"
- Salt Lake Tribune, "Utah lawmakers, lobbyists, go on the road"
- Minnesota Post, "Getting lawmakers on the record about ALEC"
- Idaho Mountain Express, "States’ legislation packaged and promoted by big business"
- Madison Capital Times, "Brendan Fischer: CO2 is good for you, and other ALEC talking points"
- Bloomberg, "Pro-Gun Group’s Call to Sell Seized Weapons Advances to States"
- Dane 101, "Wisconsin to NOLA: Rep. Pocan kicked out of ALEC event; ThinkProgress reporters accosted"
- Orlando Sentinel, "It's tough to sugarcoat Florida politicians' shenanigans"
- Think Progress, "Top Companies Claim To Fight Global Warming, But Sponsor ALEC’s Climate Denial"
- Ohio Public Radio, "Who Writes Ohio’s Legislation?"
- The Nation, "Students Take on ALEC"
- Knoxville News, "House Speaker Harwell stops payment for some out-of-state legislator travel"
- Bloomberg, "Industry gets in on writing laws"
- Capital Times, "Profit motive underlies outbreak of immigration bills"
- Lawrence Journal, "Corporate-funded ALEC has strong ties to Kansas Legislature"
- American Independent, "ALEC model legislation echoes TPPF, Perry-backed higher ed reforms in Texas"
- ProPublica, "Our Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding ALEC’s Influence on Your State Laws"
- PR Watch, "Big Business Woos ALEC Legislators in the Big Easy"
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Lawmakers rapped over model bills prepared by business"
- Common Cause, "Legislating Under the Influence: Money, Power, and the American Legislative Exchange Council"
- The Nation, "The Hidden History of ALEC and Prison Labor"
- Miami Herald, "Taxpayers on hook for lawmakers’ New Orleans trip"
- The Progressive, "ALEC Watch: What I did on my Summer Vacation"
- Think Progress, "Perry’s Legislative Agenda Bears Strong Resemblance To ALEC’s Corporate-Backed Model Bills"
- Think Progress, "At Koch's Conference: 'The Many Benefits of Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment"
- Journal Courier, States press for a constitutional amendment"
- PR Watch, "ALEC Model Bills Create Hardship for Average Americans"
- Minnesota Independent, "Kiffmeyer: 30 Minnesota legislators are ALEC members"
- Racine Journal Times, "Rep. Vos heading to New Orleans for ALEC convention; local progressives call group concerning"
- Bloomberg, "Wal-Mart Joins Amazon to Pitch State Law for Tax Benefit Plan"
- PR Watch, "Journalist Kicked out of ALEC Conference, Threatened With Arrest"
- American Independent, "Texas tobacco tax law matches ALEC model legislation introduced in other states"
- Tuscon Citizen, "Arizonans want legislators to reject gifts"
- The Nation, "Right-Wing Billionaires Invest in Wisconsin's Recall Elections to Save School Privatization Agenda"
- River Front Times, "Corporate Interest Group Accused of Writing Missouri Laws"
- St. Louis Beacon, "Progressives target national legislative organization behind many state proposals"
- St. Louis Dispatch, "Free-market group draws criticism for potential role in bills"
- Slate, "The ALEC Wars Escalate"
- MSNBC asks CMD's Lisa Graves "Who's in charge of America?"
- Reno News & Review on ALEC scrutiny
- Philadelphia City Paper on State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe's ALEC connections
- Salon on ALEC, a "A taxpayer-supported campaign against Big Government"
- The Portland Phoenix on Maine Governor Paul LePage's Copy-and-Paste Corporate Agenda
- FollowTheMoney on ALEC's active pursuit of state lawmakers
- NPR on ALEC and who really writes state legislation
- Bloomberg on ALEC, Koch, and Exxon
- The Isthmus on CMD's potentially "world changing" document leak
- ProPublica on release of ALEC documents
- DBAPress on the mechanics of the ALEC scholarship fund
- John Nichols and Julie Underwood segment on Majority Report Radio
- Death & Taxes on ALECexposed.org
- LJWorld on ALEC media reports
- Milwaukee Area Labor Council on rise of ALEC reports in media
- Truthout on ALEC and the Koch brothers
- Huffington Post on ALEC and Milton Friedman
- Ms. Magazine on the ALEC threat to healthcare
- The Nation on calls for an IRS investigation into ALEC
- LA Times on Common Cause's call for ALEC IRS probe
- AFL-CIO on spotlight aimed at ALEC
- Fire Dog Lake on ALEC Exposé
- Greenpeace on ALEC's Dirty Secrets
- Dane 101 on CMD's ALEC document bomb
- Salon on ALEC: Match.com for industry lobbyists
- The Progressive on ALEC Exposed
- Daily Kos on Getting to Know ALEC
- LA Times on ALEC
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on ALEC in Wisconsin
- In These Times on ALEC "Publicopoly"
Reports Connecting State Legislation to ALEC Model Bills
- ProgressMissouri tracks ALEC model legislation as it moves through the State Capitol
- Granite State Progress on ALEC Right to Work model legislation in New Hampshire
- Talking Points Memo on why the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011" looks a lot like ALEC model legislation
- The Charleston Gazette on ALEC's influence in West Virginia
- Bdgrdemocracy on ALEC prevailing wage law legislation in Wisconsin
- The Rochester Citizen on ALEC legislation in Michigan
- New Hampshire Labor News on ALEC bills in New Hampshire government
- Texas Prison Bid'ness on prison privatization
- Bold Nebraska on ALEC's war on voting
- Knoxville News Sentinel on ALEC school legislation in Tennessee
- (many more to come...)
______________________
At 21, Henry Clay Ruark was Aroostook Editor for the Bangor, Maine DAILY NEWS, covering the upper 1/4 of the state. In the ‘40s, he was Staff Correspondent, then New England Wires Editor at United Press-Boston; later Editor for the Burlington, Vermont 3-daily group owned by Wm. Loeb, later notorious at Manchester, New Hampshire UNION LEADER for attacks on Democratic Presidential candidates.
Hank returned to Oregon to complete M. Ed. degree at OSU, went on to Indiana University for Ed.D. (abd) and special other course-work; was selected as first Information Director for NAVA in Washington, D.C.; helped write sections of NDEA, first Act to supply math, science, foreign language consultants to state depts. of education; joined Oregon Dept. of Education, where he served as NDEA administrator/Learning Media Consultant for ten years.
He joined Dr. Amo DeBernardis at PCC, helping establish, extend programs, facilities, Oregon/national public relations; moved to Chicago as Editor/Publisher of oldest educational-AV journal, reformed as AV GUIDE Magazine; then established and operated Learning Media Associates as general communications consultant group. Due to wife’s illness, he returned to Oregon in 1981, semi-retired, and has continued writing intermittently ever since, joining S-N in 2004. His Op Eds now total over 650 written since then.
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Hank Ruark December 31, 2011 11:47 am (Pacific time)
To all: For those following full further developments re ALEC and its continuing abuses in Oregon - simply "stay tuned" because this show is only in its first act...actual abuses committed for malign political and personal purposes.
Hank Ruark December 10, 2011 1:01 pm (Pacific time)
To all: Gates Foundation announcement of huge ($360,000) grant to ALEC is still further proof of developments outlined in "Selling Schools Out" --and exposes very frightening new probabo;ities re mis-use and brute/force perversion of philanthropy. Irony is the dollars to do so come from continuing success in action by the new learning technologies themselves, with the negative impacts due to extreme further greed among producers.0
Hank Ruark December 9, 2011 12:53 pm (Pacific time)
To all: Here's late note from Alec Exposed: Friday, December 9, 2011 Kids Eating Rat Poison Is an "Acceptable Risk" for ALEC An American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) member is defying Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules limiting the sale of rat poisons that pose dangers to children and the ecosystem. ALEC representatives say that kids eating rat poison is an "acceptable risk" that does not justify government intervention in the market. ------------------------
Hank Ruark December 6, 2011 4:31 pm (Pacific time)
To all: For striking new and longrange developments across the entire nation via the Alec-debacle on legislative actions since 1973, throwing much basic law-making into an odd and distressing possible shadow of deep corruption, see further investigative report article in The NATION, Dec.5, pp, 11-18: "SELLING SCHOOLS OUT: The Scam of Virtual Education Reform". There are new billions to be made by the overzealous use of "educational technologies" and the elimination of human-teacher contact --and the same old gang is hard a-chase !!
Hank Ruark December 5, 2011 10:04 am (Pacific time)
To all: Extreme seriousness of this appalling attack on our democratically proven decision process deserves full attention now from all of us. Please report and share details of any Oregon press/media story, Op Ed, or Editorial you may discover...we will relay them to ALEX EXPOSED award-winning group.
[Return to Top]©2025 Salem-News.com. All opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Salem-News.com.