Michigan ALEC State Chair Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker: A CHEERY FACE & A FAKE DEFENSE, promoting corporatist direct access to Michigan lawmaking

Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker doesn't seem to know her facts on A.L.E.C., but she knows how to use A.L.E.C. boilerplate defense of its secret corporatist, state by state "model" Plug-and-Play legislation that is undercutting Middle America.

Sez Sen. Tonya, as reported by MIRS:

"(W)hile the business community is involved, it's only at the task force level when they're 'around the table.' "'It's just a time for legislators to gather to see what's working in other states in terms of model policy,' said Schuitmaker. 'I really think the attacks are unfounded.'"

Using the stock A.L.E.C defense State Chair Schuitmaker wants the public to believe that everything's out in the open, "the business community is involved, it's only at the task force level when they're 'around the table.'"

Ignorance concerning a powerful/secretive organization that is part and parcel of the Corporatist/ TeaPublican agenda (now labeled GOP State Solutions) is no excuse to defend its, corrupting influence, trouble making, usurpation of individual rights and/or and federal government's powers to promote health and well-being throughout our nation.

Either SCHUITMAKER IS VERY NAIVE OR SHE IS SHILLING FOR A.L.E.C. and attempting to give it much needed cover. Around the nation the public is focused now on the extreme measures the long-term, Rad-Right Council is pushing on the various states in a blitz of legislation undercutting rules and regs not favored by the Corporatocracy and attempting to hitchhike legislation into law during this time of extreme economic crisis in the states.

"'Our members join for the purpose of having a seat at the table,' said Dennis Bartlett of ALEC in 1997. 'That's just what we do, that's the service we offer. The organization is supported by money from the corporate sector, and, by paying to be members, corporations are allowed the opportunity to sit down at the table and discuss the issues that they have an interest in.'

"This is the heart of the Trojan horse. Power in ALEC does not come from political acumen, IT COMES FROM BRUTE FINANCIAL FORCE. CORPORATIONS BUY THEIR WAY ONTO ONE OF ALEC'S SPECIALIZED TASK FORCES. There, 'legislators welcome their private-sector counterparts to the table as equals,' according to one ALEC publication. ACTUALLY, THE CORPORATE COUNTERPARTS ARE MORE THAN EQUAL. THEY HAVE VETO POWER. NO BILL IS RELEASED FROM A TASK FORCE WITHOUT THEIR APPROVAL. THE RESULTS OF SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT ARE PREDICTABLE. The task force on criminal justice, for example, has been co-chaired by a representative of Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest operator of private prisons. In 1996, ALEC issued model legislation to deregulate utility markets: the legislation was pushed by Koch Industries and Enron.

"After corporate members use ALEC to draft dream legislation, the "model" bills go home with state legislators. The ALEC bills are introduced, debated and voted on by other lawmakers who think the proposals are democratic creations." 

(Emphasis added)

-- Source: WILL POTTER , ALEC Documents Reveal How Corporations Secretly Create New Law.

So what does Schuitmaker's group sitting "around the table" promote or accomplish?

The Michigan group 'WE ARE the People' has formed a partial list:

"The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a vehicle through which global corporations and state politicians collaborate and vote behind closed doors to design legislation to benefit the huge corporations funding ALEC. These so-called 'model bills' reach into almost every area of American life and include things like imposing voting restrictions, undermining environmental protections, scapegoating immigrants to profit the private prison industry and defunding public education." 

And this is only the tip of a nasty iceberg which is threatening the balance and sustainability of state governments.

Sen. Schuitmaker says that A.L.E.C. is bi-partisan. As in most cases, the group reaches that level by sticky via tokenism. The vast number of members are Republicans and now Koch/Rove style Tea Party members. The "work" it does is down and dirty:

"ALEC is a force. By the organization's own account, about 180 of its model bills are enacted in at least one state every year. ALEC scored some of its highest-profile victories during 2011 in Wisconsin and Ohio, where newly-elected Republican governors and legislators attacked budget shortfalls with legislation that sharply restricts the bargaining power of public worker unions. The bills were passed just a few months after companies in ALEC's leadership put more than $304,000 into the campaigns of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Wisconsin state legislators, and spent more than $563,000 on Ohio Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers in the Buckeye State. Both Walker and Kasich are ALEC alumni."

snip

"In Wisconsin, the $304,607 leading ALEC companies put into 2010 campaigns was felt far beyond Gov. Walker's anti-union budget initiatives. State legislators also agreed this year to cap " along lines suggested by ALEC - the 'punitive' damages that can be assessed in personal injury lawsuits. The caps could save millions of dollars for ALEC's corporate members. And despite pleas from consumer groups, Wisconsin lawmakers voted to deregulate the telecommunications industry, also along lines promoted by ALEC.

"In Arizona, where firms on ALEC's private enterprise board have put nearly $16.6 million into state campaigns since 2001, the legislature attracted national attention and sparked a bitter partisan debate when it passed ALEC-backed legislation that gives state and local police new authority to detain suspected illegal immigrants. An investigation by National Public Radio found that one ALEC-member firm, the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), was a key player in the ALEC task force that drafted the model bill that spawned Arizona's law. CCA, which builds or runs prisons in 21 states and reported 2010 revenues of $1.7 billion, has identified immigrant detention as an emerging market." 

-- These accounts are provided by Common Cause HERE.

The people of Minnesota are finding out about the work of Schiutmaker's A.L.E.C. which she describes: IT'S JUST A COFFEE KLATCH, we are just discussing our own state's problems and solutions amongst ourselves brushing aside. It's her feeble attempt to mitigate her misrepresentation of the heavy and controlling interest A.L.E.C.'s over 300 corporatist members have in their DIRECT PIPELINE lawmaking and resolution factories, set up over time in many states, and active for decades with LITTLE OR NO PUBLIC SCRUTINY OR KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE AND DO.THAT ERA IS OVER.

Here's what Minnesota Common Cause found in their state: "(A.L.E.C.) bills were revealed as Common Cause released a report on the influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is financially supported by corporations like Koch Industries and WalMart. At regular conferences, including one going on in New Orleans right now, these corporations draft corporate-friendly legislation that is approved by state legislators on legislative task forces and then introduced at state capitols across the country without disclosure that the business interests wrote them.

"'The work of ALEC shows how the Minnesota capitol is governed by corporate lobbyists instead of main street voters,' said Mike Dean, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota. 'Dozens of corporations are investing millions of dollars to write business-friendly legislation that is being passed into law without public knowledge and often at the expense of the public interest.'

"Common Cause Minnesota found a number of recent Minnesota bills that mirrored ALEC counterparts:

- Voter Restrictions: (HF 89, SF 479) Bill that critics say would suppress voter turnout. ALEC legislation.

- Taxation of Moist Snuff Tobacco: (HF 1079) This bill, created by tobacco companies, would create a tax break for moist tobacco. ALEC legislation.

- Cheeseburger Bill: (HF 264, SF 160) This bill partially shields large food companies from consumer lawsuits. ALEC connection from Inside ALEC magazine.

- End Greenhouse Gas Emission Goals (HF 509) This bill opposes efforts to restrict the emission of greenhouse gases. ALEC legislation.

"The ALEC conference in New Orleans this week includes workshops about pension reform, privatization of Medicaid and the benefits of C02 (in a global warming context)."
--Accounts from The Minnesota Independent & Minnesota Common Cause, Minnesota bills traced to controversial corporate group ALEC

What Tonya Schuitmaker wants you to never know is the true extent of the influenced and effectiveness of A.L.E.C.'s achievements and its many "gifts" delivered by state legislators, such as herself, to enhancing and abetting those contributing and controlling corporations in A.L.E.C.'s secret network:

Ms. Schuitmaker may give her time and loyalty to the American Legislative Exchange Council, enjoy its perks and privileges, go on its junkets, but back home she represents a very financially depressed district and many, many folks who live near "hand to mouth" - they deserve more and better from her than what her service to a corporatist front group is attempting to take from them and others in Michigan with Schuitmaker's facilitating- insider help-as a leading A.L.E.C. lawmaker.


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