Free Republic

Shell joins BP in corporate exodus from membership of the conservative, free-market lobbying group, which continues to deny the science of climate changeRoyal Dutch Shell have announced they will end their membership of the far-right American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) because of its continuing denial of the science of climate change. In a statement released on Friday, a Shell spokesman said: “Alec advocates for specific economic growth initiatives, but its stance on climate change is clearly inconsistent with our own.” Shell joins fellow oil major BP in a corporate exodus from the conservative, free-market lobby group. Shell’s decision comes...

As 2014 draws to a close and the final few state legislatures still in session prepare to finally adjourn for the year, the ALEC Center for State Fiscal Reform has again published State Tax Cut Roundup, which details the states that cut taxes in the 2014 legislative session. During the 2014 legislative session, 14 states passed significant tax cuts into law. These cuts vary in what tax they reduced and their size but they share one crucial similarity: they put more money into the pockets of taxpayers in their respective states. Those 14 states are detailed in the map below:...

Academia is up in arms. The board of trustees at Florida State University (FSU) just named a Republican to be its president. Something called the FSU Progress Coalition just posted its concerns on the Academe blog maintained by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP): “Throughout the presidential search process at Florida State University, students were told that their voices were being heard. But really? Who was listening? The media was listening, the nation was listening, FSU alumni, faculty, and staff were listening. But the corporate/political elite, the 11 members of the Board of Trustees that voted for John Thrasher...

Facebook will likely end its relationship with a controversial conservative policy organization, The Chronicle learned Tuesday. The social media giant in Menlo Park would be the second Silicon Valley giant in recent days to sever ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC. On Monday, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt told a radio show that the company would end its membership with the group over its stance on global warming. ALEC was “literally lying” about climate change, Schmidt said.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt used an appearance on NPR on Monday to announce his company was cutting ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative organization composed of private companies and state legislators, over the group’s position on “climate change.” “Everyone understands climate change is occurring, and the people who oppose it are really hurting our children and our grandchildren and making the world a much worse place," Schmidt told NPR’s Diane Rehm. "And so we should not be aligned with such people – they're just, they're just literally lying.” As Schmidt might find out to his misfortune,...

Google is breaking ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a prominent network of conservative state legislators that, among other projects, works to roll back laws that promote solar and wind power, the company's chairman said Monday. The decision marks a major victory for a campaign by environmentalists, union activists and other liberal groups that have pushed companies to drop support for ALEC. Microsoft ended its ties to the group a few weeks ago. “The consensus within the company was that that was some sort of mistake,” Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, referring to the initial decision to support...

Last week’s standoff at Bundy Ranch is still reverberating in Washington today. According to Kate Sheppard at Huffington Post, Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) has sent a letter to Mary Kendall, acting Inspector General for the Department of the Interior, asking her to investigate whether legislation pushed by the Koch brothers-linked American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has been aimed at undermining the agency’s work.Two member affiliates of the Koch-supported Americans For Prosperity (AFP) organization gave their blessing as armed ‘Patriot’ militias showed up to confront agents of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) doing the dangerous, difficult job of removing Bundy’s trespass...

The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank published an op-ed last week trying to pile on to the liberal attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. ALEC is a 40-year-old organization of conservative state legislators. I’ve been attending its meetings for more than 20 years. Because ALEC takes an unashamedly free market approach to policy issues, it tends to attract more Republican state legislators than Democrats, but it has always been bipartisan and frequently reaches out to moderate and conservative-leaning Democrats. For example, then-Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia has spoken via video to the group. ALEC’s mission has expanded...

Speaking to the attendees of the group’s policy summit in DC, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz rallied the ALEC faithful and urged them not to let the growing chorus of criticism get them down. “I first came to ALEC over a decade ago,” Cruz said. “When I was serving in the Bush administration, I’d been privileged to work with ALEC in the federal government. I’ve been privileged to work with ALEC when I was back in Texas with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, leading the 10th Amendment Center, and I’m proud to stand with ALEC today.” Referencing Sen. Dick Durbin’s earlier...

Alec Baldwin has been fired by MSNBC, sources say. The rage-aholic’s weekly show, “Up Late With Alec Baldwin,” has been canceled because of the actor’s foul-mouthed rant at a photographer he called a nasty name.

<p>MSNBC host Alec Baldwin is accused of lying under oath in a criminal trail in New York City.</p> <p>A man who Alec Baldwin pointed to as the reason why he met his alleged stalker is now speaking out and says that the actor is using his name to hide his affair.</p>

Stand Your Ground: A big hypocrite in the IRS scandal targeting Tea Party groups sets his sights on a conservative think tank, asking its suspected supporters: "Are you now or have you ever been a conservative?" Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is on a witch hunt that threatens anew the free speech rights of Americans who don't hold his views or those of the Obama administration. This time he has targeted the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group of state legislators who promote free markets, limited government and federalism, ahead of a "stand your ground" hearing Durbin announced after George...

More than a thousand conservative lawmakers and business executives are gathering this week for conference that could shape a new wave of Republican legislation in state capitols pushing for deeper tax cuts, limits on union powers and a private-sector makeover for government Medicaid programs. Attendees at the American Legislative Exchange Council were countered Thursday by a roughly equal number of protesters upset by the close ties between big businesses and lawmakers. … The conservative organization’s 40th annual meeting comes as it is experiencing increased influence due to a growth in Republican-led legislatures and enhanced opposition from liberal-leaning groups that have...

Two different conservative organizations with whom we’ve got contacts have received letters from Sen. Dick Durbin’s office today which look an awful lot like the actions that precipitated the IRS scandal. Apparently there’s a massive fishing expedition afoot. This came to the our buddy Kevin Kane at the Pelican Institute… Dear Mr. Kane, I write to seek information regarding your organization’s position on “stand your ground” legislation that was adopted as a national model by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

In preparation for a previously announced hearing on controversial “stand your ground” laws announced after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., sent letters to more than 300 possible corporate backers of the American Legislative Exchange Council, requesting their position of such policies in states across the country.

The Senate’s No. 2 Democrat will hold a hearing on “stand your ground” laws this Fall. Dick Durbin of Illinois announced on Friday that his Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hear testimony on state laws that give citizens the right of lethal force to defend themselves in situations where they feel their life is threatened, measures which are on the books in some form in dozens of states. Durbin’s hearing will probe the roles of the NRA and the American Legislative Exchange Council — which helps draft conservative legislation in statehouses — in the crafting of the “stand your ground” laws,...

Alec Baldwin used homophobic slurs to violently threaten a British reporter who said his wife Hilaria Thomas had tweeted about wedding presents and TV appearances during James Gandolfini's funeral on Thursday. "If put my foot up your f**king ass, George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much," one tweet read. "I'm gonna find you George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I'm gonna f**k you... up," he added. "My wife DID NOT use her phone, in any capacity, at our friends funeral. Now, f**k this twitter + good luck to all of you who know the truth." The...

Few in journalism are viewed with as much veneration and respect as media veteran Bill Moyers. NBC anchor Brian Williams once said that “Bill Moyers has been and remains an essential voice in our national conversation … the living antithesis to an era of shocking superficiality in our discourse and media.” Moyers, the winner of more than 30 Emmys, nine Peabodys, and an impressive array of other awards, has been a staple of public television for decades. Those accolades ignore the reality that Moyers is involved in a massive conflict of interest. As a journalist Moyers reported repeatedly on attacks by liberal...

With Senate Democrats again pushing legislation to require forced donor disclosure by non-profit organizations, it’s more important than ever to understand the campaign of intimidation being conducted against the only significant public policy organization — on the left or right — that has disclosed a large number of donors. It’s the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and as I’ve previously written, the campaign against ALEC shows what the DISCLOSE Act is really about. American Commitment has obtained a copy of a letter that was sent by Color of Change, the racial grievance group founded by self-proclaimed communist and disgraced former...

July 10, 2012 12:21 pm By Philip Marcelo WOONSOCKET, R.I. -- Drugstore giant CVS Caremark is among the latest corporate sponsors dropping their support of the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, a business-backed national conservative group. CVS Caremark joined John Deere, MillerCoors, HP and Best Buy in deciding not to fund ALEC, according to ColorOfChange.org, an organization opposed to the stricter voter-identification laws ALEC advocates for. ColorOfChange issued a news release Tuesday with this comment from Larry Burton, CVS Caremark senior vice-president for government affairs: "Over the last few weeks, we have closely followed the issues surrounding the American...