Template:ALEC News

ALEC News

The ALEC Swampland Though ALEC has an uneasy relationship with President Trump, they haven't hesitated in adopting his '"drain the swamp" rhetoric when extolling their plans to amend the federal constitution, repeal workers' rights or gut social safety net programs. Trump keeps filling his "swamp" with cronies, political insiders and the corporate lobbyists that also populate the ALEC swamp. One of these lobbyists, working for the behemoth Chinese online retailer Alibaba, asked me to communicate information about his company to my (presumably male) boss. When I replied that I am a legislator, he looked me up and down incredulously until I replied "They let women be legislators now." He didn't speak to me again. Read the rest of this item here. Betsy DeVos and Issue of College Rape at ALEC in Denver Image:CC BY-SA 2.0 Gage Skidmore Secretary Betsy DeVos headlined the 44th American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) Annual Meeting being held at the Colorado Convention Center's Hyatt Regency Hotel July 19-21. Other big names speaking at the event included Trump defender-in-chief Newt Gingrich, Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, Republican pollster Frank Luntz, and local mega-donor and light beer magnate Peter Coors, who chairs the right-wing Coors Foundation. Read the rest of this item here. Big Coal Burns Bright at ALEC Conference The best part of my 9th American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) conference so far was trying to get into the host hotel in Denver. When I pulled up in my cab, it was surrounded by hundreds of protestors marching on the sidewalk and shouting some of my favorite chants. Any possible entrance into the hotel was blocked by yellow police tape or a barricade. So I marched with them for a bit, pulling my suitcase behind me, and then ducked under the tape to get into the hotel. Now that's the way to start an ALEC conference. Read the rest of this item here.